Top 106 Quotes & Sayings by Ryne Sandberg

I have great memories of being a Cub, and I'm happy building new ones with the Phillies.

I played it right because that's what you're supposed to do - play it right and with respect.

I had too much respect for the game to leave it behind or to make it my second or third sport in college.

I struggled many times when maybe it didn't look like I was struggling, and I had to work hard every day.

A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn't work hard for validation.

When I was a minor league player, my goal was to be a major leaguer. It's no different as a minor league manager.

My wife Margaret is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am.

I played high school football at a hundred and eighty-five pounds and played big league baseball at a hundred and eighty-two. I'd get up to maybe 188 in the off-season because every summer I'd lose eight to ten pounds.

When we went home every winter, they warned us not to lift heavy weights because they didn't want us to lose flexibility. They wanted us to be baseball players, not only home run hitters.

I think sometimes Hall of Famers might get labeled as guys who aren't suited for a coaching job or to be back at the Major League level.

The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played.

I was taught coming up in the Phillies organization to be seen and not heard by people like Pete Rose, my hero growing up, and players like Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and Manny Trillo.

They use the word 'integrity' in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in.

My Hall of Fame speech was about respect for the game.

Hit a home run - put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is more - a lot more important than the name on the back.

If you're in the minor leagues, you want to get to the majors.

There were a lot of players who worked just as hard as I did, and if you didn't, you didn't stay in the big leagues.

My style is I work hard at it. I feel like I'm prepared every day.

My mom was at every single game I played as a kid, rain or shine.

I've been proud to be a lifelong Chicago Cub and still be with the Cubs. That's always been important to me and I think it's always been special.

It's hard for me to answer questions I haven't thought about.

I was a baseball player at North Central High School in Spokane, Washington even though I was all-city in basketball, even when I signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Washington State.

'The Sandberg Game' comes up all the time. Fans tell me where they were. They were driving down the highway, they were in the bleachers, they were downtown listening on the radio, they were on the farm on a tractor. I've heard all the stories where people have been. They're just amazed by the ending of the game and the thrill of it.

I was in the postseason twice and I'm thankful for that.

Football, I thought, would be a tough sport to make a living in. There is no minor league. You either make it to the NFL or you don't.

There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one team and I think it's very fortunate and a blessing for me.

I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform.

I was in awe every time I walked on to the field.

I do my homework. I come to the ballpark, and I relay any message that I need to relay to the players. I get that off my chest.

When did it - When did it become okay for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?

There was Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace, and together we were a double play combination for ten years.

I don't expect any red carpet to the big leagues. If the opportunity comes, then it comes. But I don't think I'm owed anything.

It didn't happen, but I feel fortunate for the two chances we had and it's just a shame we didn't go to a World Series for Cub fans.

No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more, or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen.

I came up under the wing of Larry Bowa, and one thing I did not do was ever take a day off from taking pregame groundballs or batting practice. Then the games were just having fun.

I learned a lot in the Minor Leagues, spending six years there. I honed my skills, as far as coaching goes. I was able to work with the players in a lot of facets of the game.

At my growing years of 18 to 21 years old in the Minor Leagues, I dreamed of being a Philadelphia Phillie.

I knew nothing about managing when I started.

I never forgot the four years I spent with the Phillies, my September call-ups and my big league Spring Trainings. I never forgot that.

Steve Bartman was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I talk to the players, either individually or as a group, what I'm feeling, and I think the players appreciate that. And I think they respond to that.

I was a hard worker.

It's an elite group. And once you're in the Hall, you're in the Hall. Up until now, I think the voting system has handled things very well. And like I said before, there are no suspicions in the Hall of Fame.

I am not the type of person who can leave my game at the ballpark and feel comfortable that my future is set regardless of my performance.

I let the players use their abilities and what they're capable of doing. If they're capable of stealing bases, I'm going to give them the green light. I'm going to teach them to pick their spots and to get a base when they can get a base.

Baseball wasn't easy for me.

As great a public speaker as I am, I don't know have - I don't - I don't have the words to describe Cub fans who welcomed me as a rookie, were patient through my 1-for-32 start, and took me into their homes and into their hearts and treated me like a member of their family. You picked me up when I was down.

There is a lot to managing, and with almost four years under my belt, I believe I'm ready.

The fourth major league game I ever saw in person, I was in uniform.

I'm not interested in on-the-job learning or on-the-job training.

I got into pro ball at 18 and played until I was almost 39, non-stop.

I had to prepare physically every day, and I didn't leave many scraps for the writers.

In baseball, there's always the next day.

One of the first benchmarks in a season are far as at-bats is 100.

If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dug out camera.

If you played the game the right way, played the game for the team, good things would happen.

Any time you're in the coaching business or managing in the minor leagues, when you see a player who has made it to the major leagues, you get a thrill out of that.

I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel.

Get your work in. Work hard at it. Give it your best effort. And if you get an opportunity, be ready for it. That's respect for the game.