Mickey Mantle Quotes

I'm a runner from sports. I've been a runner, but I wasn't a cross-country runner or anything like that. I played a lot of soccer growing up.

Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it.

I don't ever remember seeing a base runner who was all the way to third base run back across the mound. It was kind of a respectful thing.

I played [baseball] in college, so it wasn't that much a stretch. But I would say the main thing for guys who hadn't played before it's just one word - swagger. If you have swagger on the field, and look like you know how to play, that's 90% of it.

I want to thank all my teammates who scored so many runs and Joe DiMaggio, who ran down so many of my mistakes.

When I'm hitting, I'd play for nothing. When I'm not, any kind of money I receive makes me feel as if I'm stealing.

All you umpires, back to the bleachers. Referees, hit the showers. It's my game. I pitch, I hit, I catch. I run the bases. At sunset, I've won or lost. At sunrise, I'm out again, giving it the old try.

When I played ball, I didn't play for fun.

I miss the guys, and I miss playing baseball. Just being able to swing the bat, or run, or dive for a ball, or slide into second.

But you don't have to go up in the stands and play your foul balls. I do.

Playing well or playing bad, I have to play aggressive. I must play aggressive.

The tradition of professional baseball always has been agreeably free of chivalry. The rule is, "Do anything you can get away with."

I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious.

About winning and losing: It isn't important, what really counts is how you play the game. About playing the game: PLAY TO WIN!

I think just about everybody ought to get a second chance and I'd like to see it worked out, because he (Pete Rose) brought a lot of joy to the game, and he gave a lot of joy to people, and he's paid a price - God knows, he's paid a price.

If you play well on the field, everything will take care of itself.

As a kid, I loved to play centerfield. I loved to make diving catches.

Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.

I had orders from the great Bill Russell. Me and him were talking in Seattle the other day, and he was telling me how rivalries should be. I asked him if he ever disliked anybody he played against, and he told me, 'No, never,' and he told me that I should shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet.

Every time I step onto the field, whether people like it or not, I'm not trying to play dirty - I'm just playing tough. And I'm trying to earn my spot on the team. I'm trying to earn a starting spot. I'm trying to become a complete midfielder who attacks, who defends. So that's the mindset.

I did takwondo from the time I was pretty young and also played I did taekwondo for martial arts and then also played football, baseball, and basketball against older kids because of my brother being older. I learned pretty quickly to not be intimidated and to not back down.

People say I don't have great tools. They say that I can't throw like Ellis Valentine or run like Tim Raines or hit with power like Mike Schmidt. Who can? I make up for it in other ways, by putting out a little bit more. That's my theory, to go through life hustling. In the big leagues, hustle usually means being in the right place at the right time. It means backing up a base. It means backing up your teammate. It means taking that headfirst slide. It means doing everything you can do to win a baseball game.

Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose.

I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose, I take my medicine.