Reggie Jackson Quotations

The only difference between me and those other great Yankees is my skin color.

A baseball swing is a very finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, then a little more after that.

Please God, let me hit one. I'll tell everybody you did it.

October: that's when they pay off for playing ball.

I didn't come to New York to be a star. I brought my star with me.

After Jackie Robinson the most important black in baseball history is Reggie Jackson, I really mean that.

The only reason I don't like playing in the World Series is I can't watch myself play.

I was reminded that when we lose and I strike out, a billion people in China don't care.

The greatest manager has a knack for making ballplayers think they are better than they think they are.

The only way I'm going to win a Gold Glove is with a can of spray paint.

You don't face Nolan Ryan without your rest. He's the only guy I go against that makes me go to bed before midnight.

When you've played this game for ten years and gone to bat seven-thousand times and gotten two-thousand hits do you know what that really means? It means you've gone zero for five-thousand.

In the building I live in on Park Avenue there are ten people who could buy the Yankees, but none of them could hit the ball out of Yankee Stadium.

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'd like to be able to light the fire a little bit.

When you take a pitch and line it somewhere, it's like you've thought of something and put it with beautiful clarity.

I have a hard time believing athletes are overpriced. If an owner is losing money, give it up. It's a business. I have trouble figuring out why owners would stay in if they're losing money.

I don't mind getting beaten, but I hate to lose.

You know, this game's not very much fun when you're only hitting .247.

I got to be very close to Gene as a player and after I retired, ... I think I probably stayed in closer contact with him than most.

I don't know that you can. Of course, it all depends on what they find.

Certainly, I think about the impact that Jackie Robinson had. Jackie, I hope, will be smiling. I hope his wife will be smiling.

For your club to win, ... you have to pull the chain, and the rest of your club has to be right behind. That's what the special ones do.

God do I love to hit that little round sum-bitch out of the park and make 'em say 'Wow!'

Here's what you have to understand these days about George. I stood 30 feet from him, and he didn't know who I was.

His tank was empty. He did what he could do.

He's going to get bigger and stronger and hit with more power when he fills out more. He'll have a lot more confidence.

I think it's something that's born. He's got an easy style about him. ... He's got a lot of talent, and he's only going to get better.

I think he's closer to 100 than he is 90.

That's a tough question. I know you're right, but I don't know the answer.

We have a lot of females who volunteer as a coach. Our girls who play see that.

This team, it all flows from me. I've got to keep it going. I'm the straw that stirs the drink.

Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you feel when (Nolan) Ryan's throwing balls by you.

I've seen a little bit of it. But I don't know that I'm interested.

I used to dream how good it would be to be Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle. My dreams have died. Even the rotten rings aren't what they're supposed to be. I'll buy my own diamonds. I can afford it now. No one gives you anything, you've got to get it for yourself.

Sometimes, you get into bad habits, ... He has what we call a nice behind-the-ball swing, a nice inside move. We're just trying to get him to work more on that. If we can get him to co-sign that, we'll be all right.

Perhaps for one night, ... I reached back and achieved that level of the overrated superstar. Babe Ruth was great. I'm just lucky.

After Jackie Robinson the most important black in baseball history is

Alex needs a championship. You're not great if you don't win one, and it doesn't matter how much money you make.

You can't help but see it every day. You get to the ballpark and the batting average is on the scoreboard.

Ask for help, and I do believe you will get it. I do look for you to become engaged, and I do look for the Yankees to respond to your request, if you look them in the eye and ask.

I told him, as long as you have a bat in your hand, you can rewrite the story. Instead of just talking to a writer, you can write the story.

For me, I knew he was prepared to do his job as the manager and I was going to get a full, best effort from the manager of the team,

For a certain amount of money, you'll eat Alpo.

Take care of the things you can control. As long as you have a bat in your hand, you can rewrite the story.

Not only is he going to hit .320 and 20 or 25 home runs, he might lead the league in hitting,

I liked his concern about discipline, his concern about style, about how you went about playing. I needed all that to make me feel comfortable.

I just was concerned about him being OK.

I only know about teamwork. I've been around it my entire life and I still work for a team. I look for the Yankees to respond to your requests when you look them in the eye and ask them.

I just told him what my father used to tell me. As long as you have a bat in your hand, you can re-write the story.

Hip dislocation, or whatever you call it, is minor compared to what I would have expected because I think he's closer to 100 than he is to 90.

If I had my mother's name, there is no doubt that I would have run into problems in those days, the prejudices people had in Southern California.

People think I hate Billy Martin. I don't. I hate some of the things he did. And I will say I don't understand him. Billy Martin is not an intellectual, but there is a cunningness to him that is something to behold.

The will to win is worthless if you don't get paid for it.

The reason I'm a Yankee is that George Steinbrenner out hustled everybody else.

Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's what it feels like when Nolan Ryan's thrown balls by you.

There's a manager (Billy Martin) I could play for.

It's a fickle town, a tough town. They getcha, boy. They don't let you escape with minor scratches and bruises. They put scars on you here.

Home run hitters strike out a lot.

I'm the straw that stirs the drink.

Babe Ruth was great. I'm just lucky.

Just like every other kid in my grade school, I was listening to my little radio plug in my ear when Mickey Mantle hit 18 post-season homers and won series after series for the Yankees. I listened and I learned from that. I think he was the original 'Mr. October,' but thank god it didn't stick.

The only way I'm going to get a gold glove is with a can of spray paint.

The way things are going the faces on next year's bubble-gum cards will be lawyers.

Hitting is better than sex.

Once you realize how good you really are, you never settle for playing less than your best.

I am the best in baseball.

Blind people come to the park just to hear him pitch.

I'll tell you what makes a great manager: A great manager has a knack for making ballplayers think they are better than they think they are. He forces you to have a good opinion of yourself. He lets you know he believes in you.

So many ideas come to you and you want to try them all, but you can't. You're like a mosquito in a nudist colony, you don't know where to start.

I couldn't quit, because of all the kids, and the blacks, and the little people pulling for me. I represent both the underdog and the overdog in our society.

Fans don't boo nobodies.

If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me.

True success is one of the greatest needs. Success is not something you stumble onto or come to by accident. It is something you must sincerely prepare for. Take a good look at successes, and you'll see he same consistent qualities all the time - qualities of one's character that make one strive for a goal with a standard of unmatched excellence.

Sometimes I underestimate the magnitude of me.

I feel that the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it