"A great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance." Source: Baseball Greatest Quotations (Paul Dickson, 1992)

"Baseball is a game of inches." Source: Quote magazine (July 31, 1966 Issue)

"Baseball people, and that includes myself, are slow to change and accept new ideas. I remember that it took years to persuade them to put numbers on uniforms."

"(Ty) Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day."

"Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game."

"Fill in any figure you want for that boy (Mickey Mantle). Whatever the figure, it's a deal."

"He (Leo Durocher) had the ability of taking a bad situation and making it immediately worse." Source: Baseball Greatest Quotations (Paul Dickson, 1992)

"He's (Mickey Mantle) the best prospect I've ever seen."

"How to use your leisure time is the biggest problem of a ballplayer." Source: Baseball Greatest Quotations (Paul Dickson, 1992)

"I am alarmed at the subtle invasion of professional football, which is gaining preeminence over baseball. It's unthinkable." Source: New York Times (Arthur Daley, August 20, 1959)

"I did not mind the public criticism. That sort of thing has not changed any program I thought was good."

"I don't care if I was a ditch-digger at a dollar a day, I'd want to do my job better than the fellow next to me. I'd want to be the best at whatever I do."

"I don't like the subtle infiltration of 'something for nothing' philosophies into the very hearthstone of the American family. I believe that 'Thou shalt earn the bread by the sweat of thy face' was a benediction and not a penalty. Work is the zest of life; there is joy in its pursuit."

"I find fault with my children because I like them and I want them to go places - uprightness and strength and courage and civil respect and anything that affects the probabilities of failure on the part of those that are closest to me, that concerns me - I find fault."

"If things don't come easy, there is no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit."

"It (a baseball box score) doesn't tell how big you are, what church you attend, what color you are, or how your father voted in the last election. It just tells what kind of baseball player you were on that particular day." Source: I Never Had It Made (Jackie Robinson, 1997)

"It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind."

"Jackie (Robinson), we've got no army. There's virtually nobody on our side. No owners, no umpires, very few newspapermen. And I'm afraid that many fans will be hostile. We'll be in a tough position. We can win only if we can convince the world that I'm doing this because you're a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman." Source: Giants of Baseball (Bill Gutman, 1991)

"Leisure is the handmaiden of the devil."

"Let's not get panicky."

"Luck is the residue of design." Source: New York Times (Arthur Daley, November 17, 1965)

"Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of a hit-and-run."

"Never surrender opportunity for security."

"Only in baseball can a team player be a pure individualist first and a team player second, within the rules and spirit of the game." Source: The American Diamond (Branch Rickey, 1965)

"Our pitching staff is a conspiracy of ifs."

"Problems are the price you pay for progress."

"The greatest untapped reservoir of raw material in the history of our game is the black race." Source: AP Wire During the Signing of Jackie Robinson (1946)

"The man with the ball is responsible for what happens to the ball."

"There was never a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker and with better judgment than (Jackie) Robinson."

"Thinking about the devil is worse than seeing the devil."

"This ball—this symbol; its it worth a whole man's life?" Source: Sports Illustrated (Gerald Holland, 11-71)

"Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must."

"Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late."

"When (Rube) Waddell had control and some sleep, he was unbeatable."

"I realized how much our relationship had deepened after I left baseball. It was that later relationship that made me feel almost as if I had lost my own father. Branch Rickey, especially after I was no longer in the sports spotlight, treated me like a son." - Jackie Robinson in I Never Had it Made (Jackie Robinson, 1997)

"It was easy to figure our Mr. Rickey's thinking about contracts. He had both players and money-and just didn't like to see the two of them mix." Chuck Connors in Baseball is a Funny Game (Joe Garagiola, 1960)

"I went into Mr. Rickey's office and sat across the table from him. He told me he had scouts watching me for months. There was no question I could play. What he couldn't tell was my habits. Did I drink? Did I run around with women? Would I embarrass the club with my conduct? That's what they had to be sure of before they signed any Negro player." - Roy Campanella in Bo: Pitching and Wooing (Maury Allen, 1973)

"Mr. Rickey had great insight into everyday life as well as baseball. In one of our player meetings he once said, 'Never play checkers with a man who carries his own board.' I never forgot it." - Bob Purkey

"Mr. Rickey went out of his way to do so much to put blacks in the major leagues. he could tell you so many things, Mr. Rickey, just like my mother or father reading a book to me as a youngster. He made me a better catcher, a better person on and off the field. He made me a completely changed individual." - Roy Campanella

"The scope of his thinking constantly surprised even those who knew him well...He relished digging into something and then sharing his insights with others. He was always lecturing, tutoring, motivating, cautioning, and inspiring." - Grandson Branch B. Rickey

"The thing about him was that he was always doing something for someone else. I know, because he did so much for me." - Jackie Robinson

Quotes From & About Branch Rickey