Quotes - M

"I've had so many x-rays that my pitches might take on a subtle glow. It will be tough to pick up my ball. It will look like an opaque-type fog." - Joe Magrane

"Just because I'm left-handed and quotable doesn't mean I'm from another solar system." - Joe Magrane

On his first trip to Candlestick Park: "I'll be prepared. Our 7th grade trip was to Antartica. I'll take a bunsen burner over there. And maybe some powdered food. For lack of a better word, by the end of the game, I'd like to say I breezed through 9 innings." - Joe Magrane

"They should have come out of the dugout on tippy-toes, holding hands and singing." - Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees OF, on seeing the Oakland Athletics new green and gold uniforms (1963)

"Nolan knows he has perfect mechanics. It makes no difference that he doesn't understand the mechanics. He lucked into throwing the ball right. It came naturally to him. If he had been taught, he probably wouldn't do it right." - Dr. Mike Marshall, former pitcher, on Nolan Ryan

"After the Series, the league above the major leagues will draft Orel Hersheiser as number one." - Mike Marshall, after Hersheiser shut Oakland out on three hits and got himself three hits in Game 2 of the 1988 World Series

"Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener." - Billy Martin (New York Yankees manager)

"All I know is, I pass people on the street these days, and they don't know whether to say hello or to say good-bye." - Billy Martin, Yankees manager

"One's a born liar, and the other's been convicted." - Billy Martin, describing Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner

"Harry and Jack might be up there, looking out for the Cubs. If they win, Harry might come down and buy the whole city a drink." - Pete Martin (Chicago Cubs fan), referring to late Cubs broadcasters Harry Caray and Jack Brickkhouse, who missed the Cubs' first National League playoff appearance since 1989.

"There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature." - Buck Martinez

"Our (pitching) staff comes from all over. We have a pitcher from Cuba, a pitcher from Japan, a pitcher from Panama, and Boomer Wells is from Mars." - Tino Martinez (NY Yankees 1B), during the 1998 post-season.

"I was a nervous wreck out there. Swear to God. I felt like I was in the presence of the president." - Mariners reserve catcher John Marzano, after hitting a double and winding up standing next to Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr.

"Baseball's still a game. I don't want it to be work. I want it to be a game." - Don Mattingly

"The worst thing is the day you realize you want to win more than the players do." - Gene Mauch, former manager of the Minnesota Twins

"Players carry managers to championships." - Gene Mauch, former manager

"I remember one time going out to the mound to talk with Bob Gibson. He told me to get back behind the batter; that the only thing I knew about pitching was that it was hard to hit." - Tim McCarver (St. Louis Cardinals catcher)

"When Charlie Finley had his heart operation it took eight hours. Seven just to find his heart." - Oakland A's pitcher Steve McCatty, 1981

"People ask me how I'd like to be remembered. I tell them I'd like to be remembered as the guy who hit the line drive . . . over Bobby Richardson's head." - Willie McCovey, whose line drive to Richardson ended the 1962 World Series

"Yeah? Well, he can't hit in any of them." - John McGraw (New York Giants manager), upon hearing that Moe Berg, a major leaguer from the Ivy Leagues, allegedly spoke six languages.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf." - Tug McGraw, asked whether he preferred grass or Astroturf

"Always root for the winner. That way you won't be disappointed." - Tug McGraw

Asked what he'd do with the money from his new contract: "Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish Whiskey. The other 10 percent I'll probably waste." - Tug McGraw

"I have no trouble with the 12 inches between my elbow and my palm. It's the seven inches between my ears that's bent." - Tug McGraw

"Ya Gotta Believe!" - Tug McGraw

"I can only control Mark McGwire swinging the bat." - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals 1B), responding to a reporters question on Sammy Sosa, the night Sosa, then McGwire hit their 66th homeruns (9-25-98)

"If someone wants to play and is fiddling with $11 million, that shows he doesn't want to play very much. I'm from the old school - you've got to prove yourself in the big leagues, and that's where you make your money." - Mark McGwire, on J.D. Drew's demand of a eleven million dollar signing bonus upon being drafted

"It's an awesome feeling. How can you not get chills?" - Mark McGwire, on hitting HR #1, March 31, 1998

"We accidently won too many games last year." - John McHale (Detroit Tigers' president), on why the team failed in 1998 after a promising 1997 season.

"I went to church the other day to pray for our pitchers. But there weren't enough candles." - Jack McKeon (Reds manager, 8-24-98), on one of his team's weaknesses

"When you go through a game, make it every pitch like it was the last pitch that you’ll ever call - you’ll have a good game !" - Edwin D. Merrill, American League Umpire

"I know that pitchers who refuse to follow knockdown orders are liable to a fine of $50. I was never fined because I always followed orders. If the manager told me to knock down a hitter, I did. But I do know of cases where pitchers were fined that amount because they were reluctant to knock down a batter. Something should be done to stop this. Of the nine managers I pitched for, Eddie Sawyer was the only manager who never ordered me to throw at a hitter. Somebody's going to get killed one of these days, watch and see." - Russ Meyer, 1961

"I was looking for a fastball. Ryan threw a curve and I got vapor-locked." - Brad Mills, Ryan's 3,509 strikeout victim, which pushed him past Walter Johnson for the all-time strikeout record

"The greatest player I ever saw was a black man. His name is Martin Dihigo. I played with him in Santo Domingo in winter ball in 1943. I thought I was having a pretty good year myself down there and they were walking him to get to me." - Johnny Mize (NY Giants 1B), on Martin Dihigo, a Cuban, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977.

"It actually giggles at you as it goes by." - Rick Monday, on Phil Niekro's knuckleball, LA Dodgers OF

"Frank Robinson can step on your toes and not mess up your shine." - Joe Morgan

"The ball is smaller, the planets are in line, the hole in the ozone layer is bigger, and so is Juan Gonzalez." - Terry Mulholland, on why more home runs are being hit these days

"Trying to hit him (Phil Niekro) was like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks." - Bobby Murcer, Yankees outfielder

"Why certainly I'd like to have that fellow who hits a home run every time at bat, who strikes out every opposing batter when he's pitching, who throws strikes to any base or the plate when he's playing outfield and who's always thinking about two innings ahead just what he'll do to baffle the other team. Any manager would want a guy like that playing for him. The only trouble is to get him to put down his cup of beer and come down out of the stands and do those things." - Danny Murtaugh, manager

"There are 50 games a year when you beat the crap out of them, and there's 50 games a year when they beat the crap out of you. The rest are swing games. You've got to win these games if you are going to win." - Tony Muser, Kansas City Royals manager