If I Knew Exactly What I Know

Once The Record Was Mine, I Had To Use It Like A Louisville Slugger. I Believed, And Still Do, That There Was A Reason Why I Was Chosen To Break The Record. I Feel It's My Task To Carry On Where Jackie Robinson Left Off, And I Only Know Of One Way To Go About It. It's The Only Way I've Ever Had Of Dealing With Things Like Fastballs And Bigotry -- Keep Swinging At Them.

Looking At The Ball Going Over The Fence Isn't Going To Help.

I Looked For The Same Pitch My Whole Career, A Breaking Ball. All Of The Time. I Never Worried About The Fastball. They Couldn't Throw It Past Me, None Of Them.

I Was Being Thrown To The Wolves. Even Though I Did Something Great, Nobody Wanted To Be A Part Of It. I Was So Isolated. I Couldn't Share It. For Many Years, Even After Jackie Robinson, Baseball Was So Segregated, Really. You Just Didn't Expect Us To Have A Chance To Do Anything. Baseball Was Meant For The Lily-white.

I Used To Love To Come To The Ballpark. Now I Hate It. Every Day Becomes A Little Tougher Because Of All This. Writers, Tape Recorders, Microphones, Cameras, Questions And More Questions. Roger Maris Lost His Hair The Season He Hit Sixty-one. I Still Have All My Hair, But When It's Over, I'm Going Home To Mobile And Fish For A Long Time.