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"A baseball manager is a necessary evil."
"Babe Ruth is dead and buried in Baltimore but the game is bigger and better than ever."
"Baseball is a simple game. If you have good players and if you keep them in the right frame of mind then the manager is a success."
"Casey (Stengel) knew his baseball. He only made it look like he was fooling around. He knew every move that was ever invented and some that we haven't even caught on to yet."
"Don't call us (ballplayers) heroes. Fireman are heroes."
"Don't let yourself get beat by Superman."
"He (Aurelio Rodriguez) probably had as good a pair of hands on him as anybody, and a great arm—the only two arms I've ever seen like that, (Travis) Fryman and him. This guy was a great third baseman."
"He (Pete Rose) is Cincinnati. He's the Reds."
"He's (Jose Canseco) built like a Greek goddess."
"He's (Willie Stargell) such a big strong guy he should love that porch. He's got power enough to hit home runs in any park, including Yellowstone."
"I cannot get rid of the hurt from losing, but after the last out of every loss, I must accept that there will be a tomorrow. In fact, it's more than there'll be a tomorrow, it's that I want there to be a tomorrow. That's the big difference, I want tomorrow to come."
"I can't believe they pay us to play baseball - something we did for free as kids."
"I don't believe a manager ever won a pennant. Casey Stengel won all those pennants with the Yankees. How many did he win with the Boston Braves and Mets? I've never seen a team win a pennant without players. I think the only thing the manager has to do is keep things within certain boundaries."
"I don't know whether I'm a big leaguer or not, but I want to find out, and if I can't do it, then I'll be a minor leaguer the rest of my life."
"I don't know why the players make such a big fuss about sitting in the first class section of the plane. Does that mean they'll get there faster?"
"I don't want to embarrass any other catcher by comparing him to Johnny Bench."
"If a team is in a positive frame of mind, it will have a good attitude. If it has a good attitude, it will make a commitment to playing the game right. If it plays the game right, it will win—unless, of course, it doesn't have enough talent to win, and no manager can make goose-liver pate out of goose feathers, so why worry?"
"If I ever find a pitcher who has heat, a good curve, and a slider, I might seriously consider marrying him, or at least proposing."
"If I hear Bowie Kuhn say just once more he's doing something for the betterment of baseball, I'm going to throw-up."
"If you have to choose between power and speed and it often turns out you have to make that choice, you've got to go for speed."
"I hope the car they (Sport Magazine who awarded it to the World Series MVP) give him (Brooks Robinson) has an extra large glove box."
"I only had a high school education and believe me, I had to cheat to get that."
"It's a terrible thing to have to tell your fans, who have waited like Detroit's have, that their team won't win it this year. But it's better than lying to them."
"I understand people who boo us. It's like going to Broadway show, you pay for your tickets and expect to be entertained. When you're not, you have a right to complain."
"I've changed my mind about it (DH) - instead of being bad, it stinks."
"Me carrying a briefcase is like a hotdog wearing earrings."
"My idea of managing is giving the ball to Tom Seaver and sitting down and watching him work."
"People who live in the past generally are afraid to compete in the present. I've got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There's no future in it."
"Pete (Rose) doesn't run with celebrities and he can't stand the phonies. His big buddy in LA ain't Sinatra, it's a funny old groundskeeper."
"Pete Rose is baseball."
"Players have two things to do. Play and keep their mouths shut."
"Problem with (John) Wockenfuss getting on base is that it takes three doubles to score him."
"The day I got a hit off (Sandy) Koufax was when he knew it was all over."
"The great thing about baseball is when you're done, you'll only tell your grandchildren the good things. If they ask me about 1989, I'll tell them I had amnesia."
"The man I marvel at is the one that's in there day after day, and night after night and still puts the figures on the board. I'm talking about Pete Rose, Stan Musial, the real stars. Believe me, especially the way we travel today, flying all night with a game the next night and then the next afternoon, if you can play one-hundred and sixty-two games, you're a man."
"The only reason I'm coming out here tomorrow is the schedule says I have to (after losing 16-4 to the Twins)."
"The only thing I believe is this: A player does not have to like a manager and he does not have to respect a manager. All he has to do is obey the rules."
"The players make the manager, it's never the other way."
"They're loyal Royal all the way. But, they're not tough fans, a player does not have to worry about being insulted there."
"They say the first World Series is the one you remember most. No, no, no. I guarantee you don't remember that one because the fantasy world you always dreamed about is suddenly real."
"This game has taken a lot of guys over the years who would have had to work in factories and gas stations and made them prominent people. I only had a high school education, and believe me, I had to cheat to get that. There isn't a college in the world that would have me and yet in this business you can walk into a room with millionaires, doctors, professional people and get more attention than they get. I don't know any other business where you can do that."
"We're the best team in baseball, but not by much."
"You give us the pitching some of these clubs have and no one could touch us, but God has a way of not arranging that, because it's not as much fun."
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