“I'm just a ballplayer, not a sports writer. I don't compare 'em; I just catch 'em.”

— Willie Mays

Context: Mays said he thought maybe the Skinner catch was a bit better than yesterday's, as well as a catch he made on a ball hit this season by Gus Bell of the Cincinnati Reds. "But I don't want to compare 'em," said Willie. "I'm just a ballplayer, not a sports writer. I don't compare 'em; I just catch 'em."

Reluctantly comparing his famous catch in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series to a pair of catches made during that season on May 26 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0akpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gk4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1599%2C3418911&dq=willie-mays-made-star-tling-catch-bob-skinner and June 6 http://www.mediafire.com/view/m5bmpfxdu5ciu3m/%20.png, respectively (the latter "circus catch" made not against Bell, as per Mays' recollection, but rather Chuck Harmon, who directly preceded Bell in the lineup that day); as paraphrased and quoted in "Willie Modestly Scoffs at Raves Over Big Catch" by UPI, in Newsday (September 30, 1954), p. 95

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I'm just a ballplayer, not a sports writer. I don't compare 'em; I just catch 'em." by Willie Mays?

Willie Mays 17

Baseball player 1931

Related quotes

“Gee, I've been asked hundreds of questions about that catch in the first game of the World Series. The one that Vic Wertz hit for Cleveland. Was it my best catch? How did I play it? Honestly, I don't rate 'em—I just try to catch 'em. When he hit the ball, I just started toward the place it was heading. And I got there.”

Willie Mays (1931) Baseball player

In "Willie 'Just Knows' His Job" by Mays, in The Daily Mail (March 25, 1955), p. 16

“If I catch my opponents ever sleepin', I'll just slaughter 'em where they lie.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Modern Times (2006), Ain't Talkin

“I don't have time, really, to work out or play a sport. But I love to dance. I like to run in the springtime or in the fall. I like to go outside. I don't like running on a treadmill. I get tired… I just get sick of it. But if I'm outside, I could just run for ages. Or walk, if I need a break.”

AnnaSophia Robb (1993) American actress, singer, and model

Radio Free Entertainment interview (2007)
Context: I like to climb. I don't love to work out. Actually, I hate to work out. You know, I tell myself, "AnnaSophia, you have to work out. You haven't gotten any exercise in the longest time." You know, I don't have time, really, to work out or play a sport. But I love to dance. I like to run in the springtime or in the fall. I like to go outside. I don't like running on a treadmill. I get tired... I just get sick of it. But if I'm outside, I could just run for ages. Or walk, if I need a break.