Lou Brock

“Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.”

“Jim Crow was king... and I heard a game in which Jackie Robinson was playing, and I felt pride in being alive.”

“The baseball held was my fantasy of what life offered.”

“You can't hide God in you. God was not meant to become part of you, and you hide out in the closet. I don't think He wanted that. I think He wanted people to see the Christ in you that reflects Him.”

“Your bat is your life. It's your weapon. You don't want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect.”

“The stiffer the penalty, the greater the message is sent.”

“Some players tell me that since retiring they've had the urge to go somewhere every three days. To satisfy that urge, they may even jump in the car and drive around the block.”

“You can't be afraid to make errors! You can't be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. You can only challenge it.”

“They will look at my career as the guy who gave it all but at the same time did it with integrity. That's what we all aim for - the respect of the game as well as the honesty that's played a part of that game.”

“I had a job on college campus. I lost that job, but on my way home I heard an inner voice that said go out for the baseball team. I was a walk-on, and I was actually petrified as a walk-on because you're not an athlete.”

“There is a definite loneliness in the game. Most people stay away from you since they think they're intruding upon your time. And after the ball game, when it's 11 o'clock and you want to eat dinner some place, the restaurants are closed.”

“I don't think about goals and records. Competition is what keeps me playing.”

“We have to make some radical move to get the attention of everyone. Cheaters can't win and steroids has put us in the position that it's OK to cheat.”

“When I was a kid, I used to imagine animals running under my bed. I told my dad, and he solved the problem quickly. He cut the legs off the bed.”

“Stealing bases was put to me almost as a prerequisite for staying in the game. They didn't give me a handbook on how to do it; they said do it. Under those conditions you go out and develop your own handbook.”

“If I had any interest in coming back to baseball, it would be as a general manager and not as a manager.”

“I was not in the church, but we claim, like so many people, 'Yeah, I grew up in the church.' Well yeah, I grew up in the church and went to church, but I knew nothing about the Lord. I had no idea what it meant about walking in faith.”

“If you're successful in what you do over a period of time, you'll start approaching records, but that's not what you're playing for. You're playing to challenge and be challenged.”