You can observe a lot just by watching.
Yogi Berra
Touch Wood
No, I’m not superstitious. I’m afraid it would bring me bad luck.
Babe Ruth
Gratitude
I want to thank everybody who made this night necessary.
Yogi on ‘Yogi Berra Night’
Track Record
Rollie Fingers has 35 saves and has a better record than John the Baptist.
Lon Simmons, sportscaster
Plaudits
I couldn’t have done half of it [his triumphs] without the players.
Casey Stengel
Percentage Game
Ninety per cent of this game is half-mental.
Jim Wohlford, Milwaukee Brewers
Pretty Woman
A woman to me can be attractive, just by saying yes.
Babe Ruth attributed
Double Trouble
He slides into second with a stand-up double.
Jerry Coleman
Out-standing
A baseball team doesn’t run out of time, it runs out of outs.
Robert Gensemer, sportswriter
Sweet Memories
A great catch is just like watching girls go by – the last one you saw is always the prettiest.
Bob Gibson, St Louis Cardinals
Wage Packet
A homer a day will boost my pay.
Josh Gibson, famous Afro-American league baseball player
Labelling
In a way, an umpire is like a woman. He makes quick decisions, never reverses them and doesn’t think you’re safe when you’re out.
Umpire Larry Goetz
Race Relations
Baseball is very big with my people. It figures. It’s the only time we can get to shake a bat at a white man without starting a riot.
Dick Gregory, comedian
Mixed Blessing
Patience, that’s what an older pitcher has that a younger pitcher doesn’t … The only trouble is, when you’re old, other people sometimes tend to lose patience with you quicker.
Tommy John, New York Yankees
Room Mate
I don’t room with Babe Ruth, I room with his suitcase.
Ping Bodie, New York Yankees
Nothing But The Truth?
I’m not old, I was just born before a lot of other people.
Darrell Evans
Foreign Tongues
Hector Torrez, how can you communicate with Enzo Herrandez when he speaks Spanish and you speak Mexican?
Jerry Coleman
Victory and Loss
Somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose – and I believe in letting the other guy lose.
Pete Rose, Cincinnatti Reds and Philadelphia Phillies
Reversal of Fortune
Garry Maddox has turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he’s miserable and depressed.
Harry Kalas, Phillies announcer
Marriage Guidance
When you win you eat better, sleep better and your beer tastes better. And your wife looks like Gina Lollobrigida.
Johnny Pesky, Boston Red Sox manager
Count Up
That’s Hendricks’ 19th home run; one more and he hits double figures.
Jerry Coleman
Tight Fit
Watching Ferando Valenzuela force himself into a Dodger uniform is like seeing Kate Smith struggling to fit into a pair of Brooke Shields’ designer jeans.
H. G. Reza, sportswriter
Mystery Woman
Who is this ‘Babe’ Ruth? And what does she do?
George Bernard Shaw
Sound Not Vision
Blind people come to the park just to hear Tom Seaver pitch.
Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees
Grandma
Only if she was crowding the plate.
Early Wynn, Cleveland Indians, when asked if he’d throw ‘at’ his grandmother
Mixed Messages
We’re all sad to see Glen Beckert leave. Before he goes, though, I hope he stops by so we can kiss him goodbye. He’s that kind of guy.
Jerry Coleman
3. Media Moments
Time Zone
The way he’s swinging the bat, he won’t get a hit until the 20th Century.
Jerry Coleman, referring to Dave Roberts
Medical News
X-rays of Dean’s head show nothing.
Newspaper headline
Time Zone
It’s a beautiful day for a night game.
Frankie Frisch, St Louis Cardinals
Identity Crisis
I don’t think so. What paper does he write for?
Yogi Berra, when asked if he knew Ernest Hemingway, the writer
Against All Odds
Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio.
Gerald Ford
Educational Problems
At the end of six innings’ play, it’s Montreal 5, the Expos 3.
Jerry Coleman
Numerical Disadvantage
There’s someone warming up in the bull-pen, but he’s obscured by his number.
Jerry Coleman
Iceberg
He [Charlie O. Finley] is so cold-blooded, he ought to make anti-freeze adverts.
Reggie Jackson
It Doesn’t Add Up
The Pirates won eight of their 102 losses against the Mets last year.
Ralph Kiner, Pittsburgh Pirates
Papal Bull
Well, that kind of puts the damper on even a Yankee win!
Phil Rizutto – Yankee announcer after announcing the death of Pope Paul VI
Misunderstanding
I remember a reporter asking for a quote, and I didn’t know what a quote