You’re on Satchel Paige Quotes – Page 5 of 6 of Baseball Quotations.
1 – Baseball Quotes
3 – Famous Yogi Berra Quotations
4 – Inspirational Baseball Quotations
5 – Satchel Paige Quotes (You’re Here!)
This collection is a testament to a great baseball pitcher and a man who knew himself well.
Famous Satchel Paige Quotes
1.) Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.
2. I never rush myself. See, they can’t start the game without me.
3. Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.
4. Never be unfaithful to a lover, except with your wife.
5. Airplanes may kill you, but they ain’t likely to hurt you.
6. Avoid running at all times.
Satchel Paige Quotes to Remember
7. You win a few; you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.
8. They want me to be old, so I give ‘em what they want. Seems they get a bigger kick out of an old man throwing strikeouts.
9. Don’t go to college unless to get knowledge.
10. Avoid fried foods, which angry up the blood.
11. I sure get laughs when I see in the papers where some major league pitcher says he gets a sore arm because he’s overworked, and he pitches every four days. Man, that’d be a vacation for me.
12. Never let the odds keep you from pursuing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.
See Book Excerpt on the Life and Times of Satchel Paige.
Satchel Paige Fun Fact A
Midnight Rider, Bat Dodger, Jump Ball, Midnight Creeper, and The Trouble Ball were names that Satchel gave his pitches in the early days. Essentially, they were all variations of his fastball. As he grew older, he adapted his repertoire to include a screwball, a hesitation pitch, a knuckleball, and an eephus pitch.
Philosophy
13. You look for his weakness, and while you’re looking for it, he’s liable to hit forty-five home runs.
(on Josh Gibson)
14. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
15. I ain’t as fast as I used to be, but I’m a better pitcher. I used to overpower them; now I out-cute them.
16. Go very lightly on vices such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.
17. Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.
18. Won-lost was only 1-1 on the tour, but they batted only.
See Take Me Out to The Ball Game – HIstory, Renditions, and fun Facts.
Just the Facts
19. Money and women. They’re two of the strongest things in the world. The things you do for a woman you wouldn’t do for anything else. Same with money.
20. I was born in August, no July 1908.
21. Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.
22. I don’t generally like running. I believe in training by rising gently up and down from the bench.
23. The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal.
24. I ain’t ever had a job; I just always played baseball.
25. Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common.
More from one of Baseball’s Greats
26. Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.
27. Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
28. I don’t need any spit to help out.
29. My catcher showed up and he must have been Old Man Moses. He was so old he didn’t have to crouch.
30. I use my single windup, my double windup, my triple windup, my hesitation windup, my no windup. I also use my step-n-pitch-it, my submariner, my sidearmer, and my bat dodger. Man’s got to do what he’s got to do.
31. If a man can beat you, walk him.
32. I was so scared that pilot and me was like husband and wife until we landed. (on his fear of flying.)
33. It’s funny what a few no-hitters do for a body.
34. With women, it’s like this. I’m not married but I’m in great demand.
35. Throw high risers at the chin and throw peas at the knees. Throw it here when they’re lookin’ there and throw it there when they’re lookin’ here.
See 17 Reasons To Love The Savannah Bananas.
Health
36. My feet ain’t got nothing to do with my nickname, but when folks get it in their heads that a feller’s got big feet, soon the feet start looking big.
37. One time I snuck a ball on with me, and when I went to winding up, I threw one of them balls to first and one to second. I was so smooth I picked off both runners and fanned the batter without that ump or the other team even knowing it.
38. When a batter swings and I see his knees move, I can tell just his weaknesses. Then I just put the ball where I know he can’t hit it.
39. I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while, I would toss one that ain’t never been seen by this generation.
40. They said I was the greatest pitcher they ever saw — I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t give me no justice.
41. Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
Satchel Paige Quotes on Being the Best
42. I may not be the bestest pitcher in the world, but I sure out-cutes ’em .
43. Don’t eat fried food, it angries up the blood.
44. Mother always told me, if you tell a lie, always rehearse it. If it don’t sound good to you, it won’t sound good to no one else.
45. I never had a job. I always played baseball.
46. There you is and there you is going to stay. (After walking a batter and then striking out the side.)
47. If they make you go where learning is flying around, some of it is bound to light on you.
48. Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.
49. Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
50. When the green’s floating around, make sure you get your share.
On Pitching
51. When a batter swings and I see his knees move, I can tell just his weaknesses. Then I just put the ball where I know he can’t hit it.
52. Any big league starter who hits .200 shouldn’t be where he is. He ought to be waiting outside the gate to get in the park.
53. Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
54. Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.
55. Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common.
56. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
57. Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.
58. It kind of hurts me when folks say I’m an old man.
59. When I was ten, and when I was fifty, there was one thing I could do – play baseball. And you better believe it.
60. Since I threw those rocks so straight, I guess it was just natural that I started firing a baseball.
See Structured Baseball Practice Plans.
Satchel Paige Fun Fact B
Satchel Paige was selected by Sporting News as the 19th-best baseball player in history in 1999.
On Playing Ball
61. I know I can pitch – I been stopping major leaguers all my life.
62. If I’m lying, I’m dying.
63. He asked me to throw at a cigarette as a plate, and I threw four out of five over it. (Bill Veeck)
64. Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit and grieve. Find another way.
Satchel Paige Quotes on Words of Wisdom
65. The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal.
66. I was down there, dragging a bag. I got a dime for it. We weren’t going to be eating much better if I made only a dime at a time, so I got me a pole and some ropes. That let me sling two, three, or four satchels together and carry them at one time. You always got to be thinking to make money. My invention wasn’t a smart-looking thing, but it upped my income. [Satchel describing how he earned his nickname – friends said he looked like a walking satchel tree.]
67. The reason I catch so many fish is because I feed them just what they like: grits, eggs, pork chops, and chitterlings.
68. There you is (after he walked a batter, told him this then stuck out the next three hitters) and there you is going to stay.
69. I can show you a man who says I’m over 60. Everybody’s got a different number. They play bingo with me.
Satchel Paige Quotes on Fitness
70. I don’t generally like running. I believe in training by rising gently up and down from the bench.
71. The crowd was surprised when I struck out the side. I wasn’t, I did that lots of times. And I expect to do it more, too.
72. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?
73. I don’t know what you’re going to do, Mr. Dizzy Dean, but I’m not going to give up any runs if we have to stay here all night.
Satchel Paige Quotes – Tips on Life and Baseball
74. If a man can beat you, walk him.
75. You gotta keep the ball off the fat part of the bat.
76. I never rush myself. See, they can’t start the game without me.
77. I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while, I toss one that ain’t never been seen by this generation.
78. It’s funny what a few no-hitters do for a body.
79. I’m not gonna knock you down now. I not gonna throw this smoke at your yoke, but a pea at your knee.
Check out Awesome Baseball Sayings
Satchel Paige Quotes on Pitching
80. I use my single windup, my double windup, my triple windup, my hesitation windup, my no windup. I also use my step-n-pitch-it, my submariner, my sidearmer, and my bat dodger. Man’s got to do what he’s got to do.
81. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a hundred times, I’m forty-four years old.
82. Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move.
83. My feet ain’t got nothing to do with my nickname, but when folks get it in their heads that a feller’s got big feet, soon the feet start looking big.
84. My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball way from the bat.
85. One time, he hit a line drive right past my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit his ass sliding into second. (Cool Papa Bell)
86. One time I snuck a ball on with me, and when I went to winding up, I threw one of them balls to first and one to second. I was so smooth I picked off both runners and fanned the batter without that ump or the other team even knowing it.
87. You ain’t seen no speed yet. Just wait until the weather warms up.
88. There never was a man on Earth who pitched as much as me, but the more I pitched, the stronger my arm would get.
What others said about Satchel Paige
The best and fastest pitcher I’ve ever faced.
Joe DiMaggio
He made his living by throwing the ball to a spot over the plate the size of a matchbook.
Cool Papa Bell
Satch was the greatest pitcher in baseball.
Ted Williams
Of course, the stories about Satchel Paige are legendary, and some of them are even true.
Buck O’Neil
Mr. Satchel Paige’s Background
Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige was an American Negro League and MLB baseball pitcher known for his baseball skills, longevity in the game, and interesting quotes. Many regard him as the best pitcher who ever played the game.
For much of his life, his actual date of birth was disputed. He was the oldest major league rookie when he began playing at 42 years old for the Cleveland Indians. Paige played one game for the Kansas City Athletics at the age of 59. He pitched three shutout innings.
Per Wikipedia,
“According to Paige, his nickname originated from childhood work toting bags at the train station. He said he was not making enough money at a dime a bag, so he used a pole and rope to build a contraption that allowed him to cart up to four bags at once. Another kid supposedly yelled, “You look like a walking satchel tree.”
For a 15-year stretch, Satchel Paige threw very hard and with pinpoint control. And, he threw often with little rest. He pitched complete games. For those reasons alone, he’d be remembered as a baseball great, as evidenced by his Baseball Hall of Fame election. But, what makes Satchel so memorable is how he did it his way with his own style. The quotes below will give you a good sense of the man, his charisma, and his approach to life.
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is the editor of Sports Feel Good Stories.
Extra Innings
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