Doug Harvey Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Balls and strikes are the basic tenet to everything in baseball. From the perspective of hitting, pitching, offense and defense, it's all about the strike zone and how the battle is waged there between the pitcher and hitter.”

“I want you to know that I am one of the more fortunate people in life. There aren't too many of us that somebody selects and says, 'You know, that guy ought to be an umpire.' That's what happened to me.”

“I was correct in every call I made, regardless of what managers, players or replay may have said. To me, that's the reason I'm in the Hall of Fame. If I didn't umpire with conviction, I wouldn't have made it for long.”

“My mom beat us until she started breaking clothes hangers. Wooden clothes hangers! Once we started laughing back at her, then your spankings were through. That's the way I was raised. So, I got to be about 13 years of age when finally she quit spanking on me. But I think that it was great way to be raised.”

“When you're in between the white lines, the game face is on. I was only focused on the task at hand - out, safe, ball, strike - leaving little time to think about how special a player, moment or game happened to be.”

“Error is part of the game. I never, ever second-guessed myself on a call and don't believe good umpires ever should.”

“I always told my young umpires, 'Don't get mad. Whatever you do, don't show it. But no matter how long it takes, get even.'”

“I know that there are no famous 'Doug Harvey plays.' And I'm proud of that.”

“I must admit, I was born to officiate; I was made to officiate. I miss it. I knew why I was doing it. God made me to umpire.”

“I set out to be the best umpire of my time. But I don't know what it takes to be great.”