"In the Cuban League, they played the best brand of baseball outside the United States. This was before Castro took over down there. I understand that in his early years he had been a baseball player and, if we had known he wanted to be a dictator, we'd have made him an umpire."

"Most of the black ballplayers thought Monte Irvin should have been the first black in the major leagues. Monte was our best young ballplayer at the time� He could hit that long ball, he had a great arm, he could field, he could run. Yes, he could do everything." - Cool Papa Bell