Don Yaeger Quotes

I never forgot the four years I spent with the Phillies, my September call-ups and my big league Spring Trainings. I never forgot that.

I've faced more than 35 major leaguers, and only two have ever made contact against me.

I wasn't ready for the majors when I joined the Pirates in 1955. I was too young and didn't know my way around.

I'm anxious to face them (major league pitchers) all, but in reality I'm looking forward most to (Boston's) Pedro Martinez. He was with the major league team that came to Japan in 1996, just before he became a superstar. I'm anxious to see how much he's improved. And I'm anxious to see how much I've improved against him.

We all know it's hard to have time to come in as a young player - maybe the club and the supporters give you seven, eight, nine games where you're rusty and not performing. It's difficult to do that.

Whatever happens happens, but learning from the players at Chelsea is a great experience.

My rookie year was so much easier, and it was so much shorter than most rookies due to the fact that I had KG. That changes everything. I was blessed to have the opportunity to play with KG - not only learn but play with KG. Not many people in the NBA are able to say that.

I'd rather be involved and somebody say, 'Hey, coach, here's what I need you to do. Go down to the D-League and work with guys'... I want the D-League coach to learn how to be a head coach.

I played good ball in the minor leagues, and that's why they called me up to the major leagues.

You know, I spent parts of six seasons in the minor leagues and I dealt with some injuries there, I saw a lot of things. I had the safety net of being a first-round pick, so I didn't maybe necessarily experience some of that hardship firsthand, but I watched it break a lot of guys. The strain that it puts on you and your family, it's really tough.

I suppose I should have realised that the very fact I was still playing for United at 38 years old was a sign that there was not enough pressure on us senior players from those coming into the side.

When I left City I was still young and there was a lot for me to learn in all parts of my game. To come back and have learned something at a place like Chelsea is down partly to the kind of players I played alongside.

A lot of rookies don't come into the league and have that type of leeway that Coach Walton and his staff really gave me.

If you want to work as a coach for longer term you need consistency, trust in the club and also the environment around the club.

I only have words of thanks to Mourinho, he has made me better. I played a lot under him and I was named player of the season with him in the dugout.

The prospect of coaching two of the game's most exciting and decorated players in Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson was incredibly appealing to me, and I look forward to beginning this new chapter in my career.

In the early days, when I first got into the WI team, when the Ws were playing, I would sit and watch. When you could learn from watching players like that, it was a great joy to watch them play.

It sounds strange, maybe, because I have played with a lot of big players but I never thought: 'OK, they're going to go into management.' Maybe there was only one, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, because he was always talking about football but I did not have a feeling with the other players.

Ancelotti moved me to a new position and helped me raise my game.

When I was growing up I would always watch the more experienced players to see what they were doing and why they were doing it.

Sometimes in your career, you are at the right place at the right moment. But you have to be aware that eventually you may no longer be the right person for that position. So build your succession and foster for it while you are still at the peak of you career.

I think the 20-year-old me from that time, if I could have been managed under Jurgen Klopp, I'd have benefitted.

I grew up around a lot of the major leaguers, guys like David Wright, Pedro Martinez, Jose Reyes, and I think that's what really helped me. You see the routine they get, the humility they have.

Every coach, when starting work at a new club, hopes to stay many, many years because it means you are working very well. You have the possibility to improve your players, to improve your team, and to grow together.

I received a lot of criticism early in my career, but people didn't realize that I'd only been training for three years when I turned pro.