100 Most Inspirational Baseball Quotes From All The Greats To Inspire Young Players

Anusuya Mukherjee
Dec 12, 2023 By Anusuya Mukherjee
Originally Published on Feb 16, 2021
Edited by Jacob Fitzbright
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Baseball player on field

Baseball is a bat and ball game where two teams take turns in batting and fielding.

Baseball comprises nine innings, and by the end, the team with the most runs is the winner. Unlike most sports, baseball has no game clock, but most games usually end by the 9th innings.

Baseball evolved from the sport of cricket being played in England during the mid 18th century. The game was carried over by immigrants to North America, and soon after, the modern version was developed.

Baseball came to be widely recognized as the United States' national sport by the late 19th century. The game is popular in North and South America, and the Caribbean and East Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Take a look at inspirational horse quotes or inspirational Marvel quotes for more related content.

Inspirational Quotes For Baseball Players

Great inspirational quotes and words of wisdom for old and new baseball players!

1. "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination."

— Tommy Lasorda.

2. "There may be people that have more talent than you, but there is no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do."

— Derek Jeter.

3. "Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there."

— Bo Jackson.

4. "A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide."

— Mickey Mantle.

5. "There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, or you can lose, or it can rain."

Casey Stengel.

6. "Everybody makes mistakes, that's why they put erasers on pencils."

— Tommy Lasorda.

7. "Baseball is a universal language. Catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball."

— Pete Rose.

8. "Baseball gives a growing boy self-poise and self-reliance. Baseball is a man maker."

— Albert Goodwill Spalding.

9. "Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging."

— Hank Aaron.

10. "I see great things in baseball. It's our game--the American game."

— Walt Whitman.

11. "You could be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball."

— Cal Ripken Jr.

12. "Baseball is like driving, it's the one who gets home safely that counts."

— Tommy Lasorda.

13. "Slumps are like a soft bed. They're easy to get into and hard to get out of."

— Johnny Bench.

14. "My theory of hitting was just to watch the ball as it came in and hit it. As I realized years later, that is still the finest theory of hitting yet devised."

— Tommy Lasorda.

15. "One of the greatest things about baseball is that you do not need much to play. All you need is a bat and a ball - not even a glove - and a whole lot of imagination."

— David Ortiz.

16. "Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is."

— Bob Feller.

17. "When you step into the batter's box, have nothing on your mind except baseball."

— Pete Rose.

18. "My motto was always to keep swinging.."

— Hank Aaron.

19. "What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all."

Willie Mays.

20. "You can't be afraid to make errors! You can't be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. "

— Lou Brock.

Best Inspirational Baseball Quotes Of All Time

Hanley Ramirez on field

Inspirational baseball quotes for high school players and short inspirational baseball quotes.

21. "If my uniform doesn't get dirty, I haven't done anything in the baseball game."

— Rickey Henderson.

22. "I've found in life the more you practice, the better you get."

— Ted Williams.

23. "There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder what happens."

Tommy Lasorda.

24. "I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all he had to give."

Roberto Clemente.

25. "Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move."

— Satchel Paige.

26. "Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead."

Jackie Robinson.

27. "Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical."

— Yogi Berra.

28. "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball."

— Pete Rose.

29. "Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world."

— Bill Veeck.

30. "After Jackie Robinson, the most important black in baseball history is Reggie Jackson."

— Reggie Jackson.

31. "There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither one of them works."

— Charlie Lau.

32. "Playing baseball is not real life. It's a fantasy world... It's a dream come true."

— Dale Murphy.

33. "The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It's the only thing I know."

— Mickey Mantle.

34. "More than any other American sport, baseball creates the magnetic, addictive illusion that it can almost be understood."

— Thomas Boswell.

35. "The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place."

— Leo Durocher.

36. "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

— Satchel Paige.

37. "If you're not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job."

— Brooks Robinson.

38. "Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

— Ted Williams.

39. "If you want something enough and work hard to get it, your chances of success are greater."

— Ted Williams.

Famous Inspirational Baseball Quotes

Some of the famous major league quotes and inspirational baseball quotes for kids.

40. "No one has come up with a substitute for hard work."

— Ted Williams.

41. "Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand."

— Leo Durocher.

42. "Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too."

— Yogi Berra.

43. "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

— Rogers Hornsby.

44. "This ain't fun. But you watch me, I'll get it done."

— Jackie Robinson.

45. "For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps."

— Willie Mays.

46. "The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love."

— Bryant Gumbel.

47. "Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."

Satchel Paige.

48. "It ain't like football. You can't make up no trick plays."

