Sources Beginning with FFarrell, James T.Novelist and baseball fanWe American men are a nation of frustrated baseball players and the literature of our childhood was of play-by-play, morning-after stories and box scores. These box scores, in the days of our boyhood, read like documents of history. We never lose our boyhood. It hangs in our minds. The death of Eddie Collins brought this back to me with a certain keenness and clarity. And it also brought me another regret. I had always hoped that I might someday happen to meet him and tell him how much I admired him as a ball player and what his career meant to me. Feller, BobHall of Fame pitcherEvery day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is. Filion, HerveHarness driverI sit down on the job. I let the horse do the work. I guide him. If the horse gets beat, it's not my fault. If he wins, it's not my fault. Sometimes I make the wrong move and it turns out to be the right move. The point is, you have to have someone between the shafts. Horses are all about the same. It's just, some are faster than others. I'm out there to win money. Not for the love of this or that. The money. People say money is the root of all evil. That's wrong. Not to have money is the root of all evil. |
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Finks, JimNFL general managerI'm not allowed to comment on lousy officiating. Finley, CharlieMajor league ownerSweat plus sacrifice equals success. Finley, ChuckMajor league pitcher That just shows you how this league has gone to hell. Fitzsimmons, BobHeavyweight champion The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Flood, CurtMajor league centerfielder After twelve years in the major leagues I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system that produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several states. Ford, HenryAuto manufacturer and early racerI never thought anything of racing, but the public refused to consider the automobile in any light other than as a fast toy. Therefore later we had to race. The industry was held back by this initial racing slant, for the attention of the makers was diverted to making fast rather than good cars. . . . [his victory over Alexander Winton in 1902] . . . brought advertising of the only kind that people cared to read. Ford, WhiteyHall of Fame pitcher It was as though I had my own tool bench out there with me. Foreman, GeorgeHeavyweight boxerThere's a lot of credit that can be given to youth and enthusiasm. But with them comes foolishness. Age and craftsmanship is not to be played down. I have got more tricks up my sleeve than an alligator has teeth. The Rope a Dope would not have existed without the Big Dope. I had two heroes, John Wayne and Roy Rogers. Then one day I saw Jim Brown and I said, that's the way I want to look. Jim Brown represents a dream come true for every young man who wanted to be something, especially in the '60's. We saw in him everything we wanted to be. Francis, GerryEnglish soccer coachWhat I said to them at half time would be unprintable on the radio. Frey, JimMajor league managerA lot of older guys would like to believe that everybody used to be a hustler; everybody used to be a team man, to play hard and play smart. That's just not so. We had our share of lazy, dumb, careless players back then, too. Frick, FordCommissioner of baseball If you do this you will be suspended from the league. You will find that the friends you think you have in the press box will not support you, that you will be outcasts. I do not care if half the league strikes. Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. They will be suspended, and I don't care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America, and one citizen has as much right to play as another. The National League will go down the line with Robinson whatever the consequences. Frost, RobertPoetNothing flatters me more than to have it assumed that I could write prose-unless it be to have it assumed that I once pitched a baseball with distinction. Fullerton, HughSportswriterAny team will play better ball and win oftener if the patrons are loyal. The fan, voicing the spirit of the town, is a power for victory or defeat. The baseball fan is a unique American species and the most rabid of all enthusiasts. Compared with him the golf fan, the bridge fan, even the bowling fan are mild. Baseball is the most serious pleasure ever invented. Baseball is the melting pot at a boil, the most democratic sport in the world and, in stand and bleachers, all are equal during a hard game. I used to weary of watching games from the press box and go out to the bleachers to mingle with the fans. If you want to get a high idea of the love of fair play that is basic in baseball, sit out there. They'll stand for anything up to manslaughter if it is sportsmanlike, but let any trace of cheating creep in and see how quickly they turn. They know the game, too, those fellows who broil in the cheap seats, much better than the average grand stand attendee, and they welcome anyone. |
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