Historically, the Cincinnati Red Legs have opened the Major League Baseball [MLB] season. This year the St. Louis Cardinals, sans Albert Pujols, and the Miami Marlins opened the season at Florida’s new ballpark on Wednesday, April 4. The game followed the 2012 MLB Japan opening series between the Mariners and the A’s, which strangely enough was held near the end of the exhibition season.
Over the past couple of years, MLB has been tainted by steroids and the notion that you can win a World Series by renting or buying the best players in the game. Nevertheless, there is something special about baseball. For most, it is the best sign that spring is here – an even better indicator than a date on the calendar or the outcome of Groundhog Day.
One of the best things about baseball is its tradition. And part of that tradition is the wisdom or quotes of some of the personalities who made the sport the national pastime. The following are just a few of the many great baseball quotes from http://www.baseball-almanac.com.
In the Movie “A League of Their Own,” Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) says to Evelyn (Bitty Schram) “Well I was just wonderin’ why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That’s the lump that’s three feet above your ass.” [Evelyn starts to cry] “Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!”
- “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” – Satchel Paige.
- “A great catch (this one was by Curt Flood) is like watching girls go by; the last one you see is always the prettiest.” – Bob Gibson
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“Booze, broads, and bullshit. If you got all that, what else do you need?” – Harry Caray
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“I don’t like the subtle infiltration of ‘something for nothing’ philosophies into the very hearthstone of the American family. I believe that ‘Thou shalt earn the bread by the sweat of thy face’ was a benediction and not a penalty. Work is the zest of life; there is joy in its pursuit.” – Branch Rickey
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“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.” – Yogi Berra
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“Why do I have to be an example for your kid? You be an example for your own kid.” – Bob Gibson
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“Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game.” – Branch Rickey
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“It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.” – Dizzy Dean
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“You can observe a lot just by watching.” – Yogi Berra
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“Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener.” – Billy Martin
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“Losing feels worse than winning feels good.” – Vin Scully
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“I ain’t what I used to be, but who the hell is?” – Dizzy Dean
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“Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.” – Yogi Berra
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“Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.” – Casey Stengel
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“I never rush myself. See, they can’t start the game without me.” – Satchel Paige
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“If Satch (Paige) and I were pitching on the same team, we would cinch the pennant by July fourth and go fishing until World Series time.” – Dizzy Dean
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“In a nation committed to better living through chemistry — where Viagra-enabled men pursue silicone-contoured women — the national pastime has a problem of illicit chemical enhancement. Steroids threaten the health of the 5 percent to 7 percent of players proved, by a mild regime of scheduled tests, to be using them. Steroids also endanger emulative young people. Further, steroids subvert what baseball is selling — fair competition. And they strike at the pleasure of engagement with America’s team sport with the longest history.” – George Will
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“He (Satchel Paige) threw the ball as far from the bat and as close to the plate as possible.” – Casey Stengel
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“He (Leo Durocher) had the ability of taking a bad situation and making it immediately worse.” – Branch Rickey.
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“After I got that hit off Satchel (Paige), I knew I was ready for the big leagues.” – Joe DiMaggio
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“Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It’s staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in.” – Casey Stengel
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“Some people have a chip on their shoulder. Billy (Martin) has a whole lumberyard.” – Sportswriter Jim Murray, LA Times
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“Auggie Busch traded me to the last-place Phillies over a salary dispute ($5,000). I was mentally committed to winning 25 games with the Cardinals and now I had to re-think my goals. I decided to stay with the 25-win goal and won 27 of the Phillies 59 victories. I consider that season my finest individual achievement.” – Steve Carlton
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“All I remember about my wedding day in 1967 is that the Cubs lost a double-header.” – George Will
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“He (Bob Gibson) pitches as though he’s double-parked.” – Vin Scully
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“He slud into third.” – Dizzy Dean
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“When I gave up a grand slam to Pete LaCock, I knew it was time to quit.” – Bob Gibson
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“I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.” – Yogi Berra
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“Quickest Thinking of the Year: Pulled by Dizzy Dean the day in June when Babe Ruth made a personal appearance at Sportsman’s Park. Diz was supposed to pitch to the Babe. Ruth stepped to the plate, but in his weakened condition, the bat dropped off his shoulder. Sensing danger in the situation, Diz stepped off the mound, strode to the plate and pointed to right field – where the Babe used to clout them. Everybody recognized the gesture immediately.” – The Sporting News (1948)
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“The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.”- Bob Uecker
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“Correct thinkers think that ‘baseball trivia’ is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial.” – George Will
Play Ball!