Roberto Clemente quotes - page 5

In Puerto Rico, we like to laugh and talk before a game. Then we go out and play as hard as we can to win. Afterwards, we laugh and talk again. But in America, baseball is much more of a business. Play well and you get pats on the back and congratulations. Play bad and no pats and maybe nobody talks to you. (Roberto Clemente)
First base is not for me. I think a man shortens his career there instead of prolonging it. I keep my legs in good shape by running back and forth from the outfield to the dugout. View quote
Roberto Clemente
We play too many games with too much traveling. We should stay in one city longer and have a day off now and then. It would be beneficial for the teams, keep them in top physical shape more. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I think he had the best eye, best stance and sharpest cut of all the big leaguers playing in Puerto Rico. He also field real good and throw like a bullet. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I'm a better fielder than anyone you can name. I have great respect for Mays, but I can go get the ball like Willie and I have a better arm. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Look, here is the way I swing. I swing hard. I don't punch the ball. I have bat control, and I don't go for home runs, but I still swing as hard as some fellows who swing for the fences. My back is practically to first base when I finish the swing. I have to turn around before I can start running. Sometimes the ball is in the fielder's hands before I drop the bat. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Everything is so new in Puerto Rico. I wanted to build something the way Puerto Rico started, something from the old land. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Yes, my biggest game, but not my best game. My best game is when I drive in the winning run. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Many people tell me I wanna play like Weelie. I no play like Mays. From little boy up, I always play like thees. I always wanna run fast, to throw long and heet far. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I want everybody in the world to know that this is the way I play all the time. All season, every season. I gave everything I had to this game. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I don't know. I don't know. I want to be happy because I have never hit three home runs in one game. But how can I be happy when we lose? (Roberto Clemente)
I was too aggressive. I should not have been so foolish. I am a craftsman in baseball. I look like rookie. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I hit many what you call the "bad bol" pitches, and get good wood. The bol' travel like bullet. That remind me, I hit 565 foote hum-rum in Chicaga last year; the bol' disappear from centerfield, and Raj Hornsby tell me it longest drive he ever saw hit out of Wrigley Field. The bol' feel good on the bat but I feel bad at heart, when no writer with our team play up the big drive. I feel effort not appreciated. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Bobby, it don't matter how you stand; it matter where you end up! View quote
Roberto Clemente
I was not trying to be smart when I did that. I was trying to tell them that they could do whatever they want. The fans of Pittsburgh have cheered me a lot through the years. There's always a first time for booing. But I don't say to hell with the fans because of this. I am not swinging the bat the way I should. It is just one of those things. I am not the way I should be. I do not feel sure when I swing. I am trying to adjust so that I will swing well even though my shoulder still hurts. If a player doesn't try hard, he deserves to be booed. I try hard. Maybe I was booed today because I have not played that bad before. View quote
Roberto Clemente
You see a skeleton in a lab, and they need wires to hold the spine in place. Well, in your body the wires are muscles. When there is a loosening on one side, your pelvis tilts. A spasm occurs when this tilt results in one side of the body supporting more weight than the other. Look at a telephone pole. If the supporting wire on one side is slack and loose, then the wire on the other side becomes tense and tight. In the case of the body, this is the muscle. And it will give you pain. If a man weighs 180 pounds and one side of him supports 90 and the other side 90, he is able to function. If one side supports 110 and the other supports only 70, a problem arises. For one thing, your leg on one side is shorter than the leg on the other. View quote
Roberto Clemente
It's a shame he couldn't play in the majors due to the color barrier. I've always insisted Pancho would have been one of the best ever. View quote
Roberto Clemente
There was no use for me to say yes because I am not a politician. Say, for example, I was elected and a situation came up where I was told I had to compromise. I could never do that; I can't compromise. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Everybody started cheering but I didn't know why. I didn't know what was going on until I looked at the scoreboard and saw the message. When I singled in the first inning, the second base umpire told me, "If you get another hit it looks like I'll have to give you the ball." I wondered what he was talking about. I have so much bad press in Pittsburgh. Whatever I have done, I have done myself, and with the help of the fans. When somebody like Richie Hebner hits a home run, the press gives him a big build-up. All they say about me is that I am hard-headed and don't get along with anybody. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I believe I can hit with anybody in baseball. Maybe I can't hit with the power of a Mays or a Frank Robinson or a Hank Aaron, but I can hit. As long as I play in Forbes Field, I can't go for home runs. Line drives, yes, but not home runs. View quote
Roberto Clemente
Everybody pick us for sixth place this year. The best way to prove to yourself this wrong is for Pirates to bounce back-to fight hard. I know something inside me explode when things are tough so I can do better. (Roberto Clemente)
They pick us for sixth and seventh place. But if we fight, we are going to make it to the top. Myself, when I think I can do one thing and some one else thinks the opposite, I have to prove to the world that I can. View quote
Roberto Clemente
In other years, we talk pennant with mouth, do nothing on field. This year we do our talking on field, keep mouths closed about pennant. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I didn't like the trade. Santurce is close to my home town and I like the fans there. They good to me and cheer me all the time. I may not go back. I may work in Pittsburgh. View quote
Roberto Clemente
I love the game too much to quit. But right now I can't run or swing a bat too well. I had my tonsils out two weeks ago in Pittsburgh and that helped, but I still have the pain. I am studying to be a civil engineer in Puerto Rico, so that's what I'll do if I have to give up baseball. View quote
Roberto Clemente