"I'm here to support the commissioner and tougher drug penalties."

"Didn't come up here to read. Came up here to hit."

"I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious. When I get out on the field, nothing's a joke to me. I don't feel like I should walk around with a smile on my face."

"I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them."

"I don't see pitches down the middle anymore - not even in batting practice."

"The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting."

"I think it's very much a distraction to the ball club, and that is a cancer, you just get done playing the best team in baseball, the team has been playing very well, despite everything ... it's just a distraction, and it is a cancer,"

"Discover Greatness: An Illustrated History of Negro Leagues Baseball,"

"I have always felt that although someone may defeat me, and I strike out in a ball game, the pitcher on the particular day was the best player. But I know when I see him again, I'm going to be ready for his curve ball. Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it."