Quotes of the day from the
Baseball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.:
- Rich "Goose" Gossage: "My whole career has been storybook. I've kept running into the right people at the right time. I've often said that I was like a kid on a ride at Disney World, and I didn't get off for 22 years. To my hundreds of teammates through the years ... thanks for sharing the ride with me. It was amazing."
- Dick Williams: "Managers don't make players. I've got to believe players make managers. They played hard. I was strict on fundamentals, and I wasn't the easiest guy to work for. I go back to Tim Flannery, who I had in San Diego and who said, 'I love Dick as a manager, but I if I ever saw him when I'm through playing baseball, I'd run over him with my car.' Tim and I laugh about that now, but I still know what model car he drives and where he lives. Right now, he is with the San Francisco Giants as their third-base coach. I have scouts, also."
- On Walter O'Malley: "He spearheaded a long, unprecedented effort to build a new stadium in Brooklyn. He spent 10 years planning and designing a new stadium to replace Ebbets Field, starting in 1946. Ten years later, he realized he couldn't do it in Brooklyn. Then, and only then, he began to look for alternatives. And when Dodger Stadium opened [in 1962], it was the culmination of a dream ... and also his happiest moment." - Peter O'Malley, who succeeded his father as chairman of the Dodgers.
- On former commissioner Bowie Kuhn: "He showed us that baseball is something that changing times and even scandals could not destroy." - Kuhn's stepson, Paul Degener.
- On Billy Southworth: "He had a strong upbringing and knew the value of hard work and dedication. Baseball was Billy's life from a young age." - Cardinals chairman of the board Bill DeWitt.
- On Barney Dreyfuss: "Great-granddad, I am very proud to report that the Pirates settled the score with the Yankees on October 13, 1960, at Forbes Field." - Andrew Dreyfuss, the former Pirates owner's great-grandson.
Photo: Hall of Fame inductees Rich "Goose" Gossage (left) and Dick Williams share a laugh after the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 27, 2008 in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Comments