| | Quotes by Mantle
"Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part."
--quoted in Slick by Whitey Ford
"But god-damn, to think you're a .300 hitter and end up at .237 in your last season, then find yourself looking at a lifetime .298 average--it made me want to cry."
--On himself in The Mick
"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."
--On why he was retiring
"I figure I got all the breaks in spite of my legs. Otherwise, I'd have been in the mines."
--Quoted in Great Sports Reporting
"I could never be a manager. All I have is natural ability."
--Quoted in Great Sports Reporting
"I was sitting here the other day, and I tried to remember what it was like to hit a home run and win a game. And I couldn't remember. It was like the whole thing happened to somebody else."
--After his retirement
"...if I had played my career hitting singles like Pete, I'd wear a dress."
--On Pete Rose in The Mick
"Sorry, Mickey, but because of the way you lived on earth, you can't come in. But, before you leave, would you autograph one of those baseballs for Him."
--banquet speech ancecdote on his death and arrival to heaven
"We used to tease each other about whose liver was going to go first. I never thought it would end for him this way."
--On the death of Billy Martin, quoted in USA Today
"Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing's ever been as fun as baseball."
--Quoted in the New York Times
| |
ALSO SEE
Friday - SportsCentury biography of Mickey Mantle
More on the Mick
Quotes on Mantle
|
