Casey Stengel:
"One of these days he'll hit the ball so hard, it'll burst and all he'll get for his efforts will be a single."

Ralph Houk:
"I played with DiMaggio before I played and managed Mickey. Nobody but nobody could hit a ball as hard and as far from both sides of the plate as Mickey could. He was just awesome."

Johnny Blanchard:
"He was friends with everyone on the ballclub. If you had a bad day, Mickey would wait for you in the clubhouse, and he'd tap you on the shoulder and invite you out to dinner. That's all you needed. The next day you'd go out and get four hits."

"Mickey loved to laugh. He was especially funny in the clubhouse. He loved telling jokes and the camaraderie. He could just sit there for days."

Billy Crystal:
" Very few people take your breath away, but that was the effect Mickey had. He was truly a great American hero."

Bobby Murcer:
"Mickey had everything going for him. He had the good looks and innocence we wanted to see in our heroes. He had outstanding strength. He even had that billboard name. Mickey was exceptional and the world loved him."

President Bill Clinton:
"He will be remembered for excellence on the baseball field and the honor and redemption he brought to the end of his life."

Joe Pepitone:
"I remember my rookie year [1962] when I was going through my divorce. Mickey let me stay with him in the St. Moritz [Hotel]. He used to stay up and talk about being afraid of dying young because his father and two uncles died young."

Bill "Moose" Skowron:
"He was a winner. I feel he was the greatest player I've ever played with. There were days when he didn't play particularly well and he'd cry. He'd say, 'Moose, I let all the fans down today.' And I'd say, 'Mick, we'll get 'em tomorrow.'"

"I only went out with Mickey once in nine years. But he used to tell me and Bob Cerv to come meet him out for dinner. We'd get a cab and spend $40 getting downtown to the restaurant and Mickey wouldn't show up. He'd come into the clubhouse the next day laughing like hell. He used to love to see us blow that cab money."

"When we played in the '61 Series against Cincinnati, I remember looking over to the batting cage and watching Mick hit. You could see the blood seeping out of his pant leg where he'd had an abscess drained. That's
what we all admired.

Hank Bauer:
"My locker was right across from [Mickey's], and I'd watch him wrap his legs from the ankles to the thighs every game. I'd have to say he was in intense pain a good part of the time."

Neil Leifer, famed sports photo-journalist:
"He had a terrific intensity to his face and a real visual charisma. He had this look that always worked in pictures."

"Many of the great athletes appear to do it effortlessly, and Mickey was one of them."

Toots Shor, owner of one of Mickey's hangouts on 52nd street:
"He was just a kid then, a little naive. Just a good old country boy. I loved to kid him. He just wanted to have fun."

Tom Greenwade, Yankees scout who signed Mickey:
"So I told Mickey's father, Mutt, that I'd be back and made him promise that no matter what anyone else offered, not to sign until I got back and I could try to match it."

Mel Allen:
"He kept a smile on his face, his head on straight and became a leader of one of the greatest teams ever assembled."