Willie Mays Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson.”

“I played with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was making 500 at 14. That was a lot of money in those days.”

“I always enjoyed playing ball, and it didn't matter to me whether I played with white kids or black. I never understood why an issue was made of who I played with, and I never felt comfortable, when I grew up, telling other people how to act.”

“I think I was programmed to do good things when I came into the majors. I knew how to play.”

“I would try and help everybody, because the game was so easy for me. It was just like walking in the park.”

“When I got to professional ball I used to play 150 games every year. It depends on how many games there was.”

“And my father didn't have money for me to go to college. And at that particular time they didn't have black quarterbacks, and I don't think I could have made it in basketball, because I was only 5' 11". So I just picked baseball.”

“That's how easy baseball was for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I had the knowledge before I became a professional baseball player to do all these things and know what each guy would hit.”

“The greatest challenge I think is adjusting to not playing baseball. The reason for that is I had to come out of baseball and come into the business world, not being a college graduate, not being educated to come into the business world the way I should have.”

“When I was in Birmingham I used to go to a place called Redwood Field. I used to get there for a two o'clock game. Where can you make this kind of money playing sports? It was just a pleasure to go out and enjoy myself and get paid for it.”