It's nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.
Frank RobinsonRead
Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.
Interpretation
Being close to success isnβt enough; actual outcomes matter.
This quote by Frank Robinson emphasizes the importance of achieving tangible results rather than merely coming close to success. In baseball, scoring a run requires crossing home plate, and simply being near that goal means nothing; similarly, in life, only actual accomplishments count, while good intentions or near successes do not hold significance.
In practice
This quote can be used during a sports team meeting to emphasize the importance of execution.
It's nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.
As a black, you find you have to be two or three times better than a white even to play. And when it comes to front-office jobs, management believes you'll never be as good.
It was a breaking period for black people coming into baseball, and how many followed depended on Jackie's conduct. But that's not the case now. What and how I do doesn't mean nearly as much as what and how Jackie did.
But in the end it's still a game of golf, and if at the end of the day you can't shake hands with your opponents and still be friends, then you've missed the point.
I could run 200 yards at a stretch, I could duck between players, I felt free to make plays that suited me best. It wasn't like football then and basketball today, where coaches tell you what foot to put down.
You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same.
Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead.
The real way to enjoy playing golf is to take pleasure not in the score, but in the execution of strokes.
I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.
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