Reggie Jackson

Nature is extremely important to me. Which may be just about the only trouble I'll have in New York. I'll miss the trees!

Billy Martin was a human tragedy, in the real sense of the words.

I'm human and I've played my butt off for ten years. I'm not a loafer, I'm not a jerk, I'm a baseball player.

I couldn't accept the racial epithets in reference to players like Elliott Maddox or Billy Sample.

If I played today, I'd stay in trouble. I'd be in the commissioner's office all the time, I guess. I'd be everywhere - including where I wasn't supposed to be.

I work for ABC television; I have my own syndicated TV series. I've been on the cover of 'Time Magazine' and on the cover of 'Sports Illustrated' five times.

There's a certain time that when somebody asks you a question, you answer them. I don't think I said anything with venom. If you can express yourself without anger and make it as palatable as you can, that's what you do.

Lee May's about the same age as me; he's got about the same stats. So how come he's making about one-eighty, two hundred thousand, and I'm the best damn paid player in the game? I'll tell you why: Because I put the meat in the seats!

No. No, no, no, no, Blyleven wasn't even the dominant pitcher of his era - it was Jack Morris.

The pitcher has the ball, and nothing happens until he lets go of it. So as the batter, I felt I had to fight for any bit of control I could get. I expected the umpire, the catcher, and the pitcher to wait on me. I wanted to get ready on my time.

When I stepped into the box, I felt the at-bat belonged to me. Everybody else was there for my convenience. The pitcher was there to throw me a ball to hit. The catcher was there to throw it back to him if he didn't give me what I wanted the first time. And the umpire was lucky that he was close enough to watch.

Do you have any idea what Ali meant to black people? He was the leader of a nation, the leader of Black America. As a young black, at times I was ashamed of my color; I was ashamed of my hair. And Ali made me proud.