- “Baseball has done more to move America in the right direction than all of the professional patriots with all their cheap words.”
- “Early in life I learned, just through observation, that right always wins out over wrong. If a person has good intentions in his heart and wants to do the right thing, then there are certain ways that any obstacle can be overcome.
- “Everyone says we have our first African American president. Has there ever been a Jewish president? An Italian president? They don’t say a damn thing about that. You think we’re still fighting the Civil War or something. If you want to mention it in passing, OK. But don’t dwell on it.”
- “My all-time heroes are Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., two men who had to really work to achieve what they did. And I had the privilege of meeting them both.”
- “Many of the greatest black athletes of all time played baseball for no money and no recognition. I’m just sorry many major league fans never got to see them play, because many of them were awesome.”
- “I played for Almendares in Cuba. Guess who was trying out for the team? Castro. Fidel Castro, as a pitcher. He could throw pretty hard, but he was wild. He didn’t have any control.”
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“It was in 1942 and I flew from St. Louis to Mexico City. I had just gotten married and we were on our honeymoon. I hit .397 and led the Mexican League with 20 home runs and was named the MVP of the league. It’s when I realized I could compete with anyone at any level.”
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“You should have seen Willie Wells play shortstop: as good as Ozzie Smith and a better hitter. How I wish people could have seen Ray Dandridge play third base, as good as Brooks Robinson and Craig Nettles and all of those. He was bowlegged; a train might go through there, but not a baseball.”
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“I played with Willie Mays and against Hank Aaron. They were tremendous players, but they were no Josh Gibson.”
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“I’m a forgiver. I might not forget, but I forgive. My mother, father and older brother always told me: ‘Don’t hold grudges. If you do that, you don’t lower yourself down to your adversary. Just treat people the way you want to be treated.’ I honestly think that’s why I was able to survive and have some success.”
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“I was all-state in four sports in New Jersey, but sometimes I couldn’t get served at a restaurant two blocks from my high school. There were no job opportunities then… the only thing a black youth could aspire to be was a bellboy or a pullman or an elevator operator, or, maybe, a teacher. There was a time when all we had was black baseball.”
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“My mother was a Bible student, and when I was a youngster, both my mother and father would say, ‘If people would only live by the Golden Rule, there wouldn’t be the problems that there are.’ In other words, ‘treat people the way you want to be treated.’ If somebody mistreats you, two wrongs won’t make a right.”
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“I think anybody who saw him will tell you that Willie Mays was the greatest player who ever lived.”