I’m proud of the fact that I’m the only player to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium.

Meaning of the quote

Willie Stargell, an American athlete, is proud that he is the only player who has ever hit a baseball all the way outside of Dodger Stadium. This is an impressive feat because Dodger Stadium is a very large baseball stadium, so hitting a ball that far is a remarkable achievement.

About Willie Stargell

Willie Stargell was a legendary baseball player who spent his entire 21-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was one of the most feared power hitters of his era, hitting a remarkable 296 home runs in the 1970s decade. Stargell led the Pirates to two World Series championships and was a seven-time All-Star, as well as the first and only player to win the NL MVP, NLCS MVP, and World Series MVP awards in the same season in 1979.

More about the author

More quotes from Willie Stargell

I wasn’t out drinking and abusing my body. I simply loved to go out and dance.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I would always reserve a special place in my heart for Pittsburgh.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I loved to hit with men on base and with the game on the line.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

It’s supposed to be fun, the man says ‘Play Ball’ not ‘Work Ball’ you know.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I’ve witnessed thousands of superior athletes try to becomes hitters and fail at it.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Human beings are pampered by the Lord. Their real tests don’t come until later in life.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I never did allow anything to keep me from my kids. They’re the most important part of my life.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Never was I booed.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

You only have a few years to play this game and you can’t play it if you’re all tied up in knots.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

To middle-class parents, the project team may have seemed unfit for children, but it was exactly what I needed.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

People like us are afraid to leave ball. What else is there to do? When baseball has been your whole life, you can’t think about a future without it, so you hang on as long as you can.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I never search for a reason why – I have faith in the Lord’s purpose.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

When we make a mistake, it becomes front-page news. We don’t need any reporter telling us how badly we played.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

The bat is gone, but the smile remains.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

To me, baseball has always been a reflection of life. Like life, it adjusts. It survives everything.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

A World Series trophy is a wonderful thing to behold.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Never had I had so many friends and so much fun as I did in the projects.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I owe a large part of my success to Joe Brown, who helped me both as a player and a person.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Judgment traps you within the limitations of your comparisons. It inhibits freedom.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Playing baseball was my dream, and no amount of money could sway my opinion.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

My first job after my retirement from baseball was as a narrator for the Eastman Philharmonica.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Unfortunately, inner feelings and potential are often stunted by our parents, relatives or peers.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

If a reporter doesn’t like the person he’s writing about, it shows up in his article.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I was bred as an outcast, part Negro and part Seminole, in my early years raised as an Indian.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I was always a self-proclaimed poor slider.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Vietnam helped me realize who the true heroes really are in this world. It’s not the home-run hitters.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I always said that when it was time to retire, I would know it, and I would just tip my hat to the crowds.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I love September, especially when we’re in it.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

We devote our entire lives to becoming good ball players. We take batting practice until our hands bleed.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I’ve always been a slave to my heart.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Love soothes wounds, while hatred and violence deepen them.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I don’t really feel that I deserve all my applause.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Helping someone is what life is all about.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Simple pleasures were all the pleasures that I knew as a child.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I was the most powerful left-handed hitter in the Alameda area.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I flailed my arm in a throwing motion before I could even walk.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Oakland revolved around Forbes Field. Nothing in the city could match that atmosphere.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Baseball for me was instinctive, born within me, given to me as a gift from God.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

That’s where the future lies, in the youth of today.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

We all wore a 21 patch that one season as a silent tribute to our deceased teammate Roberto.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

To be successful, one must take chances.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I’m proud of the fact that I’m the only player to hit a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I’m a God-fearing man who worships with my heart and with my life.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I eventually became proud of my strikeouts, because each one represented another learning experience.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

There’s nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I found myself in a race with Mother Nature to play as much baseball as I could before she forced me to stop.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I gave out stars whenever an appropriate situation presented itself.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I see a lot of people who love their jobs. I see some garbage collectors smiling as they go about their work.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

The Giants were a good team, but our biggest enemy was said to be Candlestick Park.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Life is one big transition.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

Reporters often forget that athletes are human beings.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

I’m always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don’t get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)

They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square.

Willie Stargell

American baseball player and coach (1940-2001)