From Thomas Boswell's The Heart of the Order ("Born-Again Sparky") some line drive observations by Sparky Anderson in 1985:

I decided I don't think you have to "burn out." .... I put everything on my own back, even though it didn't have to be there. Losing, or the thought of losing, will never affect me like that again. I'll be laid-back now forever. Just watch. I'll never burn out. I don't have to prove anything anymore. .... You burn out when you forget the big picture, take yourself too seriously. The game goes on without anybody. Babe Ruth's in a graveyard in Baltimore and we're still playing today, aren't we. I'm learning to say no to people. .... I told the team, "People will tell you that you've gotta repeat, you gotta do this and that. You don't gotta do nothin'. Be in the best shape you can be. Play with your hearts all season. That's all you gotta do. If that's fifth place, it's fifth. If we win again, that'll be wonderful."

And a Sandy Koufax strike-out quotation from Boswell's How Life Imitates the World Series (1982) ("Koufax: Passing the Art Along"):

When someone praises him too much, Koufax gives a weary, knowing look and says, "Who are we talking about? I don't think I know this person."

(see also WorldSeriesLines (22 June 2002) and HeartOfTheOrder (3 July 2002))

TopicLiterature - 2002-07-24

(correlates: WorldSeriesLines, KillTheProject, GorillaPhilosopher, ...)