You always believed that as good as you knew you were, there was always somebody who could take your place. I tried to work as hard as I could to make sure that didn't happen.
I've put in 63 years now in the big leagues as a player, coach, manager. And now just being around these young guys, it keeps you going pretty good.
When there were just eight teams in each of the big leagues, I was always told, 'It's hard to come up, but it's just hard to stay in the big leagues.' That's because there's always somebody. The Cardinals had so many minor league clubs and had so many good ballplayers.
I'm not much of a jewelry man. I don't even wear a watch half the time.
When I was playing, there were only eight teams in each league, and you didn't have any playoffs.
There's nothing to it. Baseball isn't that tough to play.
I'm just the same as anybody else now. To get TB again, I'd have to go out and catch a whole new case of it. Let's forget about it. I'm a ballplayer.
I managed Dal Maxvill, and he's now our general manager. I managed Bob Gibson. He's a broadcaster. Tim McCarver. Bill White. Nellie Briles. He used to be a broadcaster. I tried to count them up one time.
I've had a good time here in baseball. I love baseball. That's why I'm still around.
I don't like to compare clubs or players from way back. It's different today. Your ballparks are better. In the days when I played, we had eight teams in each league. Now you have more.
