When I walked out on the mound, I felt enclosed. You see, I'd been used to playing on pastures, where when somebody hit a ball you had to stop it from rolling. Well, this field had fences around it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I loved running. I can catch everything in the outfield. I could throw people out from the fence.
When I was 7, I started playing with a club. The only grass on the field was in the corner. There was no grass in the middle! It was just sand.
Everybody believed you had to have a big piece of lumber and then muscle the ball over the fence. But by the time I and Hank Aaron - another guy who did it with his wrists - were through, there were a lot of guys ordering light bats and playing handball.
There is a special sensation in getting good wood on the ball and driving a double down the left-field line as the crowd in the ballpark rises to its feet and cheers. But, I also remember how much fun I had as a skinny barefoot kid hitting a tennis ball with a broomstick on a quiet, dusty street in Panama.
Because I could throw so hard when I got to college, they made me a pitcher. If I had to it all over again, I would have stuck to playing in the outfield. I loved running. I can catch everything in the outfield. I could throw people out from the fence.
I pitched and I played the outfield.
I was in awe every time I walked on to the field.
In baseball you hit your home run over the right-field fence, the left-field fence, the center-field fence. Nobody cares. In golf everything has got to be right over second base.
Fencing and shooting kind of came naturally. From the start, I knew that I had it in me.
We used to play baseball back in that field and keep an eye out for the bulls.
No opposing quotes found.