55 Quotes by Ty Cobb

Every man in the game, from the minors on up, is not only fighting against the other side, but he's trying to hold onto his own job against those on his own bench who'd love to take it away. Why deny this? Why minimize it? Why not boldly admit it?

He batted against spitballs, shineballs, emeryballs and all the other trick deliveries. He never figured anything out or studied anything with the same scientific approach I gave it. He just swung. If he'd ever had any knowledge of batting, his average would have been phenomenal. ... he seemed content to just punch the ball, and I can still see those line drives whistling to the far precincts. Joe Jackson hit the ball harder than any man ever to play baseball.

Most collisions out on the fields are needless.

When I played ball, I didn't play for fun.

The first time I faced him I watched him take that easy windup and then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn't touch him... Every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park.

Walter Johnson's fastball looked about the size of a watermelon seed and it hissed at you as it passed.

The crowd makes the ballgame.

I'm coming down on the next pitch, Krauthead.

The best recommendation for an umpire in the old days was: "He licked somebody in the Three-I League. He ought to do.