Reggie Jackson

“I have a hard time believing athletes are overpriced. If an owner is losing money, give it up. It's a business. I have trouble figuring out why owners would stay in if they're losing money.”

“I'm a businessman. I bring my bat and glove and attache case to the office and go to work. I don't give a damn if the other workers at the office like me or not.”

“I know how hard it is to shoot the basketball, so I've got great appreciation for it.”

“When I hit, I felt I was in control of the home-plate area, and it was important that I felt that way. If I let the pitcher control it, it would give him an advantage.”

“A baseball swing is a very finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, then a little more after that.”

“The only way I'm going to win a Gold Glove is with a can of spray paint.”

“When I went to home plate in a game-tied situation or with a chance to do something and help the ballclub win one, I'd try to make eye contact with the pitcher.”

“I'd like to be able to light the fire a little bit.”

“Lee May's about the same age as me; he's got about the same stats. So how come he's making about one-eighty, two hundred thousand, and I'm the best damn paid player in the game? I'll tell you why: Because I put the meat in the seats!”

“When I stepped into the box, I felt the at-bat belonged to me. Everybody else was there for my convenience. The pitcher was there to throw me a ball to hit. The catcher was there to throw it back to him if he didn't give me what I wanted the first time. And the umpire was lucky that he was close enough to watch.”

“I'm human and I've played my butt off for ten years. I'm not a loafer, I'm not a jerk, I'm a baseball player.”

“If you can't see the rotation and tell if it's a sink - a fastball, then you have to be able to tell whether that fastball is a two-seamer or a four-seamer. You have to be able to recognize if it's a slider or a curveball. You have to be able to recognize if it's a changeup or a split-finger.”

“After Jackie Robinson the most important black in baseball history is Reggie Jackson, I really mean that.”

“I couldn't accept the racial epithets in reference to players like Elliott Maddox or Billy Sample.”

“I am the best in baseball.”

“October, that's when they pay off for playing ball.”

“When you take a pitch and line it somewhere, it's like you've thought of something and put it there with beautiful clarity.”

“I do everything as honestly as I can. I give all I have to give. But I don't let people get in my way.”

“Everybody in the league knew I had trouble with the inside pitch. I got away with it only because the great majority of pitchers were afraid of making a mistake in that spot. The threat of power is one of the best weapons you have in the batter's box.”

“You can play football and be the next Jim Brown or play baseball and be the next Reggie Jackson.”