For me, baseball is the most nourishing game outside of literature. They both are re-tellings of human experience.
A. Bartlett Giamatti
On matters of race, on matters of decency, baseball should lead the way.
There are a lot of people who know me who can't understand for the life of them why I would got to work on something as unserious as baseball. If they only knew.
There's nothing bad that accrues from baseball.
Baseball has undergone and absorbed a whole set of dislocations.
We have an obligation to spread amateur baseball both at home and abroad. Building up the game at all levels - Little League, Babe Ruth Leagues, the colleges - is in our own self-interest. That's where the pool of talent is - and also of fans.
I talked to a few schools about playing football, but I had already pretty much made my mind up. I fell in love with baseball at a young age, and I knew that that's what I wanted to do.
Aaron Judge
The ups and downs, that's baseball life. That's what I live for, play for.
I've always had that mindset of, 'OK, I may be hot this month or doing really well this month, but don't get too high, don't get too low - just enjoy it.' Don't ride the rollercoaster, basically. I always thought about it like, I'm not going to an amusement park, I'm going to a baseball field.
Any time you play shortstop or center field, the majority of the baseballs are hit in the middle of the field.
In baseball, you have to remain calm, cool, and collected. In football, you can let out a little anger sometimes. It was a fun game, and I liked it, but I knew in my heart I was going to play baseball.
That's your dream, to play professional baseball. When you get the opportunity like that, getting drafted - especially by Oakland, a California team, pretty close to home - it was tempting. At the time, I just didn't think I was ready or mature enough mentally or physically to start pro ball.
I had a lot of fun playing football and basketball, but deep down, the chess match or cat-and-mouse game between the pitcher and batter in baseball really drew me in. It's a thinking man's game, and for me, nothing can compare to that.
When I was younger, I'd always forget stuff. I think there was probably 4-5 times where we'd drive 30 minutes to a town for the baseball tournament, and all of a sudden, I'd get to the field and look in my bag, and I didn't have my cleats. So my dad had to race all the way home to get my cleats and get back before the game started so I could play.
That's what it's all about - postseason baseball.
My dad told me, 'If you're going to go out there and play baseball, or you're going to play basketball or football, work hard at it no matter what. I want you to have fun with your buddies, but you have to put in the time because this is your craft.' He didn't just want me to be good. He pushed me to that next level.
I grew up in the '60s, which was a creative time, so it wasn't that big of a stretch to go from a baseball bat to a guitar to a film camera.
Abel Ferrara
Did I collect baseball cards? I've got 10 books full of plastic in my mother's house. All the Upper Decks, the Fleers, the Fleer Ultras. My grandfather brought me to the trade shows. I collected Marvel cards, too.
Action Bronson
I'm a championship handball player. I'm a championship softball and baseball player. I used to be an extremely talented center in high school in football. I also dabbled in lacrosse and soccer. I'm really good at billiards, darts, shuffleboard.
When I auditioned for 'Pitch Perfect,' I didn't know it was a singing movie. I didn't read the script. I go to the audition, and I'm like, 'Oh, it's a baseball movie.' But then I'm reading the lines, and I'm like, 'This doesn't seem like a baseball movie.'
Adam DeVine
I sang the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium - at a baseball game - which was crazy; there was, like, 60,000 people there, which is a huge deal in America - singing the National Anthem.
I would say I was into two sports as a kid: basketball and baseball.
I thought I was better at basketball, but obviously people didn't think so. But I loved them equally, whether it be baseball season, basketball, football, golf, I liked them equally.
I would not be in the NFL, 100 percent, if it wasn't for basketball. I probably wouldn't be where I am without golf and baseball. Golf, for the mental side of the game, being able to focus on the now and take one shot at a time.
I would compare kicking to being a closer in baseball. This whole game gets played, or the cake is made in front of you, so to speak, and you have to turn around and put the icing on the cake.
I love the flow of the game. There's a certain fluidity to basketball. I don't enjoy watching baseball or football in the same way.
One reason outfielders don't have stronger arms might be they don't practice as much as we did. Most teams today don't take outfield practice. Another reason is baseball has to compete with other sports now - basketball, football, soccer - for the better athletes that might have more skills and stronger arms.
Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it's business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don't love what you're doing and you can't give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You'll be an old man before you know it.
Baseball gives a growing boy self poise and self reliance.
Baseball is a man maker.
Two hours is about as long as any American can wait for the close of a baseball game, or anything else for that matter.
The genius of our institutions is democratic - baseball is a democratic game.
Dodger Stadium is not an antique. It's not Frank Lloyd Wright. It's a nice place to play baseball, but there are far better.
I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was collecting baseball cards. That was my childhood thing.
I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was collecting baseball cards. That was my childhood thing.
My wife and I love children. We have five of our own. I would ask that anyone who looks up to me would instead look up to God. I am nothing without Him. Everything I do in life and in baseball is to glorify Him.
In regards to core training, I try to incorporate the medicine ball whenever possible. As a baseball player, there is a lot of twisting and turning that I will do. Keeping my abs strong is as important as anything else.
I play to represent God, something bigger than baseball.
He means as much as Roberto Clemente does to Latin people. Thank God I had the opportunity to know him. I wish my kids had the opportunity to be around him, because that's how I want my kids to live their lives. I want them to be like Stan Musial. Not the baseball player. The person. That's the respect I have for that man.
When I think about the future and how I can make a difference in the world, I want to be able to use my love of the game of baseball to be a good example and a good person.
That's what makes baseball the best. Nothing matters but winning.
You watch all those moments that Jeter had for the Yankees. You can tell by the fans' reaction how much he meant to them and how much he meant to the city, how much he meant to the game of baseball.
My agent called me and said, 'You're going to be on the cover of 'R.B.I. Baseball.'' I was like, 'Are you serious?' It's unbelievable. Dream come true. I was yelling into the phone. I was super excited.
My dad, since I was growing up, has always taught me that I need to keep my mouth shut and just play baseball.
You can't go up there trying to get hits. You can just go up there trying to put together at-bats and square the baseball up.
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.
I don't find that much wrong with baseball.
I want to be the LeBron James of baseball.
When I was a kid, I played sports a lot. My mom and dad were divorced, but I hung out in the neighborhood a lot, and it was all about sports. I would be out all day on the sand lot or on the hockey rink. My dad would take me to baseball games, but he worked so hard, and he would always fall asleep.
There's something magical about a home run. It almost violates the space of the stadium. It's a game of the imagination in some ways. Baseball.
