Stan Musial

“I'm proud to be a Cardinal.”

“When we played the Dodgers in St. Louis, they had to come through our dugout, and our bat rack was right there where they had to walk. My bats kept disappearing, and I couldn't figure it out. Turns out, Pee Wee Reese was stealing my bats. I found that out later, after we got out of baseball. He and Rube Walker stole my bats.”

“It seemed like I always did some great hitting in Brooklyn. The field there was close to the stands. Every time I started walking to the plate, I could hear the fans say, 'Here comes that man again. Here comes that man.'”

“The first principle of contract negotiations is don't remind them of what you did in the past - tell them what you're going to do in the future.”

“When a pitcher's throwing a spitball, don't worry and don't complain, just hit the dry side like I do.”

“I came up in 1941 and I played against men who played in the 1930s. I stayed until 1963 playing against men who will be playing in the 1970s. So I think I can feel qualified to say that baseball really was a great game, and baseball is really a great game, and baseball will always be a great game.”

“I could always hit. I learned to hit with a broomstick and a ball of tape and I could always get that bat on the ball.”

“Always wanted to be a Major League player. Loved baseball. Followed it. Loved to play. Plus, I could always hit.”

“There was never a day when I was as good as Joe DiMaggio at his best. Joe was the best, the very best I ever saw.”

“Back in my day, we didn't think about money as much. We enjoyed playing the game. We loved baseball. I didn't think about anybody else but the Cardinals.”

“I think I had the smallest handle around. When I got my bats, I even trimmed them down. I used to scrape them. Some years later when I started getting older, I used to start with a 33 and in the summer it got down to 31 and then probably in September got down to 30.”

“I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider. Then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first 30 feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it has crossed the plate.”

“Hitting is like swimming. Once you learn the stroke, you never forget it.”

“Get eight hours of sleep regularly. Keep your weight down, run a mile a day.”

“I'm a musician. I play harmonica for relaxation. A good way to relax and entertain people. An excellent way to have fun.”

“I have no hesitation to say that St. Louis is a great place in which to live and work.”

“What I try to do is never to hurt anybody else and figure if I don't, then I'm not likely to get hurt myself.”

“Used to be bats had thick handles and a big barrel. Then they found it's not the size of the bat that gets home runs - it's the speed with which you can swing it.”

“A lot of hitters stay away from the plate, some are close up, some are forward, some are back. The thing about hitting is this: You have to know the strike zone. That's the most important thing. Hit strikes and put the bat on the ball.”