Mickey Mantle
Because the players knew that if Billy asked them to jump off a roof, he'd jump off with them.Collection: Baseball
As far as he knew, I was dying.Collection: Baseball
I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.Collection: Baseball
You might as well go in and start getting dressed. I'm going to hit his first pitch for a home run.Collection: Baseball
People say Yogi (Berra) is a strange guy, and I've heard Yogi say some funny things. But he has a beautiful wife, he's rich, and he's famous. I don't see anything strange about that.Collection: Beautiful
After a play in the field Casey would turn (to the players on the bench) and say 'What did he do wrong?' or 'You're better than that guy.' Either way, he'd keep them from getting stale.Collection: Baseball
A lot of people wrote that Roger (Maris) and I didn't like each other and that we didn't get along. Nothing could be further from the truth.Collection: Baseball
I don't know why, but for some reason I seem to be more popular now than when I was playing.Collection: Baseball
A body came flying out and landed at my feet. At first I thought it was Billy so I picked him up. But when I saw it wasn't I dropped him back down.Collection: Baseball
He can run, steal bases, throw, hit for average, and hit with power like I've never seen. Just don't put him at shortstop.Collection: Baseball
His fielding leaves you wondering. Then he steps up to hit and all doubts start to fade.Collection: Baseball
I never understood how someone who was dying could say he was the luckiest man in the world, but now I understand.Collection: Men
Thank God for baseball.Collection: Baseball
All the ballparks and the big crowds have a certain mystique. You feel attached, permanently wedded to the sounds that ring out, to the fans chanting your name, even when there are only four or five thousand in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon.Collection: Names
When I first came to Yankee Stadium I used to feel like the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were walking around in there.Collection: Baseball
When I'm hitting, I'd play for nothing. When I'm not, any kind of money I receive makes me feel as if I'm stealing.Collection: Play
At my best I was as good as anyone.Collection: Baseball
Hey Yog, what time is it? You mean right now?Collection: Baseball
Watch the old man. Watch how the old man keeps the guys who aren't playing happy.Collection: Baseball
It's what you're worth.Collection: Baseball
The best hitter I ever saw was Ted Williams.Collection: Baseball
I had it all and blew it.Collection: Fame
The strain on Roger (Maris) was unbelievable. After I dropped out the reporters only had one guy to go to. They surrounded him everywhere he went. He had big clumps of hair falling out. That he went ahead and did it was unbelievable.Collection: Baseball
The best team I ever saw, and I really mean this, was the '61 Yankees.Collection: Baseball
After they remodeled Yankee Stadium I didn't feel that the ghosts were there anymore. It just wasn't the same.Collection: Baseball
He foresaw the platooning that managers like Casey Stengel used years before it happened. He told me I had to be a switch-hitter if I was going to play.Collection: Baseball
The hardest thing to do in sports, I think, is to hit a home run.Collection: Sports
They should have come out of the dugout on tippy-toes, holding hands and singing.Collection: Hands
All I have is natural ability.Collection: Baseball
There were things that would irritate Casey, but trying too hard or getting mad at sitting on the bench weren't among them.Collection: Baseball
I wanted to throw my glass at the TV.Collection: Baseball
Hey Mantle, you win. You're the worst.Collection: Baseball
The greatest thing I ever saw was Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's record.Collection: Baseball
Of course, I didn't tell you about all the times I said I was going to hit one and it didn't happen.Collection: Baseball
I expected him to say, 'Hang in there' or something like that. It took me an hour to talk him into giving me another chance!Collection: Baseball
Butcher boy, damn it, butcher boy.Collection: Baseball
Not after all the time my dad spent teaching me to switch-hit.Collection: Baseball
You hit .350 you're a leader. You hit .250 and you're not.Collection: Baseball
I've heard about you. I've heard about you, too.Collection: Baseball
This year I'd rather lead the league in home runs, runs batted in and hitting.Collection: Running
He said to play louder. He can't hear you.Collection: Baseball
I can't play any more. I can't hit the ball when I need to. I can't steal second when I need to. I can't go from first to third when I need to. I can't score from second when I need to. I have to quit.Collection: Play
I don't care what the situation was, how high the stakes were - the bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch, it never bothered Whitey. He pitched his game. Cool. Craft. Nerves of steel.Collection: Yankees
What did you say, Joe?Collection: Baseball
Billy (Martin) wasn't afraid of anything.Collection: Baseball
Billy (Martin) was a great one for jokes. He liked to play a joke more than anyone I ever knew.Collection: Baseball
I never saw him fight. I never saw Billy fight.Collection: Baseball
Sometimes I sit in my den at home and read stories about myself. Kids used to save whole scrapbooks on me. They get tired of them and mail them to me. I'll go in there and read them, and you know what? They might as well be about (Stan) Musial and (Joe) DiMaggio, it's like reading about somebody else.Collection: Reading
Before you go, would you sign that case of balls for me?Collection: Baseball