There was nothing to keep him (Cal Ripken, Jr.) from being a star in the Major Leagues. That was inevitable.

The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.

Do the dull things right so the extraordinary things will not be required too often.

In baseball, you can't kill the clock. You've got to give the other man his chance. That's why this is the greatest game.

On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'

My best game plan is to sit on the bench and call out specific instructions like 'C'mon Boog,' 'Get a hold of one, Frank,' or 'Let's go, Brooks.'

This ain't a football game, we do this every day.

I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else.

Optimism is the cheerful frame of mind that enables a teakettle to sing, though in hot water up to its nose.

Nobody likes to hear it, because it's dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same - pitching.

The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game.

Her mouth set. "I've already lost one man I loved tonight. I will not lose the other." She glared at him. "And curse you, you stone head, for making me say it first.

My sister burns, and she does not burn for you.

How much better does being alive get then sitting beside a warm fire amidst a misty rainy morning.

The most basic obligation we have to our veterans is that we keep the promises that were made to them. That is what makes the recent failures of the Veterans Administration so shameful.

On one of those rare occasions when Bach appraised his own life's work, he remarked: I worked hard.

If you grow up normal, you'll always be normal-I don't want to be normal. I want to be something else.

Let me arise and open the gate, / to breathe the wild warm air of the heath.

I was never the mascot of the Georgia football team.

Much of my writing has taken the form of a pilgrimage: to sacred places that represent the best of America, to musicians and other artists who represent the best of their art.

I constantly signal to the Iraqi leaders that our patience, or the patience of the American people, is running out.