1.
Everyone would like to play in their hometown, but right now I like Cincinnati, I like the way it's going. I'm happy.
Eric Davis
2.
It takes a lot of energy to be negative. You have to work at it. But smiling is painless. I'd rather spend my energy smiling.
Eric Davis
3.
Life is too short to worry about anything
Eric Davis
4.
Life is too short to worry about anything. You had better enjoy it because the next day promises nothing.
Eric Davis
5.
I'm having a good time. I'm going to treat every game and every day as if they are my last because I now know that they could be.
Eric Davis
6.
People saw me as being heroic, but I was no more heroic than I was with other injuries I had, like the lacerated kidney I suffered during the 1990 World Series. It's just that people haven't known anyone with a lacerated kidney, but everyone can relate to someone with cancer.
Eric Davis
7.
Never give up and don't ask why because every situation does not need an answer. I'm a firm believer that I don't worry about anything I can't control.
Eric Davis
8.
If you don't believe in something, you'll fall for anything. I believe everything happens for a reason. If you are strong from within, you can will anything. I'm a firm believer that where there's a will, there's a way.
Eric Davis
9.
I'd never heard of colon cancer. Baseball wasn't even important to me. I have a wife and two girls. That's what was important. The doctors told me and all I could say was, 'When are we going to get this thing out?'
Eric Davis
10.
I don't listen to what people say about me and I don't read what they write about me. People can compare me to anyone they want to, but I'm not going to worry about it.
Eric Davis
11.
For me to become the highest paid player in the franchise, it was something I didn't anticipate. But I'm glad. I like playing for Cincinnati.
Eric Davis
12.
I don't even take aspirin.
Eric Davis
13.
The last two times I went to spring training, I had to win a job, and if I didn't get off to a blazing start, I'm on the bench. Now, I've proven myself, so it's not essential that I get off to a real good start.
Eric Davis
14.
Just putting my uniform on keeps me going. Being able to get out there keeps me going. That's the best therapy.
Eric Davis
15.
That's just my family's mentality. We are a very loving, hugging and kissing kind of family. And we grew up in a church atmosphere and still have that atmosphere. There is no negativity.
Eric Davis
16.
I know people are pretty well embarrassed just at the mention of colon cancer. Sticking a tube in you to find out what's wrong is not a nice thing. But I can tell them, a 30- or 40-minute test is worth it. We have to make them feel more comfortable about getting screened.
Eric Davis
17.
People spend time worrying about things they think they have to have and lose perception of what they do have. You can have all the money and material things you want. If you aren't here to enjoy them, what good do they do?
Eric Davis
18.
I was hitting .360 when I was diagnosed. I didn't forget how to play while I was recovering. I don't know if the cancer is gone for good. I don't think anyone ever knows, but no one is going to steal my joy for as along as I'm able to play baseball.
Eric Davis
19.
I don't think any player lives up to his potential, because people out there put you so high on a pedestal, you'll never be as good as they expect.
Eric Davis
20.
Nothing I did contributed to me having cancer, so I can't sit back and say, 'Oh why me.' Why not me? Why does tragedy always have to hit someone else?
Eric Davis
21.
Socially, it is funny. People are annoyed because, really who is a clown?.
Eric Davis
22.
Blessings can come in a number of ways. The Lord doesn't give you what you want, the Lord gives you what you need.
Eric Davis
23.
I tell you, revenge plays a big part in momentum down here.
Eric Davis
24.
If you're feeling pressure, then you shouldn't be here.
Eric Davis
25.
I'm no different than others with cancer. I just happen to play professional baseball. I'm part of those statistics that cancer has touched as well.
Eric Davis
26.
I've been operated on 13 times.
Eric Davis
27.
I want to establish myself as the first Eric Davis, not the next Willie Mays.
Eric Davis
28.
I have figured out it's not what you do on the field, it's how many games you play in.
Eric Davis
29.
I don't want to be famous. I want to be secure. I don't want the world. I just want a piece of it. I want people to remember Eric Davis.
Eric Davis
30.
Baseball is not what I love. It's my job.
Eric Davis
31.
When you get back on the field and do things, any doubts you've developed leave. The more consistent you become, the fewer doubts you have.
Eric Davis
32.
I'll have a stamp on me forever. There will always be questions. I brought new fans to the Orioles' organization, and that's good.
Eric Davis
33.
I ate while I was taking chemo. The doctors didn't know. I really didn't get any nausea. I didn't have side effects. I would be drained for a day and a half.
Eric Davis
34.
I'm being compared to the impossible. I never saw Mays, Aaron or Clemente play. What about the people I face every day? Tim Raines is the best? Mattingly is the best? Why not compare me to my peers?
Eric Davis
35.
I'm not head-strong, and I'm not egotistical. I understand certain things better now. I won't be trying to be play everyday. There's only one Cal Ripken, one Lou Gehrig and one Joe DiMaggio. What is good for them isn't necessarily good for Eric Davis.
Eric Davis
36.
I've been hearing this since I first joined the Reds organization, that I'm going to be the next this or that. It's tough on a young player coming up. You show some positive things and everybody jumps on that and says you should be the next Willie Mays.
Eric Davis
37.
I will be a role model for cancer patients for the rest of my life. But you know what? When I was getting chemo, those people inspired me.
Eric Davis
38.
I love the game, it's the greatest game on earth, that's why I can't understand all of this talk about trying to make the game better. People talk about the high strike zone and changing this and that. Why? To speed up the game? That's the beauty of baseball. There is no time element.
Eric Davis
39.
I could've played basketball, but my mind was on baseball. I didn't know what I was in for. In high school it was a matter of talent. No one told you what to do.
Eric Davis
40.
I think we now come to the park expecting to win instead of playing not to lose.
Eric Davis
41.
Circulating through the children's ward and seeing terminally ill kids, heads shaved, smiling and having a ball despite the tubes and needles sticking into them, I thought: What do I have to worry about? If God takes me, at least I've lived for 35 years.
Eric Davis
42.
Come on, when does it come to the point where your name can't come up in trade talks? Willie Mays got traded. Pedro Martinez got traded. So what? That's part of the game.
Eric Davis
43.
I remember in 1990, there were five of us making $3 million a year. When guys passed us, we didn't cry. Why would we cry? You didn't get mad when someone got $6 million. Or $8 million.
Eric Davis
44.
I was disappointed in everything - my start and the team's start. People got down on me, but I never got down on myself. I still believed I could be the type of player everyone, including me, thought I was going to be.
Eric Davis
45.
People always ask me how I can hit the ball so far, and I say, 'I just swing.' It's the coaches who first told me I had good bat speed. I was just swinging, and I guess it was fast. I'm pretty fast at everything.
Eric Davis
46.
You don't protect Mark McGwire. The only way to protect him is hit 70 homers yourself.
Eric Davis
47.
You can't shelter it. You can't hide it. You have to let people know what you're going through, what you're feeling, what you think you have that's a problem.
Eric Davis
48.
Not being re-signed in Baltimore was probably the lowest point, mentally, of my career. That city was the only place where I wanted to be at the time, based on everything that had transpired.
Eric Davis
49.
The kids competed for a full 32 minutes. We want the kids to compete on every possession.
Eric Davis
50.
Most of the places I've been, I've been a main piece of the puzzle.
Eric Davis