Mickey Mantle Baseball Quotations

He can run, steal bases, throw, hit for average, and hit with power like I've never seen. Just don't put him at shortstop.

The hardest thing to do in sports, I think, is to hit a home run.

Those people don't know how tough that really was.

What did you say, Joe?

If I send the ball home, I know what will happen to it. My twin brothers will take it out on the lot, like any 20-cent rocket.

You might as well go in and start getting dressed. I'm going to hit his first pitch for a home run.

Of course, I didn't tell you about all the times I said I was going to hit one and it didn't happen.

There are two kinds of people. There are leaders and there are followers. And I'm a follower.

You hit .350 you're a leader. You hit .250 and you're not.

I wanted to throw my glass at the TV.

I never saw him fight. I never saw Billy fight.

I never got to see the '27 Yankees. Everyone says that was the greatest team ever. But I think it would've been a great series if we'd have had the chance to play them.

I don't know why Roger (Maris) isn't in the hall of fame. To me, he was as good as there ever was.

It's what you're worth.

I don't care who you are, you hear those boos.

In 1961 somebody could've hit a home run to win the game and the next day the headline was about the M&M boys not hitting a home run. But everyone was real good about it. Instead of getting mad they joked about it.

The greatest thing I ever saw was Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's record.

Well, I beat my man. Now it's up to you to beat yours.

A body came flying out and landed at my feet. At first I thought it was Billy so I picked him up. But when I saw it wasn't I dropped him back down.

It looked like Roy Rogers rode through on Trigger, and Trigger kicked the guy in the face.

Billy (Martin) wasn't afraid of anything.

Before you go, would you sign that case of balls for me?

When I first came to Yankee Stadium I used to feel like the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were walking around in there.

After they remodeled Yankee Stadium I didn't feel that the ghosts were there anymore. It just wasn't the same.

It gave me a second chance. I'd like everybody to have a second chance if they need it, so I'm trying to let people know how important it is to become an organ donor.

To play 18 years in Yankee Stadium is the best thing that could ever happen to a ballplayer.

If I were playing today I'd do what Joe DiMaggio said. I'd go knock on the door at Yankee Stadium and when George Steinbrenner answered I'd say, 'Howdy, pardner.'

As far as he knew, I was dying.

I don't know why, but for some reason I seem to be more popular now than when I was playing.

Hey Mantle, you win. You're the worst.

At my best I was as good as anyone.

I think the best all-round baseball player ever was Joe DiMaggio.

The best hitter I ever saw was Ted Williams.

My biggest regret was letting my lifetime average drop below .300. I always felt I was a .300 hitter, and if I could change one thing that would be it.

Billy (Martin) was a great one for jokes. He liked to play a joke more than anyone I ever knew.

I expected him to say, 'Hang in there' or something like that. It took me an hour to talk him into giving me another chance!

Not after all the time my dad spent teaching me to switch-hit.

As far as I'm concerned, Aaron is the best ball player of my era. He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He's never received the credit he's due.

We know you can bunt, Mick. You're not down here to bunt. You're here to get some hits and get your swing back.

I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.

The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It's the only thing I know.

I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you he'd come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, 'Do you want me to sign it?'

I've heard about you. I've heard about you, too.

Casey wanted us to stay loose. That didn't mean clowning around. He just meant we should be confident and relaxed. We shouldn't feel that one strikeout was going to end the season for us.

Billy copied Casey to a 'T.'

There were things that would irritate Casey, but trying too hard or getting mad at sitting on the bench weren't among them.

This year I'd rather lead the league in home runs, runs batted in and hitting.

Casey didn't easily forgive a guy who got doubled up on a hit-and-run play. He didn't see any reason why the runner couldn't take a quick glance back toward the plate to make sure the ball was hit safely.

Hey man! Get away from me!

Butcher boy, damn it, butcher boy.

People say Yogi (Berra) is a strange guy, and I've heard Yogi say some funny things. But he has a beautiful wife, he's rich, and he's famous. I don't see anything strange about that.

After a play in the field Casey would turn (to the players on the bench) and say 'What did he do wrong?' or 'You're better than that guy.' Either way, he'd keep them from getting stale.

He said to play louder. He can't hear you.

My views are just about the same as Casey's.

Hey Yog, what time is it? You mean right now?

Watch the old man. Watch how the old man keeps the guys who aren't playing happy.

Because the players knew that if Billy asked them to jump off a roof, he'd jump off with them.

It was the single greatest feat I ever saw.

If you want to know who was better, me or Willie Mays, you have to look at our career stats. And Willie's bottom line was better.

All I have is natural ability.

You don't realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth.

The thing I really liked about Mickey was the way he treated everyone the same.

I guess you could say I'm what this country is all about.

Ralph (Houk) brought out the best in everybody, and that included me. I consider myself lucky to have played for him.

I'll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do.

It was all I lived for, to play baseball.

If I hadn't met those two guys (Billy Martin and Whitey Ford) at the start of my career, I would have lasted another five years.

His fielding leaves you wondering. Then he steps up to hit and all doubts start to fade.

Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Listen to your moms and dads. In this great country of ours you do whatever you set your mind to. Make us proud of you.

Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.

The strain on Roger (Maris) was unbelievable. After I dropped out the reporters only had one guy to go to. They surrounded him everywhere he went. He had big clumps of hair falling out. That he went ahead and did it was unbelievable.

No man in the history of baseball had as much power as . No man.

He foresaw the platooning that managers like Casey Stengel used years before it happened. He told me I had to be a switch-hitter if I was going to play.

I've often wondered how a man who knew he was going to die could stand here and say he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but now I guess I know how he felt.

I thought I raised a ballplayer. You're nothing but a coward and a quitter.

Thank God for baseball.

My dad taught me to switch-hit. He and my grandfather, who was left-handed, pitched to me every day after school in the back yard. I batted lefty against my dad and righty against my granddad.

A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.

Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing's ever been as fun as baseball.

It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing all your life.

I leaned on him for support when I got out of the cab, and he just crumpled to the ground. That's how we found out.

The best team I ever saw, and I really mean this, was the '61 Yankees.

After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.

Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, 'Sure, every time.'

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.