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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
Knew
Came
Play
Good
Things
Think
Thinking
Programmed
Majors

More quotes by Willie Mays

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What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated.
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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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I was a baseball player, I taught baseball, and all of a sudden I was in the business world. Now I used the baseball world to talk about their product. Not too much, just enough to keep going. Just be yourself and you'll never have a problem. That's what I did.
Willie Mays
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Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson.
Willie Mays
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I don't compare 'em, I just catch 'em.
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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I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.
Willie Mays
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Never assume the other guy will never do something you would never do.
Willie Mays
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Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business.
Willie Mays
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Maybe I was born to play ball. Maybe I truly was.
Willie Mays
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That's how easy baseball was for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I had the knowledge before I became a professional baseball player to do all these things and know what each guy would hit.
Willie Mays
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If you can do that - if you run, hit, run the bases, hit with power, field, throw and do all other things that are part of the game - then you're a good ballplayer.
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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I don't mean to be bashful, but I was
Willie Mays
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I'm not the type of guy to go out and just say, 'Hey, I'm raising my fist to do this and do that.' I don't think I'm that type of guy. I wasn't a leader the way other people may have wanted me to be.
Willie Mays
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I didn't teach you that. Catch the ball with your glove.
Willie Mays