Don Larsen Quotes

Losing is the bane and bugbear of every professional athlete's existence, but in baseball the monster seems to hang closer than in other sports, its chilly claws and foul breath palpable around the neck hairs of the infielder bending for his crosshand scoop or the reliever slipping his first two fingers off-center on the ball seams before delivering his two-and-two cut fastball.

I've been in just about every situation as a player and coach and manager. I've been in the playoffs, World Series, and I know how to get there.

You don't face Nolan Ryan without your rest. He's the only guy I go against that makes me go to bed before midnight.

You're always in the storm's eye, so to speak, when you're with the Yankees.

The only reason I don't like playing in the World Series is I can't watch myself play.

In playing or managing, the game of ball is only fun for me when I'm out in front and winning. I don't give a hill of beans for the rest of the game.

If some guys couldn't stand the heat, then they didn't belong in the major leagues. I don't know anybody who refused the World Series checks I helped them get.

Oddly enough you'd think, now that I wasn't training professionally, I'd be able to enjoy a lie-in at the weekend, but I actually slept more when I was competing because I was so tired.

We lost 14 straight. Then we had a game rained out and it felt so good we had a victory dinner.

The game of baseball is a game of failure because it's so difficult to play. A 300 hitter, a superstar fails seven out of ten times at the plate. So what does that tell you about the game and its difficulty?

To me, pre-match preparation is extremely important because that's something which is within my control.

The mentality of coaches and players alike [in Bundesliga]. It's all about winning.

I don't care much about my personal record. I just want to be able to pitch in the playoffs.

There's pressure every night to be the best on the court. I put a lot of pressure on myself. Pressure is part of the game. It is also part of life. I want to prove I can do the work and be a success off the court as well as on it.

I know there's a lot of pressure, but I'm just going to go out and play my game.

Don’t let a first-set victory lead into a second-set slump

I don't want to live and die with every point that's being played out there now. I'm going to let my coach live and die with every point.

I don't think I've changed very much. I think I'm the same kid that I was when I got here. When I came here all I wanted to do was win games. I wanted to play baseball for LSU and be the ultimate team player. That's all I want to do. If we don't end up being the last team to win the game at the end of the year then I won't be happy. That's all I'm worried about this year.

Everybody is pretty good in the first quarter. Second quarter, you have a little bump or two on you coming into the half. By the time the third quarter comes around, you're tired, you're laboring. When you come to the fourth quarter, it calls on your character.

Sometimes it would be nice not to have to do my best. Sometimes it would just be nice not to have a crisis to deal with. - Anita Blake

Business is a sport and I want to win. I want to kick your ass. I may not win every game. But I certainly am going to try.

You don't want to get beat, number one, and you hate getting shutout, number two, and even worse, no hits.

The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major league game. The second-greatest feeling is to lose a major league game.

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

It was probably when I had a game point at 3-1 in the first set and it was a really long point, and I did a passing shot after a huge rally. Maybe from then I was like, 'Okay, that's not normal.'