People like us are afraid to leave ball. What else is there to do? When baseball has been your whole life, you can't think about a future without it, so you hang on as long as you can.

I would always reserve a special place in my heart for Pittsburgh.

I was bred as an outcast, part Negro and part Seminole, in my early years raised as an Indian.

I'm a God-fearing man who worships with my heart and with my life.

Life is one big transition.

I wasn't out drinking and abusing my body. I simply loved to go out and dance.

Simple pleasures were all the pleasures that I knew as a child.

To be successful, one must take chances.

It's supposed to be fun, the man says 'Play Ball' not 'Work Ball' you know.

I've witnessed thousands of superior athletes try to becomes hitters and fail at it.

When we make a mistake, it becomes front-page news. We don't need any reporter telling us how badly we played.

We devote our entire lives to becoming good ball players. We take batting practice until our hands bleed.

I was always a self-proclaimed poor slider.

I loved to hit with men on base and with the game on the line.

Playing baseball was my dream, and no amount of money could sway my opinion.

I've always been a slave to my heart.

Judgment traps you within the limitations of your comparisons. It inhibits freedom.

Baseball for me was instinctive, born within me, given to me as a gift from God.

Human beings are pampered by the Lord. Their real tests don't come until later in life.

I love September, especially when we're in it.

Unfortunately, inner feelings and potential are often stunted by our parents, relatives or peers.

I always said that when it was time to retire, I would know it, and I would just tip my hat to the crowds.

I was the most powerful left-handed hitter in the Alameda area.

If a reporter doesn't like the person he's writing about, it shows up in his article.

I'm proud of the fact that I'm the only player to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium.

I'm always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don't get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself.

There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.

I found myself in a race with Mother Nature to play as much baseball as I could before she forced me to stop.

Never was I booed.

You only have a few years to play this game and you can't play it if you're all tied up in knots.

Vietnam helped me realize who the true heroes really are in this world. It's not the home-run hitters.

Never had I had so many friends and so much fun as I did in the projects.

I gave out stars whenever an appropriate situation presented itself.

A World Series trophy is a wonderful thing to behold.

I don't really feel that I deserve all my applause.

My first job after my retirement from baseball was as a narrator for the Eastman Philharmonica.

The Giants were a good team, but our biggest enemy was said to be Candlestick Park.

We all wore a 21 patch that one season as a silent tribute to our deceased teammate Roberto.

Love soothes wounds, while hatred and violence deepen them.

The bat is gone, but the smile remains.

Helping someone is what life is all about.

To middle-class parents, the project team may have seemed unfit for children, but it was exactly what I needed.

To me, baseball has always been a reflection of life. Like life, it adjusts. It survives everything.

I owe a large part of my success to Joe Brown, who helped me both as a player and a person.

I never search for a reason why - I have faith in the Lord's purpose.

They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square.

That's where the future lies, in the youth of today.

Reporters often forget that athletes are human beings.

Oakland revolved around Forbes Field. Nothing in the city could match that atmosphere.