Manny's quotes
What Manny has said about himself:

On his ML debut, "It was unbelieveable. I remember it felt so funny in here (his stomach) like a butterfly. But I do miss my friends and family."

"I just want to play baseball. That's it. I don't care if anybody knows who I am or what people think of me. I just want to stay quiet and relaxed."

"One of the big reasons I don't like to do many interviews is that I want to focus all my energies and concentrate fully on the RBI record. I want to give my all for that record."

"I proved to myself that if I put something in my mind I could do it."

On his childhood in NY, "I couldn't ever go out when I was young like I could in the DR because of the area. You could see dealers on every street corner on the way to school. They never really bothered me. I didn't have a problem with that. We were busy playing baseball. I didn't hang around with the wrong people. All my friends were involved with sports. That's why I play baseball."

"The toughest thing was getting away from home, getting used to that. When you are young and don't know anything about your new place and you miss your family and friends."

On his time in the little leagues, "I was the ninth batter. Everybody used to laugh at me."

"Hitting is hard. It's hard to do my kind of hitting."

"Wherever they pitch it I hit it. I don't care if I hit it to left or right field, I'll hit it."

When he was in Cleveland, "Cleveland's different from NY, but it's safe. I don't even lock the doors of my care. It's not like where I grew up with all the drugs and shootings."

"My goal is to get 90 or 100 RBIs in a season and if I get more than that I'm even more happy. I'm getting right hits at the right time."

"Making it to the big leagues was not the big thing for me. It was staying there, that's the problem."

What other people have said about Manny:

"He's taking all of us with him. He's putting Washington Heights on the map" said a high school friend.

"I never saw him play but I heard he's a great player. They say he's one of the best. I got his autograph. It was like meeting a regular person" said a young fan.

"Not everyone can be that talented. When you're around someone that talented you feel like you're part of him. You get happy. At least somebody's making it. Somebody's looking forward to his life" said another fan.

"History shows us that there is at least one and normally two rookies in every crop who will wind up in Cooperstown (the hall of fame). My bets frome the 1994 rookies: Manny Ramirez and Ryan Klesko" said Bill James.

"Manny does everything so effortlessly and the ball just jumps off his bat. He has the talent to hit a pitch no matter where the pitcher throws it," said his manager Mark Hargrove.

"He's a legend around here. I can talk to my kids all about goals and tat they can make it by hard work but unless they see it first hand it doesn't have the same impact. But Manny's something tangible. They all know him. Know what he had to do to get where is. He's something for them to grasp. He's one of them." said his high school coach Steve Mandl.

"He's the most unassuming guy you'd ever want to meet. People just don't realize how humble he is." said Sandy Alomar Jr.

"He walks around here and makes everybody believe they're as good as him. He wants everybody to think they can hit like him." Alomar also said.

"I think that what you see out of Manny are qualities that you see out of all superstar players, a natural althletic ability and an ability to play the game on a level that nobody else can, both mentally and physically. It's one of those things that you see on the surface, that things come easy to Manny as far as hitting, but what you don't see, below the surface, is the great work ethic and work habits that he has to allow his ability to work in those situations. He works very hard at being a good player." said Hargrove.