Mickey Mantle Quotes & Sayings

Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part. — Mickey Mantle

Casey wanted us to stay loose. That didn't mean clowning around. He just meant we should be confident and relaxed. We shouldn't feel that one strikeout was going to end the season for us. — Mickey Mantle

The hardest thing to do in sports, I think, is to hit a home run. — Mickey Mantle

He said to play louder. He can't hear you. — Mickey Mantle

I expected him to say, 'Hang in there' or something like that. It took me an hour to talk him into giving me another chance! — Mickey Mantle

A body came flying out and landed at my feet. At first I thought it was Billy so I picked him up. But when I saw it wasn't I dropped him back down. — Mickey Mantle

Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That's the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century. — Mickey Mantle

Today's Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they're out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball. — Mickey Mantle

Not after all the time my dad spent teaching me to switch-hit. — Mickey Mantle

Every time I see his name (Dean Chance) on a lineup card, I feel like throwing up. — Mickey Mantle

After they remodeled Yankee Stadium I didn't feel that the ghosts were there anymore. It just wasn't the same. — Mickey Mantle

It's what you're worth. — Mickey Mantle

Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said "sure, every time". — Mickey Mantle

Billy (Martin) was a great one for jokes. He liked to play a joke more than anyone I ever knew. — Mickey Mantle

Sometimes I sit in my den at home and read stories about myself. Kids used to save whole scrapbooks on me. They get tired of them and mail them to me. I'll go in there and read them, and you know what? They might as well be about (Stan) Musial and (Joe) DiMaggio, it's like reading about somebody else. — Mickey Mantle

His fielding leaves you wondering. Then he steps up to hit and all doubts start to fade. — Mickey Mantle

In 1960 when Pittsburgh beat us in the World Series, we outscored them 55-27. It was the only time I think the better team lost. I was so disappointed I cried on the plane ride home. — Mickey Mantle

The biggest game I ever played in was probably Don Larsen's perfect game. — Mickey Mantle

All the ballparks and the big crowds have a certain mystique. You feel attached, permanently wedded to the sounds that ring out, to the fans chanting your name, even when there are only four or five thousand in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon. — Mickey Mantle

Sometimes I think if I had the same body and the same natural ability and someone else's brain, who knows how good a player I might have been. — Mickey Mantle

Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing's ever been as fun as baseball. — Mickey Mantle

You might as well go in and start getting dressed. I'm going to hit his first pitch for a home run. — Mickey Mantle

I've often wondered how a man who knew he was going to die could stand here and say he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but now I guess I know how he felt. — Mickey Mantle

If I had known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself! — Mickey Mantle

You never have to wait long, or look far, to be reminded of how thin the line is between being a hero or a goat. — Mickey Mantle

My views are just about the same as Casey's. — Mickey Mantle

Hey Yog, what time is it? You mean right now? — Mickey Mantle

I never saw him fight. I never saw Billy fight. — Mickey Mantle

Before you go, would you sign that case of balls for me? — Mickey Mantle

Bravery is a complicated thing to describe. You can't say it's three feet long and two feet wide and that it weighs four hundred pounds or that it's colored bright blue or that it sounds like a piano or that it smells like roses. It's a quality, not a thing. — Mickey Mantle

All I have is natural ability. — Mickey Mantle

I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you he'd come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, 'Do you want me to sign it?' — Mickey Mantle

He who have the fastest cart never have to play a bad lie. — Mickey Mantle

Billy (Martin) wasn't afraid of anything. — Mickey Mantle

I guess you could say I'm what this country is all about. — Mickey Mantle

The best team I ever saw, and I really mean this, was the '61 Yankees. — Mickey Mantle

You don't have to talk to me about pensions. I won't be around long enough to collect one. — Mickey Mantle

If I had played my career hitting singles like Pete (Rose), I'd wear a dress. — Mickey Mantle

You don't realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth. — Mickey Mantle

I'll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do. — Mickey Mantle

I never understood how someone who was dying could say he was the luckiest man in the world, but now I understand. — Mickey Mantle

The biggest thrill I ever had was in 1969, when they held day at Yankee Stadium. — Mickey Mantle

If I hadn't met those two guys (Billy Martin and Whitey Ford) at the start of my career, I would have lasted another five years. — Mickey Mantle

The greatest thing I ever saw was Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's record. — Mickey Mantle

No man in the history of baseball had as much power as . No man. — Mickey Mantle

This year I'd rather lead the league in home runs, runs batted in and hitting. — Mickey Mantle

There were things that would irritate Casey, but trying too hard or getting mad at sitting on the bench weren't among them. — Mickey Mantle

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball. — Mickey Mantle

When I'm hitting, I'd play for nothing. When I'm not, any kind of money I receive makes me feel as if I'm stealing. — Mickey Mantle

He who has the fastest golf cart never has a bad lie. — Mickey Mantle

It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing all your life. — Mickey Mantle

Thank God for baseball. — Mickey Mantle

To play 18 years in Yankee Stadium is the best thing that could ever happen to a ballplayer. — Mickey Mantle

