Willie Mays
Willie Mays

Defense to me is the key to playing baseball.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without one-hundred percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But, when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I was very fortunate to play sports. All the anger in me went out. I had to do what I had to do. If you stay angry all the time, then you really don't have a good life.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I would try and help everybody, because the game was so easy for me. It was just like walking in the park.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I always enjoyed playing ball, and it didn't matter to me whether I played with white kids or black. I never understood why an issue was made of who I played with, and I never felt comfortable, when I grew up, telling other people how to act.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

Robinson was important to all blacks. To make it into the majors and to take all the name calling, he had to be something special. He had to take all this for years, not just for Jackie Robinson, but for the nation.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

It's not hard. When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what is most truly is is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I don't compare 'em, I just catch 'em.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

At ten I was playing against 18-year-old guys. At 15 I was playing professional ball with the Birmingham Black Barons, so I really came very quickly in all sports.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

If you can do that - if you run, hit, run the bases, hit with power, field, throw and do all other things that are part of the game - then you're a good ballplayer.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

Maybe I was born to play ball. Maybe I truly was.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I don't mean to be bashful, but I was.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

And my father didn't have money for me to go to college. And at that particular time they didn't have black quarterbacks, and I don't think I could have made it in basketball, because I was only 5' 11". So I just picked baseball.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

I played with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was making 500 at 14. That was a lot of money in those days.

Willie Mays
Willie Mays

When I was in Birmingham I used to go to a place called Redwood Field. I used to get there for a two o'clock game. Where can you make this kind of money playing sports? It was just a pleasure to go out and enjoy myself and get paid for it.