Talk Like a Pirate Day

Paul Waner: "Let the pitcher move first, then, as he draws his arm back, you draw the bat back and you are ready."

Honus Wagner: "I won't play for a penny less than fifteen hundred dollars."

Roberto Clemente: "Baseball has been very good to me."

Manager Chuck Tanner, mid-1970s: : "Having Willie Stargell on your ball club is like having a diamond ring on your finger." -

Willie Stargell: "I'm always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don't get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself." More Willie Stargell quotes here.

Doug Mientkiewicz, 2008: "I didn't deliberately smack at him (Cardinals' 2B Aaron Miles). I just kept running and tried to hit the glove. That's what you're supposed to do (to break up the double play). I didn't try to hurt him. We talked about it, and he said he'd do the same thing ... if the game was close. And I said, ‘Well, it's not like we're up 12.' We were up five, and I think we all know that a five-run lead for us is not exactly insurmountable." It was the 8th inning and it led to a benches-clearing fight.

Manager John Russell, 2008: "It's going to be a lot of fun someday. I know the city of Pittsburgh is dying for a winner and we're going to do everything we can to make that happen." 2008 is the franchise's 16th consecutive losing season, which ties the major-league record set by the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies.

And I went to this site and realized that I had once again misunderstood the concept of the celebration. It's more like this:

ROG