Quote

I always enjoyed playing ball, and it didn't matter to me whether I played with white kids or black. I never understood why an issue was made of who I played with, and I never felt comfortable, when I grew up, telling other people how to act

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
Kids
Grew
Ball
Matter
Playing
Enjoyed
Made
Issues
Balls
Always
Whether
Issue
Never
White
Played
People
Black
Telling
Felt
Understood
Didn
Comfortable

More quotes by Willie Mays

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They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.
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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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Maybe I was born to play ball. Maybe I truly was.
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Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson.
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Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business.
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I don't rate them, I just hit them.
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Youngsters of Little League can survive undercoaching a lot better than overcoaching.
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When I'm not hitting, I don't hit nobody. But, when I'm hitting, I hit anybody.
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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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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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Yes, I had to learn how to live life outside, but I had so many people help me.
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What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all.
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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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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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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When I was in Birmingham I used to go to a place called Redwood Field. I used to get there for a two o'clock game. Where can you make this kind of money playing sports? It was just a pleasure to go out and enjoy myself and get paid for it.
Willie Mays
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I don't compare 'em, I just catch 'em.
Willie Mays
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I played with the Birmingham Black Barons. I was making 500 at 14. That was a lot of money in those days.
Willie Mays
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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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It isn't hard to be good from time to time in sports. What is tough, is being good every day.
Willie Mays