Biography

Remembered for his over-the-shoulder catch of a Vic Wertz fly ball in Game One of the 1954 World Series.

Is generally regarded as the greatest all-around baseball player of all time.

Godfather of Barry Bonds.

San Francisco Giants All-Time Games Played Leader (2,857).

San Francisco Giants All-Time At Bats Leader (10,477).

I don't compare 'em. I catch 'em.

I remember the last season I played. I went home after a ballgame one day, lay down on my bed, and tears came to my eyes. How can you explain that? You cry because you love her. I cried, I guess, because I loved baseball and I knew I had to leave it.

Youngsters of Little League can survive under-coaching a lot better than over-coaching.

You know, a lot of people said when I was forty, I should quit, but I don't think so. You should play as long as you can and as long as you enjoy the game. In '73, I wasn't enjoying the game, so I quit in May, I retired, and they wouldn't let me retire. So I finished up in the World Series. But I say to players: Play as long as you can, because you only have one chance.

Over the years, a lot of organizations have asked me to be their spokesman, or have wanted me to make speeches about my experiences as a black athlete, or to talk to Congressmen about racial issues in sports. But see, I never recall trouble. I believe I had a happy childhood. Besides playing school sports, we'd play football against the white kids. And we thought nothing of it, neither the blacks nor the whites. ... I never got into a fight that was caused by racism.