Bill James Quotes

But I want you to know that what I'm doing here I'm doing as a ballplayer, a major league ballplayer.

I'm human and I've played my butt off for ten years. I'm not a loafer, I'm not a jerk, I'm a baseball player.

I try to work hard. I try to set a good example. I don't look at it as though I've got to be a leader. I just try to behave the way I think I should behave. If that results in a leadership role, great.

I was a professional athlete, the best baseball player in the world at one point.

An athlete must have ability to reach the top, but many who have ability and who do not live clean lives never have and never will be champions for obvious reasons.

I'm proud of everything that I've accomplished since I was a little boy. That was my dream - to be a ballplayer. I didn't dream to win so many Gold Gloves, or Silver Bats or play in All-Star Games or World Series. I was just dreaming to play the game.

I take my vote as a salute to the little guy, the one who doesn't hit 500 home runs. I was one of the guys that did all they could to win. I'm proud of my stats, but I don't think I ever got on for.

For a quarter of a century, I've been playing baseball for pay. It has been pretty good pay, most of the time. The work has been hard, but what of it? It's been risky. I've broken both my legs. I've sprained everything I've got between my ankles and my disposition. I've dislocated my joints and fractured my pride.

I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work.

I have had an amazing career for a man who hits things for a living.

I wanted to show Baltimore that they were getting a good ballplayer.

One of the most fantastic experiences I ever had was as a decathlete. I finished fifth in the nation my senior year of high school. I had no training or nothing.

I try to do my best both on and off the pitch, giving a good image in my behaviour.

Being a major-league baseball player is tough, so whenever you say 'face of the franchise,' I'm not trying to be that.

I need to show what a good player I can be.

I just keep doing me and representing the sport the right way.

Sometimes I score, sometimes I don't, so people are here to judge, but I know my qualities, and I try to give everything to win and help my team-mates.

If I had all the qualities that the newspapers are talking about, I'd be the best player in history.

I'm a baseball player who likes to enjoy himself and leave everything to God. He knows what'll happen.

I'm lucky. I got a chance to play major-league baseball.

I want to be a professional athlete who plays for the love of the game, never quits trying to give my best and is a good role model for all of the kids who look up to baseball players.

You only have such a short time to play baseball in your career. Whether you play for five years or 15 years, it's a short time in your life, and I think everybody wants to win.

Well, I'm definitely gonna focus on being a better all-around player.

I saw a lot of good hitters but I never saw a better one than Paul Waner. I mean I once threw a side arm spitter right into his belly and he hit it into the upper deck.

Carl Furillo was pure ballplayer. In his prime he stood six feet tall and weighed 190 pounds and there was a fluidity to his frame you seldom see, among such sinews. His black hair was thick, and tightly curled. His face was strong and smooth. He had the look of a young indomitable centurion ... I cannot imagine Carl Furillo in his prime as anything other than a ballplayer. Right field in Brooklyn was his destiny.