Ryne Sandberg

I played it right because that's what you're supposed to do - play it right and with respect.

I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel.

A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn't work hard for validation.

When did it - When did it become okay for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game?

Hit a home run - put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is more - a lot more important than the name on the back.

I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform.

I was in awe every time I walked on to the field.

In baseball, there's always the next day.

If you played the game the right way, played the game for the team, good things would happen.

I had too much respect for the game to leave it behind or to make it my second or third sport in college.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am.

The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played.

I struggled many times when maybe it didn't look like I was struggling, and I had to work hard every day.

I've spent 34 years associated with the Cubs, and part of the reason I've stayed in baseball is because I want to be part of a World Series winner.

I played high school football at a hundred and eighty-five pounds and played big league baseball at a hundred and eighty-two. I'd get up to maybe 188 in the off-season because every summer I'd lose eight to ten pounds.

I never forgot the four years I spent with the Phillies, my September call-ups and my big league Spring Trainings. I never forgot that.

I'd rather play a double-header than speak at a banquet, and if I went to Wrigley Field knowing I had to be somewhere two hours after the game, it would bother me all day.

'The Sandberg Game' comes up all the time. Fans tell me where they were. They were driving down the highway, they were in the bleachers, they were downtown listening on the radio, they were on the farm on a tractor. I've heard all the stories where people have been. They're just amazed by the ending of the game and the thrill of it.

I got into pro ball at 18 and played until I was almost 39, non-stop.

I knew nothing about managing when I started.

Get your work in. Work hard at it. Give it your best effort. And if you get an opportunity, be ready for it. That's respect for the game.

My Hall of Fame speech was about respect for the game.

When we went home every winter, they warned us not to lift heavy weights because they didn't want us to lose flexibility. They wanted us to be baseball players, not only home run hitters.

There were a lot of players who worked just as hard as I did, and if you didn't, you didn't stay in the big leagues.

As great a public speaker as I am, I don't know have - I don't - I don't have the words to describe Cub fans who welcomed me as a rookie, were patient through my 1-for-32 start, and took me into their homes and into their hearts and treated me like a member of their family. You picked me up when I was down.

I don't expect any red carpet to the big leagues. If the opportunity comes, then it comes. But I don't think I'm owed anything.

If you're in the minor leagues, you want to get to the majors.

I was taught coming up in the Phillies organization to be seen and not heard by people like Pete Rose, my hero growing up, and players like Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and Manny Trillo.

I was a baseball player at North Central High School in Spokane, Washington even though I was all-city in basketball, even when I signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Washington State.

At my growing years of 18 to 21 years old in the Minor Leagues, I dreamed of being a Philadelphia Phillie.

I think sometimes Hall of Famers might get labeled as guys who aren't suited for a coaching job or to be back at the Major League level.

I learned a lot in the Minor Leagues, spending six years there. I honed my skills, as far as coaching goes. I was able to work with the players in a lot of facets of the game.

I have great memories of being a Cub, and I'm happy building new ones with the Phillies.

There's not too many guys that spend their whole career with one team and I think it's very fortunate and a blessing for me.

I've been proud to be a lifelong Chicago Cub and still be with the Cubs. That's always been important to me and I think it's always been special.

My wife Margaret is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

I had to prepare physically every day, and I didn't leave many scraps for the writers.

Baseball wasn't easy for me.

It didn't happen, but I feel fortunate for the two chances we had and it's just a shame we didn't go to a World Series for Cub fans.

My mom was at every single game I played as a kid, rain or shine.