avoiding excuses

”The only way I'd worry about the weather is if it snows on our side of the field and not theirs."

baseball and driving

“Baseball is like driving, it's the one who gets home safely that counts."

character and values

"I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them?"

competition and effort

"The worst team in baseball's history won only 55 games. The best team ever won 110 out of 160, so you're virtually guaranteed to win 1/3 of the time and lose 1/3 of the time. The difference is the 1/3 in the middle. You don't know what bucket the game you're playing falls into, so if you're smart, you'll fight like everything for all of them."

determination and possibility

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination."

dreams and execution

"Dreaming is necessary for a winner, but executing the dreams to reality is a must to win.”

love for the dodgers organization

"I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I'm going to the big Dodger in the sky."

love of baseball

“I love doubleheaders. That way I get to keep my uniform on longer."

motivation

"The difference between champions and everyone else is that champions are never satisfied with being good. They have to be great."

nature of competition

"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference."

on excellence

"Baseball is like driving; it's the one who gets home safely that counts."

only problem with success

About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure."

passion and purpose

"You have got to love what you're doing. No matter what it is. Whatever you undertake in life, if you don't love it, and you don't enjoy it, you are making a big mistake. You have got to love what you are doing. You have to appreciate what you are getting, and you have to do it to the best of your ability."

passion as antidote to burn out

“Guys ask me, don't I get burned out? How can you get burned out doing something you love?"

paying attention to what matters

"Listen, if you start worrying about the people in the stands, before too long you're up in the stands with them."

pressure and mental approach

"Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure."

sports as driver of discipline

"Sports has kept me on the straight and narrow path."

striking the right balance as a manager

“Managing is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it; not hard enough and it flies away."

teamwork and unity

"When you're not playing up to your capability, you gotta try everything, to motivate, to get them going. All of them have to be on the same end of the rope to pull together. It's playing for the name on the front of the shirt, not the back. Individualism gets you trophies and plaques. Play for the front, that wins championships."

the angels, the dodgers cross-town rivals

"The only angels in Los Angeles are in heaven, and they’re looking down at the Dodgers.”

the belief that you gotta believe

"I've never used the word 'impossible.' That word is not in my vocabulary."

the importance of making things happen

"There are three types of baseball players: Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”

tommy's love of food

“When we win, I'm so happy I eat a lot. When we lose, I'm so depressed, I eat a lot. When we're rained out, I'm so disappointed I eat a lot."

valuing your fans

"Always give an autograph when somebody asks you."

work and passion

"If you love your job, you haven't worked a day in your life."

work ethic

"There are three kinds of people in this world: people who make it happen, people who watch what happens, and people who wonder what happened."