Top quotes by Cal Ripken, Jr.

By far, the best moment of my big league career was when I caught the last out at the World Series. Votes: 17

Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I very rarely lost - then everything would go crazy. Votes: 16

I love baseball. The game allowed me the influence to impact kids in a positive way. This gives me a chance to talk to some social issues. Votes: 15

I have goals and ambitions, and I see myself as a lifelong baseball student. I have certain philosophies that I'd like to test at some point at the big league level. The job of manager appeals to me, a coach appeals to me, at a different time frame. Votes: 13

When you're in the day-to-day grind, it just seems like it's another step along the way. But I find joy in the actual process, the journey, the work. It's not the end. It's not the end event. Votes: 11

Quite frankly, I don't miss standing in the box or standing on the field playing. Votes: 9

I've felt some great feelings on the baseball field... in front of 50,000 people and millions on TV... but the feeling you get when you give a kid a chance, that is a hundred times greater than that feeling. Votes: 9

Baseball can be slow in many ways. The action starts with when the pitcher delivers the ball. But the action really starts when the crack of the bat happens. Votes: 8

You can keep going on and on about the interactions of people, which makes it a great drama and great event, and you'll always hold that special, but if you're looking at a baseball moment, the feeling you get when you win the World Series by far exceeds anything else in the game that you're able to do. Votes: 8

Normally, some people think about 50 as a big moment in life. I kind of think 30 because in your baseball career, 30 was considered on top kind of looking at the end of your career. So I remember thinking about 30 in different ways, but 50 just seems like another step right now. Votes: 8

I lived the baseball life as a kid, with my dad in it. And I lived the baseball life as an adult, because I was in it. When I retired, I wanted the opportunity to be a little bit more flexible and home-based for my kids. Votes: 7

A lot of people think I had such a rosy career, but I wanted to identify that one of the things that helps you have a long career is learning how to deal with adversity, how to get past it. Once I learned how to get through that, others things didn't seem so hard. Votes: 7

I'd like to be remembered. I'd like to think that someday two guys will be talking in a bar and one of them will say something like, 'Yeah, he's a good shortstop, but he's not as good as ole Ripken was.' Votes: 7

You learn as a player not to listen to the criticism. Many of the people who put out that criticism might not be as accomplished, might not understand the game as well from the inside-out. Votes: 6

My dad had premature gray. I was always the one with the most energy, the one who continued to practice longer. I ran up and down the stairs of different stadiums. I didn't feel the need to cover up the fact that I was losing my hair or it was graying. When you're on a team, age is only a factor when you're talking in the locker room. Votes: 6

I stayed attached to baseball through the kids and through minor league baseball, and I'm very satisfied with the schedule it allows me to have, which means I'm home until my kids go off to college. I value that time. Votes: 6

Whether your name is (Lou) Gehrig or (Cal) Ripken, (Joe) DiMaggio or (Jackie) Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of baseball to do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've ever tried to do. Votes: 6

Your job as a baseball player is to come to the park ready to play every day, and the manager, it's his job to make those decisions about who plays. Votes: 5

I had one of my best years in 1991; I was 31. I made a renewed effort to work harder. I got better at my diet. I paid attention to how much sleep I got. I was always someone of routine. I became more strict. Votes: 5

One person's going to win, and everybody else is going to not win. So let's not feel like we're losers. Let's utilize the cultural opportunities, get to know the other players on the other team, look around you, enjoy your world series. Votes: 5

Sometimes I think sportsmanship is a little bit forgotten in place of the individual attention. Votes: 5

I kept thinking, 'this must be the coolest job - I'd like to be a professional baseball player.' They were getting paid to play a game, and what a cool lifestyle that was. Votes: 5

Even though my dad was a manager in the minor leagues, I still traveled around with him and saw it from the field out. Now, as an owner, you're kind of looking from the whole baseball activity from outside in, from a fan's perspective. Votes: 4

I never understood that when I heard people retire - they said they missed being around the guys. I don't have a need to make a play in the ninth inning of a game anymore. But being on the inside and being part of a team is something that you really do value and you really do miss. Votes: 4

I don't mind being described as vanilla in certain ways. Votes: 4

You could be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball. Votes: 4

I never set out to do this; I never set out to say, 'Can I break this record?' Then all of a sudden, the preparations made for the celebration put pressure on me. I said, 'Okay, I have to get there.' After 2,130, there was sort of a realization it was a foregone conclusion you're going to play tomorrow. Votes: 3

I did make a choice when I got away from baseball to be there to get my kids off to college. Votes: 2

I've been asked to interview for many managing jobs, and I never said yes because I was never serious about it, and I thought it would be wrong to go through that process. Votes: 2

When you are away from the game and busy with other areas, you realize that the world does not revolve around baseball. Votes: 1

I think Nick Markakis is a perennial All-Star, and nobody knows about him. I think people are learning about how good he is. Votes: 0

All I really try and do is live up to my potential and do as well as I possibly could and to bring to the ballpark each and every day a good effort and do the best that I could each and every day. Votes: 0

