bballer

"But this is the point I want to make: When you talk about steroids, and you talk about what it means to the game, the three greatest home run hitters of all time-Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, right? When they were 39 years old, how many home runs do you think they averaged? The three greatest home run hitters of all time averaged 18 home runs at age 39. Now, how many home runs did Barry Bonds hit when he was 39? He hit 73!" Carlton Fisk.

"Auggie Busch traded me to the last-place Phillies over a $5000 salary dispute. I was mentally committed to winning 25 games with the Cardinals and now I had to re-think my goals. I decided to stay with the 25-win goal and won 27 of Phillies' 59 victories. I consider that season my finest individual achievement." Steve Carlton, 1972. Carlton was 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA, for a last-place Philadelphia team!! Steve Carleton`s 12.5 WAR was the highest single-season mark since Walter Johnson in 1913. Cardinals' owner, Auggie Busch had temper tantrum because Steve Carlton wouldn't agree to the club's contract terms. Ordered by Busch to trade Carlton, GM Bing Devine dealt Carlton to the Phillies for another pitcher, Rick Wise, 1972.

"Lou Brock was a little scared of Bob Veale sometimes, because Bob was nearsighted and would take off his glasses and pitch anyway. Willie McCovey, too. One day, Bob took those glasses off and threw the ball 100 miles per hour at McCovey. I asked Veale what happened, and he said: "My glasses were too wet, and I wanted to show him I could throw a strike without my glasses." That pitch was 10 feet high." Manny Sanguillen. At the age of 58, Bob Veale stayed connected to his baseball roots by working as a groundskeeper at, "Rickwood Field" two days a week. He played an important role in preserving the storied old ballpark he played in as a child. "We didn’t know we were breaking segregation laws. We just thought we were playing baseball. I had white friends, kids I played ball with all the time. We weren’t thinking about integrating anything. We were just playing baseball." As a boy, Bob Veale played on the sandlots of Birmingham with both blacks and whites. "Piper Davis made me a bat boy and let me pitch batting practice regularly. I used to pitch batting practice for the white Barons and come back and do the same for the Black Barons. When game started I went to the concession stands and did the things I normally did." Bob Veale, 1947.

"I've never known anyone in any profession more adored than Brooks Robinson. We'd go on road trips and he'd stop on the street to talk to total strangers. It's amazing that he was that good a player and that nice to everyone he met." Frank Robinson. "As a player, I put Frank Robinson in a class with Mays, Aaron and Mantle. He was the best player I ever played with. When he came here in 1966, he put us over the top. He was a great man." Brooks Robinson. "Frank Robinson played the game tough, hard, but fair. Made all of us better players." Jim Palmer.