If you want to know who was better, me or Willie Mays, you have to look at our career stats. And Willie's bottom line was better. — Mickey Mantle

The best hitter I ever saw was Ted Williams. — Mickey Mantle

It was all I lived for, to play baseball. — Mickey Mantle

I don't know why, but for some reason I seem to be more popular now than when I was playing. — Mickey Mantle

We know you can bunt, Mick. You're not down here to bunt. You're here to get some hits and get your swing back. — Mickey Mantle

My biggest regret was letting my lifetime average drop below .300. I always felt I was a .300 hitter, and if I could change one thing that would be it. — Mickey Mantle

The thing I really liked about Mickey was the way he treated everyone the same. — Mickey Mantle

I think the best all-round baseball player ever was Joe DiMaggio. — Mickey Mantle

Hey Mantle, you win. You're the worst. — Mickey Mantle

My dad taught me to switch-hit. He and my grandfather, who was left-handed, pitched to me every day after school in the back yard. I batted lefty against my dad and righty against my granddad. — Mickey Mantle

To get a better piece of chicken, you'd have to be a rooster. — Mickey Mantle

I could never be a manager. All I have is natural ability. — Mickey Mantle

Because the players knew that if Billy asked them to jump off a roof, he'd jump off with them. — Mickey Mantle

The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It's the only thing I know. — Mickey Mantle

I never got to see the '27 Yankees. Everyone says that was the greatest team ever. But I think it would've been a great series if we'd have had the chance to play them. — Mickey Mantle

It gave me a second chance. I'd like everybody to have a second chance if they need it, so I'm trying to let people know how important it is to become an organ donor. — Mickey Mantle

It looked like Roy Rogers rode through on Trigger, and Trigger kicked the guy in the face. — Mickey Mantle

Billy copied Casey to a 'T.' — Mickey Mantle

I don't care what the situation was, how high the stakes were - the bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch, it never bothered Whitey. He pitched his game. Cool. Craft. Nerves of steel. — Mickey Mantle

I've heard about you. I've heard about you, too. — Mickey Mantle

After a play in the field Casey would turn (to the players on the bench) and say 'What did he do wrong?' or 'You're better than that guy.' Either way, he'd keep them from getting stale. — Mickey Mantle

Those people don't know how tough that really was. — Mickey Mantle

They should have come out of the dugout on tippy-toes, holding hands and singing. — Mickey Mantle

Ralph (Houk) brought out the best in everybody, and that included me. I consider myself lucky to have played for him. — Mickey Mantle

If I were playing today I'd do what Joe DiMaggio said. I'd go knock on the door at Yankee Stadium and when George Steinbrenner answered I'd say, 'Howdy, pardner.' — Mickey Mantle

Hey man! Get away from me! — Mickey Mantle

As far as he knew, I was dying. — Mickey Mantle

Well, I beat my man. Now it's up to you to beat yours. — Mickey Mantle

He foresaw the platooning that managers like Casey Stengel used years before it happened. He told me I had to be a switch-hitter if I was going to play. — Mickey Mantle

In 1961 somebody could've hit a home run to win the game and the next day the headline was about the M&M boys not hitting a home run. But everyone was real good about it. Instead of getting mad they joked about it. — Mickey Mantle

The strain on Roger (Maris) was unbelievable. After I dropped out the reporters only had one guy to go to. They surrounded him everywhere he went. He had big clumps of hair falling out. That he went ahead and did it was unbelievable. — Mickey Mantle

He can run, steal bases, throw, hit for average, and hit with power like I've never seen. Just don't put him at shortstop. — Mickey Mantle

At my best I was as good as anyone. — Mickey Mantle

People say Yogi (Berra) is a strange guy, and I've heard Yogi say some funny things. But he has a beautiful wife, he's rich, and he's famous. I don't see anything strange about that. — Mickey Mantle

Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Listen to your moms and dads. In this great country of ours you do whatever you set your mind to. Make us proud of you. — Mickey Mantle

You hit .350 you're a leader. You hit .250 and you're not. — Mickey Mantle

Casey didn't easily forgive a guy who got doubled up on a hit-and-run play. He didn't see any reason why the runner couldn't take a quick glance back toward the plate to make sure the ball was hit safely. — Mickey Mantle

Roger Maris was as good a man and as good a ballplayer as there ever was. — Mickey Mantle

Don't do as I did. I'm living proof of how not to live. — Mickey Mantle

I don't know why Roger (Maris) isn't in the hall of fame. To me, he was as good as there ever was. — Mickey Mantle

When I first came to Yankee Stadium I used to feel like the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were walking around in there. — Mickey Mantle

I had it all and blew it. — Mickey Mantle

I thought I raised a ballplayer. You're nothing but a coward and a quitter. — Mickey Mantle

If I send the ball home, I know what will happen to it. My twin brothers will take it out on the lot, like any 20-cent rocket. — Mickey Mantle

It was the single greatest feat I ever saw. — Mickey Mantle

If the World Series was on the line and I could pick one pitcher to pitch the game, I'd choose Whitey Ford every time. — Mickey Mantle

When I hit a home run I usually didn't care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered. — Mickey Mantle