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

Willie Mays

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Willie Mays
Age: 93
Born: 1931
Born: May 6
Baseball Player
Jefferson County
Alabama
Willie Howard Mays Jr.
Willie Howard Mays
The Say Hey Kid
Thinking
Programmed
Majors
Knew
Came
Play
Good
Things
Think

More quotes by Willie Mays

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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.
Willie Mays
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Maybe I was born to play ball. Maybe I truly was.
Willie Mays
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In 1950, when the Giants signed me, they gave me $15,000. I bought a 1950 Mercury. I couldn't drive, but I had it in the parking lot there, and everybody that could drive would drive the car. So it was like a community thing
Willie Mays
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Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what is most truly is is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.
Willie Mays
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In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated.
Willie Mays
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In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without one-hundred percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.
Willie Mays
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I didn't teach you that. Catch the ball with your glove.
Willie Mays
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I don't rate them, I just hit them.
Willie Mays
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At ten I was playing against 18-year-old guys. At 15 I was playing professional ball with the Birmingham Black Barons, so I really came very quickly in all sports.
Willie Mays
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When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But, when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.
Willie Mays
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I don't mean to be bashful, but I was
Willie Mays
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I was very fortunate to play sports. All the anger in me went out. I had to do what I had to do. If you stay angry all the time, then you really don't have a good life.
Willie Mays
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I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.
Willie Mays
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I would try and help everybody, because the game was so easy for me. It was just like walking in the park.
Willie Mays
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It isn't hard to be good from time to time in sports. What is tough, is being good every day.
Willie Mays
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When I got to professional ball I used to play 150 games every year. It depends on how many games there was.
Willie Mays
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Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business.
Willie Mays
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Yes, I had to learn how to live life outside, but I had so many people help me.
Willie Mays
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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.
Willie Mays
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What's tough is being good every day.
Willie Mays