Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
The game is just, everybody talks about baseball, but I really think football probably has a little bit more American feeling than anything.
The fact is, when I was 15 and a sophomore at high school, I played on the varsity baseball team for the college.
In regards to steroids, I think we're all to blame, all of baseball. I never realized how far-reaching this problem has been.
Donning a glove for a backyard toss, or watching a ball game, or just reflecting upon our baseball days, we are players again, forever young.
When I came into baseball, I had one goal for my career - the Hall of Fame.
I kind of grew up with high goals for myself; I intended to play pro baseball. Growing up in Texas, Hollywood isn't much of a reality.
For my children, they spent 15 to 20 years of their life in baseball. And Ruth and I spent so many years of our married life that that was our life. We knew nothing else.
The Capone era. That was my time. Capone was a big baseball fan. He'd walk into the ballpark like the president walking in today, with bodyguards all around him.
I was a professional baseball player from the time I was drafted out of high school in 1981 until the time I retired in 2003.
I grew up playing hockey and baseball, so I wish I had time to get back into it, but living in L.A. and North Carolina, you have to take advantage of the golf.
I had an extremely boring time doing 20 to 30 trades a day while everyone was talking about baseball or basketball. So I stood there fantasizing about a device that could do the same thing I was doing.
Annie Kinsella: Ray! He's my favorite writer too, but what's Terence Mann got to do with baseball?
Hattori Hanzo: Funny, you like samurai swords... I like baseball.
"The Babe": [looks at baseball card] Henry Aaron. I don't know why but can I have this, kid?
Swan: [caught outside the subway by the Baseball Furies] Maybe we better take off... Ajax: Yeah, right... [they run]
Leonard Zelig: I love baseball. You know, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just very beautiful to watch.
Back in my day, we didn't think about money as much. We enjoyed playing the game. We loved baseball. I didn't think about anybody else but the Cardinals.
There's a bigger difference now than when I first got into professional baseball because that was before guaranteed contracts, before there was a lot of money, so it was mostly survival. You had more competition.
There are only five things you can do in baseball - run, throw, catch, hit and hit with power.
I think some of the pressure comes from the expectations of other people. Like if your father played baseball, they expect you to be the big lifesaver or something when you play a sport.
