Best 98 quotes of Mickey Mantle on MyQuotes

A body came flying out and landed at my feet. At first I thought it was Billy so I picked him up. But when I saw it wasn't I dropped him back down.

After a play in the field Casey would turn (to the players on the bench) and say 'What did he do wrong?' or 'You're better than that guy.' Either way, he'd keep them from getting stale.

After they remodeled Yankee Stadium I didn't feel that the ghosts were there anymore. It just wasn't the same.

All I had was natural ability.

All I have is natural ability.

All the ballparks and the big crowds have a certain mystique. You feel attached, permanently wedded to the sounds that ring out, to the fans chanting your name, even when there are only four or five thousand in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon.

A lot of people wrote that Roger (Maris) and I didn't like each other and that we didn't get along. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As far as he knew, I was dying.

As far as I'm concerned, Aaron is the best ball player of my era. He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He's never received the credit he's due.

Billy (Martin) was a great one for jokes. He liked to play a joke more than anyone I ever knew.

Because the players knew that if Billy asked them to jump off a roof, he'd jump off with them.

Before you go, would you sign that case of balls for me?

Bravery is a complicated thing to describe. You can't say it's three feet long and two feet wide and that it weighs four hundred pounds or that it's colored bright blue or that it sounds like a piano or that it smells like roses. It's a quality, not a thing.

Butcher boy, damn it, butcher boy.

Casey didn't easily forgive a guy who got doubled up on a hit-and-run play. He didn't see any reason why the runner couldn't take a quick glance back toward the plate to make sure the ball was hit safely.

Casey wanted us to stay loose. That didn't mean clowning around. He just meant we should be confident and relaxed. We shouldn't feel that one strikeout was going to end the season for us.

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played 7 years without ever hitting the ball.

Every time I see his name (Dean Chance) on a lineup card, I feel like throwing up.

He can run, steal bases, throw, hit for average, and hit with power like I've never seen. Just don't put him at shortstop.

He foresaw the platooning that managers like Casey Stengel used years before it happened. He told me I had to be a switch-hitter if I was going to play.

Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That's the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century.

He said to play louder. He can't hear you.

He who have the fastest cart never have to play a bad lie.

Hey man! Get away from me!

Hey Mantle, you win. You're the worst.

Hey Yog, what time is it? You mean right now?

His fielding leaves you wondering. Then he steps up to hit and all doubts start to fade.

Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.

I always loved the game, but when my legs weren't hurting it was a lot easier to love.

I can't play any more. I can't hit the ball when I need to. I can't steal second when I need to. I can't go from first to third when I need to. I can't score from second when I need to. I have to quit.

I don't care what the situation was, how high the stakes were - the bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch, it never bothered Whitey. He pitched his game. Cool. Craft. Nerves of steel.

I don't care who you are, you hear those boos.

I don't know why, but for some reason I seem to be more popular now than when I was playing.

I don't know why Roger (Maris) isn't in the hall of fame. To me, he was as good as there ever was.

If I hadn't met those two guys (Billy Martin and Whitey Ford) at the start of my career, I would have lasted another five years.

If I had played my career hitting singles like Pete (Rose), I'd wear a dress.

If I send the ball home, I know what will happen to it. My twin brothers will take it out on the lot, like any 20-cent rocket.

If I were playing today I'd do what Joe DiMaggio said. I'd go knock on the door at Yankee Stadium and when George Steinbrenner answered I'd say, 'Howdy, pardner.'

If the World Series was on the line and I could pick one pitcher to pitch the game, I'd choose Whitey Ford every time.

If you want to know who was better, me or Willie Mays, you have to look at our career stats. And Willie's bottom line was better.

I guess you could say I'm what this country is all about.

I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you he'd come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, 'Do you want me to sign it?'

I leaned on him for support when I got out of the cab, and he just crumpled to the ground. That's how we found out.

I'll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do.

In 1960 when Pittsburgh beat us in the World Series, we outscored them 55-27. It was the only time I think the better team lost. I was so disappointed I cried on the plane ride home.

In 1961 somebody could've hit a home run to win the game and the next day the headline was about the M&M boys not hitting a home run. But everyone was real good about it. Instead of getting mad they joked about it.

I never got to see the '27 Yankees. Everyone says that was the greatest team ever. But I think it would've been a great series if we'd have had the chance to play them.

I never saw him fight. I never saw Billy fight.

I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.

It gave me a second chance. I'd like everybody to have a second chance if they need it, so I'm trying to let people know how important it is to become an organ donor.