— Yogi Berra.

49. "I never smile when I have a bat in my hands. That's when you've got to be serious."

— Hank Aaron.

50. "Baseball is not a sport you can achieve individually."

— Curt Schilling.

51. "Deep down, it's all baseball, no matter what kind of geometrical shape you play it with."

— Vernon D. Burns.

52. "Baseball is an art! A drama! A ballet without music! Let us give it a Greek chorus!"

— Deborah Wiles.

53. "I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But I love baseball and I love to play hard."

— Adrian Beltre.

54. "I chose baseball because to me baseball is the best game of all."

— Dave Winfield.

55. "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball."

— Jacques Barzun.

56. "For most baseball fans, maybe oldest is always best. We love baseball because it seizes and retains the past, like the snowy village inside a glass paperweight."

— Donald Hall.

Inspirational Baseball Quotes About Life

Some of the very well known inspirational baseball quotes and sayings.

57. "If I had to choose between baseball's Hall of Fame and first-class citizenship for all of my people. I would say first-class citizenship."

— Jackie Robinson.

58. "Baseball is more than a game to me, it's a religion."

— Bill Klem.

59. "There are only two seasons - winter and baseball."

— Bill Veeck.

60. "It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing your whole life."

— Mickey Mantle.

61. "If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, Jeopardy, I hate to lose."

— Derek Jeter.

62. "You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is."

— Bob Feller.

63. "It's amazing what you can do in this game with a heart and a brain."

— Buddy Bell.

64. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

— Jackie Robinson.

65. "A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That's why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues."

— Joe DiMaggio.

66. "Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing's ever been as fun as baseball."

— Mickey Mantle.

67. "Baseball is a lot like life. It's a day-to-day existence, full of ups and downs. You make the most of your opportunities in baseball as you do in life."

— Ernie Harwell.

68. "Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is."

— Bob Feller.

Inspirational Baseball Quotes For Pitchers

Baseball sayings and quotes for the pitchers out there!

69. "If there was any magic formula, it was getting to pitch every fourth day."

— Sandy Koufax.

70. "To a pitcher, a base hit is the perfect example of negative feedback."

— Steve Hovley.

71. "If you don't succeed at first, try pitching."

— Jack Harshman.

72. "A guy that throws what he intends to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher."

— Sandy Koufax.

73. "You know you're pitching well when the batters look as bad as you do at the plate."

— Duke Snider.

74. "It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy."

— Nolan Ryan.

75. "The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid. And if the hitter is timid, he has to remind the hitter he's timid."

— Don Drysdale.

76. "Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa."

— Casey Stengel.

77. "I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it."

— Sandy Koufax.

Inspirational Baseball Quotes By Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth quotes on the effect of baseball on his life.

78. "Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

— Babe Ruth.

79. "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

— Babe Ruth.

80. "I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can."

— Babe Ruth.

81. "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's games."

— Babe Ruth.

82. "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."

— Babe Ruth.

83. "Don't be afraid to take advice. There's always something new to learn."

— Babe Ruth.

84. "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

— Babe Ruth.

85. "What I am, what I have, what I am going to leave behind me - all this I owe to the game of baseball..."

— Babe Ruth.

86. "Love the game of baseball and baseball will love you."

— Babe Ruth.

87. "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success."

— Babe Ruth.

88. "If it wasn't for baseball, I'd be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery."

— Babe Ruth.

89. "Baseball is the greatest game in the world and deserves the best you can give it."

— Babe Ruth.

90. "Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."

— Babe Ruth.

Funny Baseball Quotes

Famous baseball quotes that will tickle your funny bone.

91. "Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets."

— Yogi Berra.

92. "It's a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square."

— Pete Rose.

93. "A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings."

— Earl Wilson.

94. "Playing baseball for a living is like having a license to steal."

— Pete Rose.

95. "I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw."

— Willie Mays.

96. "I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats."

— Yogi Berra.

97. "If there are any curses left in baseball, they are all on the north side of Chicago."

— Tucker Elliot.

98. "Well, it took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball, and I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."

—Hank Aaron.

99. "The way to make coaches think you're in shape in the spring is to get a tan."

— Whitey Ford.

100. "Beethoven can't really be great because his picture isn't on a bubble gum card."

— Charles Schulz.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for inspirational baseball quotes then why not take a look at golf quotes, inspirational math quotes, or inspirational soccer quotes?

Editorial credit: Keeton Gale / Shutterstock.com
 

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Written by Anusuya Mukherjee

Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

Anusuya Mukherjee picture

Anusuya MukherjeeBachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".

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