I Never Doubted My Ability, But When

Once The Record Was Mine, I Had To Use It Like A Louisville Slugger. I Believed, And Still Do, That There Was A Reason Why I Was Chosen To Break The Record. I Feel It's My Task To Carry On Where Jackie Robinson Left Off, And I Only Know Of One Way To Go About It. It's The Only Way I've Ever Had Of Dealing With Things Like Fastballs And Bigotry -- Keep Swinging At Them.

I Used To Love To Come To The Ballpark. Now I Hate It. Every Day Becomes A Little Tougher Because Of All This. Writers, Tape Recorders, Microphones, Cameras, Questions And More Questions. Roger Maris Lost His Hair The Season He Hit Sixty-one. I Still Have All My Hair, But When It's Over, I'm Going Home To Mobile And Fish For A Long Time.

The First Thing Baseball Wants To Do Is Make You A Superstar And Then Say That You Owe Baseball Something. I Don't Owe Baseball Anything. Baseball Owes Me.

On The Field, Blacks Have Been Able To Be Super Giants. But, Once Our Playing Days Are Over, This Is The End Of It And We Go Back To The Back Of The Bus Again.

Maybe The Day Will Come When I Can Sit Back And Be Content....but Until That Day Comes, I Intend To Stay In The Batter's Box - I Don't Let The Big Guys Push Me Out Of There Anymore - And Keep Hammering Away.