Top 54 Shortstop Quotes & Sayings

When I was growing up, the first thing I wanted to be was a cowboy. That lasted till I was about ten. Then I wanted to be a baseball player. Preferably shortstop for the New York Yankees.

If Albert Einstein was right, Cal Ripken should have been a CEO or politician rather than a shortstop, because Ripken led by example over and over... and over again.

I always wanted to be a shortstop so I could play more often!

You should have seen Willie Wells play shortstop: as good as Ozzie Smith and a better hitter. How I wish people could have seen Ray Dandridge play third base, as good as Brooks Robinson and Craig Nettles and all of those. He was bowlegged; a train might go through there, but not a baseball.

What is the top requirement for a second baseman? A fine shortstop. I am fortunate in having the greatest shortstop in baseball, Luis Aparicio.

I am a lefty, though I bat right-handed... When I was a kid I pitched, played first, outfield and shortstop as well. Now it's mainly softball with some friends.

I'm going to the All-Star Game as an Oriole and as a shortstop. It's just always a blessing. I thank God.

You learn from music, from watching great athletes at work - how disciplined they are, how they move. You learn these things by watching a shortstop at work, how he concentrates on one thing at a time. You learn from classic music, from the blues and jazz, from bluegrass. From all this, you learn how to sustain a great line without bringing in unnecessary words.

I was a shortstop in softball, and a lot of times I had collisions with base runners coming in, so I definitely have scars.

These are the saddest of possible words, Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. Trio of Bear Cubs fleeter than birds, Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double, Words that are weighty with nothing but trouble, Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. This brief poem, immortalized the Chicago Cubs' double-play combination: Shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance.

I name (Honus) Wagner first on my list, not only because he was a great batting champion and base-runner, and also baseball's foremost shortstop, but because Honus (Wagner) could have been first at any other position, with the possible exception of pitcher. In all my career, I never saw such a versatile player.

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.'

In my opinion, I've had the greatest job in the world. I got a chance to be the shortstop for the New York Yankees, and there's only one of those. And I always felt as though it was my job, was to try to provide joy and entertainment for you guys, but it can't compare to what you brought me. So for that, thank you very much.

You have to have a great fielder at shortstop, and you've got to have a guy that has good range and good hands in center field.

I was for a short time on the baseball team as shortstop, where I was not so good.

Playing shortstop is 75 to 80 percent anticipation, knowing the hitter and the pitch being thrown.

I played baseball a little bit and ran some track. I was a catcher at one point and I was at shortstop.

I liked playing with David Eckstein (former Angels shortstop). I'm not talking about players with top skills, I'm sure there were players with way more skill than him, but there were very few people in the league that had the heart like him.

There's so much attached to playing shortstop that you lose your concentration on hitting, unless you're a natural hitter. There's so much to think about in the field, you don't have time to think about what you did at the plate last time. 'How did he get me out?'

I've played third base for a couple years. I did well, and I thought I was an elite player at that position, but at the end of the day, I've been a shortstop my entire life.

I have the greatest job in the world. Only one person can have it. You have shortstops on other teams - I'm not knocking other teams - but there's only one shortstop on the Yankees.

Carl Yastrzemski was the best all-around player. He could run, throw and hit. He had the ability to play a number of different positions. He signed as a shortstop. He could play the outfield, of course, and third base and first, too. He was a tremendous athlete. Mickey Mantle was unbelievable, too.

I thought I was a pretty good shortstop, but I also wanted to play in the major leagues.

You are recognized by your bat. If you are the best hitting shortstop out there, that's how you win a Gold Glove. That's the way it is. It shouldn't be-it's a defensive award.

I can't do anything about how people who are all but completely unaware of my actual motivations and my actual thought process and my actual worldview, how they characterize me. There's not much I can do about it, except never say another word other than 'there's a ground ball to shortstop.' And I don't think that's going to happen.

I played Little League. I was a 'pitcher.' But we had a pitching machine, so I was just basically an 'in-infield' shortstop because all I got to do was field bloopers six feet from the plate. I couldn't hit, so that was pretty much my entire job.

I used to get made fun of in the minor leagues. I'd be 0 for 2, and then in my last at-bat I'd hit a chopper that wouldn't even reach the shortstop, and I'd get a hit out of it. The guys would be all over me, but a hit's a hit. I'll take 3,000 of 'em.

You have more time to make the play at second base than shortstop. That's why the game's more quick.

You've just got to keep playing hard. You have to remember that you are not just playing for the Twins. There are other teams out there. If anybody needs a shortstop they are going to come knocking on the door. So, you just have to be ready at all times.

I feel a lot more comfortable at shortstop, but it's no problem, I'll move to make room.

I was a center fielder, and I played shortstop.

I know I can be a way better player as a shortstop than I can at third.

The overall thinking of the shortstop covers the overall context of the ballgame. You have to know the count they'll hit-and-run on. You're thinking of the speed, not only of the runner at first base, but the runner at the plate. You have to know how fast the pitcher is on a particular day.

If I'm shifted two steps toward third base and the ball goes up the middle, people say I have no range to my left. That's why those statistics aren't accurate. You're changing for every batter, sometimes with every pitch. You really can't make one statistic for every shortstop. You have to go by what you see.

When the ball was hit, my first reaction as a shortstop was always go in the direction of the ball. You can't do that at first base. You go too far in that direction, and it's hard to scurry back and be ready to pick the throw.

I just wanted to be like my dad, Jesus. He was a good shortstop.

There was a time when rival teams used a shift against me. They would put the second baseman on the shortstop's side of the bag, move the shortstop into the hole to his right, and have the third baseman hug the foul line. The idea was to build an infield wall against a known right-handed pull hitter.

Any time you play shortstop or center field, the majority of the baseballs are hit in the middle of the field.

There's just not a lot of inventory, and to find a shortstop or a catcher, or a centerfielder, that you think that could stay at those positions... they're very hard to acquire. Sometimes you have to overpay for them, because of that lack of inventory.

My dad had been shortstop when he was in college, and you know, when you're a kid, you want to be just like your dad.

I guess heaven needed a shortstop.

I made the varsity team as a freshman at 15. Then, I tore a tendon and never fully recovered. I was a shortstop, then third baseman, then second baseman.

It's hard for a shortstop to play with a guy you don't know in the middle of the season. If you know a guy early in spring training, you're working with them.

I was a pitcher, shortstop and outfielder, and the Yankees tried to sign me out of high school as a first-round draft pick in 1981. I turned them down to go to college.

I thank those people that thought I had lost the agility to play shortstop, because they gave me more motivation.

All that analysis is well and good, but what I need right now is a left-handed batter who can hit the ball over the shortstop's head.

He can run, steal bases, throw, hit for average, and hit with power like I've never seen. Just don't put him at shortstop.

Obviously, I'm a shortstop at heart. I want to continue to play shortstop.

The shortstop is a perfectly conditioned athlete. You're running out on relays all the time. You're covering second base. On every pitch, you're moving.

If the shortstop makes an error, I am responsible. I let the batter hit the ball.

I never wanted to be a dancer. It's true! I wanted to be a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nobody ever won a pennant without a star shortstop.

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

My Daddy was left-handed, and I was left-handed when I was little. In fact, I was left-handed all the way to high school. Then I switched over to right-handed cause I wanted to play shortstop.