I Don't Rate Them, I Just Hit

At Ten I Was Playing Against 18-year-old Guys. At 15 I Was Playing Professional Ball With The Birmingham Black Barons, So I Really Came Very Quickly In All Sports.

I Don't Know What Joe (dimaggio) Wanted (in Regards To Being Called 'the Greatest Living Ballplayer'), But I Don't Have A Problem, If He Wanted To Do That. He Was My Hero. Joe Was The Best All-around Player. Joe Was The Best. I Only Played Against Him Once, In The '51 Series.

I Remember The Last Season I Played. I Went Home After A Ballgame One Day, Lay Down On My Bed, And Tears Came To My Eyes. How Can You Explain That? It's Like Crying For Your Mother After She's Gone. You Cry Because You Love Her. I Cried, I Guess, Because I Loved Baseball, And I Knew I Had To Leave It.

One Of The Hardest Parts Of Practice Is The Criticism A Player Takes From His Coaches. Some Players Think A Coach Has It In For Them When A Flaw In Style Is Pointed Out ... I Know That When Things Start Going Wrong, For One, I Get The Coach To Keep His Eye On Me To See What I'm Suddenly Doing Wrong. I Can't See It Or I Wouldn't Be Doing It In The First Place.

The Catch Off Bobby Morgan (a Backhanded Grab Of The Brooklyn Dodger's Line Drive In September 1951 At Ebbets Field) In Brooklyn Was The Best Catch I Ever Made. Jackie Robinson And (giants Manager) Leo Durocher Were The First People I Saw When I Opened My Eyes