You like quotes? Here are some of the best from the wide, wide world of baseball:
Albert Einstein: “You teach me baseball, and I'll teach you relativity. No, we must not. You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball.”
Thomas Boswell: “Cheating is baseball's oldest profession. No other game is so rich in skullduggery, so suited to it or so proud of it.”
Rogers Hornsby: “I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want somebody else to go chase it.”
Wes Westrum: “Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand.”
Jacques Barzun: “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game.”
Red Smith to Moe Berg: “I understand, Moe, that you are in counter-intelligence, which, I assume, means you are against intelligence.”
Ted Lyons on Berg: “He could speak in eight languages, but he couldn't hit in any of them.”
Tim McCarver: “I remember one time going out to the mound to talk with Bob Gibson. He told me to get back behind the batter, that the only thing I knew about pitching was that it was hard to hit.”
President Gerald Ford: “I watch a lot of baseball on the radio.”
Branch Rickey: “Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.”
John Kruk: “I'm not an athlete. I'm a professional baseball player.”
Hank Aaron: “It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.”
George Bernard Shaw: “Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.”
Jim Bouton: “Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many players on the field?”
Susan Sarandon (“Bull Durham”): “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in day-out, is the Church of Baseball.”
Gallery thanks Simran Khurana and her guide to these famous baseball quotes.
Trivia time
What is Khalil Greene's middle name?
On this date ...
May 21, 1948: Joe DiMaggio had two home runs, a triple, double and single to lead the New York Yankees to a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
May 21, 1952: Duke Snider's home run highlighted a 15-run first inning in the Dodgers' 19-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Brooklyn. Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Billy Cox each made three plate appearances in the first inning.
Parting shot
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel on the rumors that the Orlando Magic is pursuing Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan, whose Gators have won the last two NCAA championships:
“That said, pursuing him is one thing. Getting him is another matter. I can pursue Heidi Klum all I want; it doesn't mean she wouldn't run away and have me arrested for stalking if I ever got close enough to ask her out. And that's what we're looking at here: Donovan is the most sought-after supermodel in the world; the Magic is a short, bald sportswriter.”
“ . . . And even if (Donovan) does make more money in the NBA, so what? As Bud Fox said to Gordon Gekko in 'Wall Street': 'How much is enough? How many yachts can you water-ski behind?' ”
Parting shot II
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Brett Favre, the ultimate team guy in sports, was desperate to hook up with an over-the-hill, overpaid wide receiver who won't block, won't practice, won't go over the middle, won't take any responsibility, won't assume any leadership and won't pretend to be part of whatever team he's part of. Maybe Favre knows something the Raiders don't.”
Trivia answer
Thabit.
Thought of day
If Greg “The Bull” Luzinski could play left field for nine years for the Phillies, why isn't Jack Cust playing left field for the Padres?