I'm always flattered when someone thinks of me as a potential commissioner of baseball. Votes: 0

My approach to every game was to try to erase the games that were before and try to focus on the game at hand. Votes: 0

You don't project yourself in the Hall of Fame as a player. It's only during that five-year period where people start asking about it, and it doesn't seem real until it happens. Votes: 0

I always thought being a gamer and someone who had a sense of responsibility to the game and to my teammates was the honorable thing. Votes: 0

Being elected to the Hall of Fame is about your career pretty much and your impact on the game. Votes: 0

When things happen to you in the worst way, you live with it, you go over it, you think, 'What else could I have done?' Votes: 0

Get in the game. Do the best you can. Try to make a contribution. Learn from today. Apply it to tomorrow. Votes: 0

Leadership isn't about simply being in charge and treating your people like soldiers and barking orders. Leadership is sharing your knowledge and your direction so that others grow and reach their potential. Votes: 0

As long as I can compete, I won't quit. Votes: 0

I didn’t just show up for work, as has sometimes been said. I also showed up to work. Votes: 0

If you do a job, do it right or there is no point. Votes: 0

There is a feeling when you are in Yankee Stadium that it is a very sacred ground you are walking on and you know you had the same feelings that other great players have had in other eras that played right there on that field. Votes: 0

Stubbornness usually is considered a negative; but I think that trait has been a positive for me. Votes: 0

So many good things have happened to me in the game of baseball. When I do allow myself a chance to think about it, it's almost like a storybook career. You feel so blessed to have been able to compete this long. Votes: 0

Different styles work for different guys... If you can handle shortstop and hit, teams will find a way to pencil you into the lineup. Votes: 0

What keeps me going? I guess it's just a desire to keep trying to contribute and do things in life. Votes: 0

The best thing you can do in the whole world is to play baseball. That's a lucky job... The passion for baseball is always going to be there. Votes: 0

When things happen to you in the worst way, you live with it, you go over it, you think, 'What else could I have done? Votes: 0

Each and every day had its challenges. Votes: 0

We consider ourselves the luckiest fans on the face of the Earth. Votes: 0

The last thing you want to do is go down in the history of All-Star game competition as the only injury (his nose was broken by Roberto Hernandez) sustained during the team picture. Votes: 0

If you really think about it, the stadium can't last forever. There is going to have to come a time when it replaces. Votes: 0

I take pride in the fact that you are able to make some good contributions to the sport at certain times. Votes: 0

Disadvantaged kids many times don't have the support network that we all have. I know how important my parents were in my life and many of these kids don't have that support network. Votes: 0

A lot of people have been telling me that I was going to be in the Hall of Fame and those are nice words and I try not to think about it, but when the call came, it made it real. It was a pretty darned good feeling. Votes: 0

In the end of the day, I feel pretty good about the contributions you can make. Votes: 0

I had a marvelous baseball career and after my baseball career, there is an abundance of opportunity out there. Votes: 0

There is somebody in our lives that we could call the Energizer Bunny and we admire for those qualities. Votes: 0

I was always compared to the Energizer Bunny in my consecutive game streak because every day I showed up and went to work and they said he keeps going and going and going, but a lot of people do that. Votes: 0

There are so many great moments in Yankee Stadium. There is nothing better or no better place better to compete when you are good and the Yankees are good and you are playing a big series in September in Yankee Stadium, four game series, there is no greater excitement anywhere than the Yankee Stadium. Votes: 0

I think baseball has moved on in many ways and the focus on the competitions on the field is really what the game is all about. It seems to be healthy. It seems more people are watching it. Votes: 0

I think the cloud of suspicion has been hanging over baseball for a while. I think there has been some positive things that have come out of that. There has been a drug test policy that was been implemented that got the blessings of both the Players Association and MLB. They are trying to maintain the integrity of this sport and trying to get it back, but that cloud I think will hang over a little longer. Votes: 0

I am driven by what you are able to accomplish and how you are able to help some people. I go about it each and every day, sometimes I think I say yes too much and I am too busy in my life. Votes: 0

I don't love the idea of the responsibility falling on the manager. That just adds to their in-game responsibility. Votes: 0

I haven't given it (achieving 3,000 hits) much thought. I was taught a certain approach, how to come to the ballpark. I try not to do too much thinking about things like that. In this society we measure success in different ways. Three thousand (hits) represents success over a career, not a season. It'll be nice to get to that point. Votes: 0

Early in my career, I decided I never wanted to get out of shape. Votes: 0

The streak has become my identity; it's who I've become. Votes: 0

The reality is that players can't play forever. Votes: 0

That's the result of the black cloud on baseball, .. Until it's rid of steroids, people are naturally going to think that. Votes: 0

Ultimately, at the end of the day, you couldn't say you were better than the other person because you knew you had a secret. You knew you had cheated. Votes: 0

As long as I can compete, I won't quit. Reaching three-thousand is not the finish line as long as I can contribute. Votes: 0