Joe Di Maggio Quotes by: Baseball Almanac

Joe DiMaggio Quotes Quotes From & About Joe DiMaggio

Quotes From Joe DiMaggio

"A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That's why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues." Source: New York Times (April 30, 1961) "All pitchers are born pitchers." Source: Out of My League (George Plimpton) "I came up twice in the game with the bases loaded and both times I hit balls into the alley, four-hundred and fifty feet away. Home runs in any other park. Well, each time my own brother robbed me by making catches on the warning track. Instead of a possible eight RBI, or at least five or six, I got nothing. That night, Dom (DiMaggio) came over to my place for dinner. I remember letting him in the door and then not speaking to him until we were almost done eating. I was that mad." "I can remember a reporter asking me for a quote, and I didn't know what a quote was. I thought it was some kind of soft drink." "I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee." Source: Yankee Stadium Speech (October 1, 1949) "If anyone wants to know why three kids in one family made it to the big leagues they just had to know how we helped each other and how much we practiced back then. We did it every minute we could." Source: Giants of Baseball (Bill Gutman) "I feel like I have reached the stage where I can no longer produce for my club, my manager, and my teammates. I had a poor year, but even if I had hit .350, this would have been my last year. I was full of aches an pains and it had become a chore for me to play. When baseball is no longer fun, it's no longer a game." Source: The Sporting News (December 19, 1951) "If I were sitting down with George Steinbrenner (to discuss a salary) and based on what Dave Winfield got for his statistics, I'd have to say, 'George, you and I are about to become partners.'" Source: Sports Illustrated (May 18, 1981) "I'm a ballplayer, not an actor." "I'm just a ballplayer with one ambition, and that is to give all I've got to help my ball club win. I've never played any other way." Source: Casey (Joseph Durso) "I no longer have it (desire to play)." Source: Time Magazine (December 24, 1951) "I think there are some players born to play ball." "Mr. Barrow, there is only one answer to that, Mr. (Lou) Gehrig (contract was only $1,000 more) is terribly underpaid." "Now I've had everything except for the thrill of watching Babe Ruth play." Source: Hall of Fame Induction Day Speech "There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best." Source: The Sporting News (April 4, 1951) "The test of an outfielder's skill comes when he has to go against the fence to make a catch." "Too many kids today are playing major league ball and don't belong there." "You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen." "You start chasing a ball and your brain immediately commands your body to 'Run forward, bend, scoop up the ball, peg it to the infield,' then your body says, 'Who me?'"