1939 in baseball

I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that's something.

When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it's a blessing.

When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that's the finest I know.