I see great things in baseball. It’s our game – the American game. It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Baseball is an island of activity amidst a sea of statistics
—Unknown
Pitch within yourself
—Tom Seaver (1944–2020) American Baseball Player
Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
If people don’t want to come out to the ball park, nobody’s going to stop them.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
A baseball fan is a spectator sitting 500 feet from home plate Who can see better than an umpire standing five feet away.
—Anonymous
I have discovered in twenty years of moving around a ball park, that the knowledge of the game is usually in inverse proportion to the price of the seats
—Bill Veeck (1914–86) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
What is both surprising and delightful is that spectators are allowed, and even expected, to join in the vocal part of the game…. There is no reason why the field should not try to put the batsman off his stroke at the critical moment by neatly timed disparagements of his wife’s fidelity and his mother’s respectability
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can’t get you off.
—Bill Veeck (1914–86) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
Winners make goals, losers make excuses
—Unknown
You can observe a lot by watching.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.
—Ted Williams (1918–2002) American Sportsperson
I always thought that record would stand until it was broken
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Baseball is a skilled game. It’s America’s game—it, and high taxes
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
A baseball park is the one place where a man’s wife doesn’t mind his getting excited over somebody else’s curves
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing…. I told him I wanted to be a real Major League Baseball Player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he’d like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.
—Satchel Paige (1906–82) American Baseball Player
Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.
—Ted Williams (1918–2002) American Sportsperson
Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (‘Dr. Seuss’) (1904–91) American Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Cartoonist, Animator
In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end
—Tom Seaver (1944–2020) American Baseball Player
Baseball wrong – man with four balls cannot walk
—Indian Proverb
I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Ideally, the umpire should combine the integrity of a Supreme Court judge, the physical agility of an acrobat, the endurance of Job and the imperturbability of Buddha.
—Indian Proverb
Nothing flatters me more than to have it assumed that I could write prose-unless it be to have it assumed that I once pitched a baseball with distinction.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
If you get fooled by a pitch with less than two strikes, take it.
—Ted Williams (1918–2002) American Sportsperson
Traditional gag notice hung in offices and factories at a time period when all games were played during daylight hours
—Indian Proverb
It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
You can’t sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You’ve got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That’s why baseball is the greatest game of them all.
—Earl Weaver (1930–2013) American Baseball Player, Manager
Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated
—Unknown
The pitcher has got only a ball. I’ve got a bat. So the percentage of weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.
—Hank Aaron (1934–2021) American Baseball Player
Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is eighty percent of being a successful hitter. The other twenty percent is just execution.
—Hank Aaron (1934–2021) American Baseball Player
Ninety percent of this game is half mental.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.
—Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American Baseball Legend
You can’t think and hit the ball at the same time.
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Next to religion, baseball has furnished a greater impact on American life than any other institution
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
A team of giants needs giant pitchers who throw good ideas but every pitcher needs an outstanding catcher. Without giant catchers, the ideas of the giant pitchers may eventually disappear.
—Max De Pree (1924–2017) American Businessman
Baseball is the only game left for people. To play basketball, you have to be 7 feet 6 inches. To play football, you have to be the same width.
—Bill Veeck (1914–86) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published every day, like those of a baseball player.
—Unknown
Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It’s staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in
—Casey Stengel (1890–1975) American Sportsperson
I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks in batting practice
—Casey Stengel (1890–1975) American Sportsperson
You can’t think and hit at the same time
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There’s time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings.
—Bill Veeck (1914–86) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
Baseball is like driving, it’s the one who gets home safely that counts
—Tommy Lasorda (b.1927) American Baseball Player, Coach
Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.
—Casey Stengel (1890–1975) American Sportsperson
A ball player has got to be kept hungry be become a big leaguer. That is why no boy from a rich family ever made the big leagues.
—Joe DiMaggio (1914–99) American Baseball Player
When we played softball, I’d steal second base, feel guilty and go back
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
The best possible thing in baseball is winning the World Series. The second best thing is losing the World Series
—Tommy Lasorda (b.1927) American Baseball Player, Coach
Don’t look back. Something may be gaining on you.
—Satchel Paige (1906–82) American Baseball Player
That’s the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on the ball.
—Bill Veeck (1914–86) American Sportsperson, Businessperson