RICHIE ASHBURN

To cure a batting slump, I took my bat to bed with me. I wanted to know my bat a little better.

It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a ballpark. It had a feeling and a heartbeat, a personality that was all baseball.

I wish I'd known early what I had to learn late.

A good lead-off hitter is a pain in the ass to pitchers.

After fifteen years of facing them (pitchers) you don't really get over them. They're devious. They're the only players in the game allowed to cheat. They throw illegal pitches and they sneak foreign substances on the ball. They can inflict pain whenever they wish. And, they're the only ones on the diamond who have high ground. That's symbolic. You know what they tell you in a war - 'take the high ground first.'

The kid doesn't chew tobacco, smoke, drink, curse or chase broads. I don't see how he can make it.

I'm flattered that so many baseball people think I'm a Hall of Famer. But what's hard to believe is how one-hundred and fifty plus people have changed their minds about me since I became eligible, because I haven't had a base hit since then.

To cure a batting slump, I took my bat to bed with me. I wanted to know my bat a little better.

I wish I'd known early what I had to learn late.

I'm flattered that so many baseball people think I'm a Hall of Famer. But what's hard to believe is how one-hundred and fifty plus people have changed their minds about me since I became eligible, because I haven't had a base hit since then.

The kid doesn't chew tobacco, smoke, drink, curse or chase broads. I don't see how he can make it.

After fifteen years of facing them (pitchers) you don't really get over them. They're devious. They're the only players in the game allowed to cheat. They throw illegal pitches and they sneak foreign substances on the ball. They can inflict pain whenever they wish. And, they're the only ones on the diamond who have high ground. That's symbolic. You know what they tell you in a war - 'take the high ground first.'

A good lead-off hitter is a pain in the ass to pitchers.

It looked like a ballpark. It smelled like a ballpark. It had a feeling and a heartbeat, a personality that was all baseball.