I played with some outstanding players.

I wanted to show Baltimore that they were getting a good ballplayer.

It was a breaking period for black people coming into baseball, and how many followed depended on Jackie's conduct. But that's not the case now. What and how I do doesn't mean nearly as much as what and how Jackie did.

As a black, you find you have to be two or three times better than a white even to play. And when it comes to front-office jobs, management believes you'll never be as good.

I've never seen baseball advertise for a job, and I've never heard of whites applying for a job. I mean, there's an old boy network, and it's lily white.

Al Campanis made people finally understand what goes on behind closed doors - that there is racism in baseball.

No, I don't think my presence will cause an increase in black attendance at Cleveland.

During the years I was still playing, I would go to Puerto Rico in the winter and manage. When the day came, I had the experience without having to go to the minor leagues for four or five years and then wait for an opportunity. Still, there's a double standard. Some whites, like Pete Rose, Joe Torre and Ted Williams, never had to go to the minors.

It’s nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.

If the guys on the bench were as good as the guys you have out there, they’d be out there in first place.