And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
Why? Why do we throw back and forth day after day? Hitting for hours at a time just to fix a little kink in your swing? Late nights under the lights then early mornings cooking in the sun. Getting taken out at second on a double play then getting up like nothing is wrong when there is a hole in your legs from the opponents spike, getting drilled by a 90 mph fast ball in the middle of your back. We play through it all. Why? Because we live off our adrenaline, because the game frees the spirit, because the party after in the dugout and in the club house is fine, because your invincible once you step between those lines, because one hit or a diving play can make you smile all night. Hitting a bomb or striking out the side to win the game. The roar of the crowd, the cleats digging into the dirt, and the sound of a ball off a bat is a rhythm to live by, because it’s possible to play hard enough to leave all your worries behind. Sweat is the cologne of our accomplishment. Why? Why would someone push themselves so hard? If it’s not for the money, it's not for the girls, and it's not for the fame. We do it for the love of the game.. Just baseball.
A great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance.
Branch Rickey
Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day.
Branch Rickey
Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game.
Branch Rickey
How to use your leisure time is the biggest problem of a ballplayer.
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 a hit-and-run.
Branch Rickey
The man with the ball is responsible for what happens to the ball.
Branch Rickey
This ball - this symbol; its it worth a whole man's life?
Branch Rickey
Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.
Branch Rickey
Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.
Branch Rickey
And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
GO CARDS!!!
Next Saturday night, I'll be popping in this DVD to watch. Been ritual in our house for years, the weekend before opening day we watch this.
jim wrote:Next Saturday night, I'll be popping in this DVD to watch. Been ritual in our house for years, the weekend before opening day we watch this.
That's a great idea! I'm going to steal if from you and pretend like it's my own
The weather was beautiful here yesterday. I went down to the local high school baseball field and watched the kids get the field ready for the season. Somedays just being at a ballpark - any ballpark - scratches the itch in just the right way.
You can't be afraid to make errors! You can't be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. You can only challenge it.
-Lou Brock
When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s, Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a great view that he could see, “The Entire State Building.”
- ricky henderson
And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.