SADAHARU OH

My baseball career was a long, long initiation into a single secret: At the heart of all things is love.

The efforts you make will surely be rewarded. If not, then you are simply not ready to call them efforts.

No one can stop a home run. No one can understand what it really is, unless you have felt it in your own hands and body. As the ball makes its high, long arc beyond the playing field, the diamond and the stands suddenly belong to one man. In that brief, brief time, you are free of all demands and complications.

I had strong legs that would have made me a good sumo wrestler and I used that to my advantage, but my home runs were achieved by technique.

Above all, what I learned from my Sensei was how to wait. I believe I learned the meaning of waiting on one foot. If I understand anything in this life, it is how to wait. It is not an answer. But for me it is everything.

At the heart of all things is love.

I enjoy baseball more than anything and would like to be involved with it forever, but the reality is your survival is determined by how well you compete, not by your fondness for the game.

The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half is theirs. An opponent is someone whose strength joined to yours creates a certain result.

I had strong legs that would have made me a good sumo wrestler and I used that to my advantage, but my home runs were achieved by technique.

The efforts you make will surely be rewarded. If not, then you are simply not ready to call them efforts.

I enjoy baseball more than anything and would like to be involved with it forever, but the reality is your survival is determined by how well you compete, not by your fondness for the game.

The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half is theirs. An opponent is someone whose strength joined to yours creates a certain result.

My baseball career was a long, long initiation into a single secret: At the heart of all things is love.

At the heart of all things is love.

Above all, what I learned from my Sensei was how to wait. I believe I learned the meaning of waiting on one foot. If I understand anything in this life, it is how to wait. It is not an answer. But for me it is everything.

No one can stop a home run. No one can understand what it really is, unless you have felt it in your own hands and body. As the ball makes its high, long arc beyond the playing field, the diamond and the stands suddenly belong to one man. In that brief, brief time, you are free of all demands and complications.