Monday, March 14, 2011

With Cy Young's birthday on the horizon, these quotes are sure to inspire.

Cy Young's birthday is a national holiday for baseball fans. As one of the world's greatest pitchers, Cy Young established many records that still stand today. His name immediately calls up images of baseball's greatest moments, and many young hopefuls stand in awe of his success.

Cy Young had a long and illustrious career, but he also had some surprisingly witty and intelligent things to say on many subjects -- sports, of course, foremost among them. So with Cy Young's birthday on the way, take a moment to celebrate his success with some of his better known quotes.

1. "Gosh, all a kid has to do these days is spit straight and he gets forty-thousand dollars to sign."

2. "A pitcher's got to be good and he's got to be lucky to get a no hit game."

3. "Too many pitchers, that's all, there are just too many pitchers Ten or twelve on a team. Don't see how any of them get enough work. Four starting pitchers and one relief man ought to be enough. Pitch 'em every three days and you'd find they'd get control and good, strong arms."

4. "I thought I had to show all my stuff and I almost tore the boards of the grandstand with my fastball."

5. "The one thing you have to have is patience… You just can't rush everything. I use myself as an example. The last couple of years have been great, but it took some time to get up to that point."

6. "My heart will always be with the Boston fans. I hope that everyone who truly loves me will still support me now that I won't be with the Red Sox."

7. "His trouble is he takes life too seriously. (Ty) Cobb is going at it too hard."

8. "One of the fellows called me 'Cyclone' but finally shortened it to 'Cy' and it's been that ever since."

9. "All us Youngs could throw. I used to kill squirrels with a stone when I was a kid, and my granddad once killed a turkey buzzard on the fly with a rock."

10. "Things have changed for me over the past couple of weeks... There's a big part of my heart that's missing now with my mother gone. I knew I pitched for her. I just didn't realize how much. You just look at things different."

It's amazing when we read the quotes of sports greats -- or anyone else we remember for their prowess in a certain area. It gives us a real insight into what made them tick. With Cy Young's birthday on the way, it's fun to stop and take a look into the mind of this baseball great and view his success through his own eyes.

For more sports quotes, check out the popular sports quotes section at Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories.