Roberto Clemente quotes - page 2

One day I could play and three days later I couldn't move. Our relationship was shaky because if one day you can play and the next day you can't, a person has to wonder if there's not something wrong in your head. But we straightened it out. (Roberto Clemente)
With two men on base I was more concerned with driving in a run than getting No. 2,000. I set a goal of 100 RBIs and 25 home runs at the start of the season. Usually I'm not a home run hitter but I've been swinging more for home runs this season then ever before. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I jus' try to sacrifice myself, so I get runner to third. If I do, I feel good. But I get heet and Willie scores, and I feel better than good. [...] What makes me feel most good is that the skipper let me play the whole game. I think maybe he take me out after a few innings for Aaron but no, he pay me big compliment. I stay in game and that gave me confidence. I think I don't let him down, no? View quote
Roberto Clemente
My body is old and tired, but I'll bounce back. I think Mazeroski can do the same if he takes off a few pounds and gives them to me. I need them. View quote
Roberto Clemente
There are many good players in this game. If they weren't good, they wouldn't be in the majors. I'm not bragging when I say I think I'm as good as anyone. Mays, Aaron, Robinson, guys like that, hit with more power than I do. After that, I think I can hold my own. View quote
Roberto Clemente
There was a time when I said if I couldn't play in Pittsburgh, I wouldn't want to play anywhere. I don't feel that way now. If the Pirates traded me, I would accept it as a part of baseball and continue doing my best wherever I went. View quote
Roberto Clemente
The Braves have been digging in on us all year. They're taking toeholds on our pitchers. Somebody is going down tonight if I have to come in from right field and do it myself. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Jackie, what is the matter with you? You did not lose this ball game. We all lost it. No one man loses any ball game. You remember that. You are a good ball player. We need you to play shortstop. Come now, get dressed, let's go out and have a steak. View quote
Roberto Clemente
They've been knocking me down all season in the National League and I've still gotten my share of base hits. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I've had two lives: the first one when I was born in Puerto Rico in 1935 [sic] and the second when I came to Pittsburgh to play baseball in 1955. I have been very lucky and I feel gifted to be able to play well. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente doesn't care too much for New York. Says there are too many people and everybody is in too much of a hurry. He had one ride on the subway with Felipe Montemayor as his guide and they got lost. (Roberto Clemente)
Once upon a time I never believed I could get tired of baseball. I played baseball from morning to night. But today it isn't as it once was. I just never seem to get enough rest. And if I can't play at my best all the time, why play? View quote
Roberto Clemente
I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all I had to give. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I am more valuable to my team hitting .330 then swinging for home runs. View quote
Roberto Clemente
They call my people 'Spics' in New York. These are poor people struggling to make a living and should be treated like people and not animals. View quote
Roberto Clemente
The only people who criticize me are writers. You say, maybe I no team player. Did a player ever come to you and say I no team player? Who say that? The writers, right. I win four batting championships. Why I no team player? I kill myself in the outfield. You say, I no team player. You never see me loaf on the field. I break my back. Even Harry Walker tell me: "Roberto, why you want to break your back? Look at the other fellows. Take it easy." Super stars, my foot. They say Mickey Mantle is a super star. He's limping. They say poor Mickey. I play with four stitches in my foot and nobody knows about it. [...] The fans are good to me. Only the writers are bad." View quote
Roberto Clemente
I could always hit a home run, but if I try to do that all the time, maybe I not hit over.300. I am more valuable to my team hitting.330,.340, than I am swinging for home runs. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I was mad last year. I played as well as anyone else on our team and I didn't receive one vote for MVP. Don't get me wrong; I didn't say I was the best last year or that I should have won the MVP award. But nobody seemed to care about me. But you win the batting title yourself. They can't take that away from you. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Blass, I 'm going to tell you this. You pitch me inside; I will hit the freaking ball to Harrisburg. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I am having a plaque put on the front of my house. It will say, "To God, Mother, Father and Baseball." View quote
Roberto Clemente
Listen, I shouldn't even be playing. I showed up at spring training and I told the ball club about my accident. I said my shoulder had been damaged and the ballclub said "Sh-h-h, don't talk so loud. Somebody might hear you; Now, don't tell anybody about this." They said, "I don't want to know about it." Well, I tell you, it hurts me to swing a bat and, when I know it is going to hurt, it bothers me mentally and I do not swing the same and I wince when I think of hitting the ball. I should be home, not here in the dugout, because [sic] I would rather play even if I am crippled than to sit and watch a game. (Roberto Clemente)
Why should I be more ‘cautious, careful,' as you say? I stay in the big leagues as long as I do because I play only one way. I know I take too many, maybe. I know I should not sometimes dive for the ball-or hit the wall trying to catch it- as much as I do. But you catch the ball, you help your team. You don't catch it, you don't help your team. I believe playing, how you say, ‘all out' has prolonged my career. If a ballplayer starts loafing, he tends to lose that little push that is so necessary, so important. You get lazy, won't take even the smallest chance; kind of lose interest. Your rhythm, I guess it is, gets all messed up. Fly balls start falling on you, when they should not. And you find yourself not getting around on the ball like you should. Once you lose this ‘little push,' then it is awfully hard to get back in the groove... get yourself going again. Your ambition – desire – suffers. And you become the kind of ballplayer you don't want to be. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I want to thank my teammates for being a bunch of swell guys. I want to thank Branch Rickey for giving me the opportunity of playing baseball. Most of all I want to thank the people of Pittsburgh whose encouragement helped me win this award. They deserve the best. View quote
Roberto Clemente
They think it is an act. When I said I had back trouble, they call me Mama's Boy. Goldbrick. When my elbow was swollen as big as a softball, they say it was in my head. If I am sick, I do not deny. If my back is hurting me and I am forced to punch at the ball with no power, I tell the truth. I tell them I am hurting. View quote
Roberto Clemente
You could have put salt and pepper on me and fried me out in right field. View quote
Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente

Occupation: Puerto Rican Athlete
Born: August 18, 1934
Died: December 31, 1972
Quotes count: 412
Wikipedia: Roberto Clemente

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