--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Us ballplayers do things backward. First…" description: "\"“Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we retire and go to work. —CHARLIE GEHRINGER”\" — Lori Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/lori-wilde-17188_backward_us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first_141287.jpg" --- # Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we… ![“Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we retire and go to work. —CHARLIE GEHRINGER” quote by Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/lori-wilde-17188_backward_us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first_141287.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/lori-wilde-17188_backward_us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first_141287.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/lori-wilde-17188_backward_us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first_141287.jpg) > ““Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we retire and go to work. —CHARLIE GEHRINGER”” [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Players often prioritize work after retiring from sports, highlighting a reversal of typical career order. **In simple terms:** Athletes work after playing. Key Takeaway Plan post‑sports career early. Themes career transition identity sports Mood reflective realistic Type advice analytical When to use this quote - retirement planning - skill transfer - financial planning - coaching careers Key Concepts Life cycle role reversal Questions to Reflect On - What skills can athletes develop while playing? - How can leagues support career shifts? A Different Perspective Athletes may lack experience for new jobs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baseball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseball/) ## Related quotes > [Us ballplayers do things backward. First we play, then we retire and go to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-gehringer/us-ballplayers-do-things-backward-first-we-play-then-we-retire-and-go/) Charlie Gehringer > [I learn things in a backward way. I learn all those limitations, and slowly my brain soaks them up, and if things go right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-odenkirk/i-learn-things-in-a-backward-way-i-learn-all-those-limitations-and/) [Bob Odenkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-odenkirk/) > [“Things go backward. And then, one day, whatever it is we had, it’s gone. It won’t come back. We both know it. Whatever it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/things-go-backward-and-then-one-day-whatever-it-is-we-had-it-s-gone/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [The sad truth is that certain types of things can't go backward. Once they start going forward, no matter what you do, they can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-certain-types-of-things-can-t-go-backward-once/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I let ballplayers yell back at me because I wasn't trying to prove I'm boss. I know I'm boss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/i-let-ballplayers-yell-back-at-me-because-i-wasn-t-trying-to-prove-i/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [Too bad integration didn't come sooner, because there were so many ballplayers that could have made the major leagues. That's why, you look back,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-aaron/too-bad-integration-didn-t-come-sooner-because-there-were-so-many/) [Hank Aaron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-aaron/) > [There are so few Jewish ballplayers, so you want to be a positive role model and provide an example that the Jewish community can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabe-kapler/there-are-so-few-jewish-ballplayers-so-you-want-to-be-a-positive-role/) [Gabe Kapler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabe-kapler/) > [As a professional writer of detective stories, I string along with the ballplayers. I love a ball game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/as-a-professional-writer-of-detective-stories-i-string-along-with-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [Bad ballplayers make good managers, not the other way around. All I can do is help them be as good as they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-weaver/bad-ballplayers-make-good-managers-not-the-other-way-around-all-i-can/) [Earl Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-weaver/) > [The people who run the game, they are the ones who want to change it and make people believe that it's different somehow. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-oliva/the-people-who-run-the-game-they-are-the-ones-who-want-to-change-it/) [Tony Oliva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-oliva/) > [All ballplayers should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-ruth/all-ballplayers-should-quit-when-it-starts-to-feel-as-if-all-the/) [Babe Ruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-ruth/) > [“If we can’t be ballplayers together, maybe I can start bein’ a Buddhist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/if-we-can-t-be-ballplayers-together-maybe-i-can-start-bein-a-buddhist/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [Conversation is the blood of baseball. It flows through the game, an invigorating system of anecdotes. Ballplayers are tale tellers who have polished their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/conversation-is-the-blood-of-baseball-it-flows-through-the-game-an/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [“On the surface, there is something peculiar about turning a portion of one's happiness over to a collection of ballplayers, and perhaps more peculiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-swift/on-the-surface-there-is-something-peculiar-about-turning-a-portion-of/) Tom Swift > [It's the same with the ballplayers. Babe Ruth spent a lot, too and the ballplayers make a lot more money now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-gilley/it-s-the-same-with-the-ballplayers-babe-ruth-spent-a-lot-too-and-the/) [Mickey Gilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-gilley/) ## More by Lori Wilde > [“The effects of untreated mental health issues ripple throughout families for generations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/the-effects-of-untreated-mental-health-issues-ripple-throughout/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“baseball should be played for the love of the game and not the almighty dollar. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/baseball-should-be-played-for-the-love-of-the-game-and-not-the/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“Except he hadn’t fully appreciated what he had until it was gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/except-he-hadn-t-fully-appreciated-what-he-had-until-it-was-gone/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“There’s such a stigma attached to mental illness that people are often reluctant to talk about it, or admit that they, or someone they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/there-s-such-a-stigma-attached-to-mental-illness-that-people-are/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/baseball-breaks-your-heart-it-is-designed-to-break-your-heart-the/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but if one more person said that to her, Jodi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/it-s-better-to-have-loved-and-lost-than-never-to-have-loved-at-all/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [Like a battalion of marines at roll call, her neck hairs marshaled to five-alarm status. She stumbled back to her desk, jerked open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/like-a-battalion-of-marines-at-roll-call-her-neck-hairs-marshaled-to/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“Heated estrogen cruised Breeanne’s veins,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/heated-estrogen-cruised-breeanne-s-veins/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“Cowboy!" she hollered. Every man on the street turned to stare at her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/cowboy-she-hollered-every-man-on-the-street-turned-to-stare-at-her/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“He took hold of her chin with a thumb and forefinger. “Hold still. It will be over in a sec.” “That’s what she said,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/he-took-hold-of-her-chin-with-a-thumb-and-forefinger-hold-still-it/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [Somethings get easier. You get more confident in your abilities and you learn what kind of stories sell and what don't. But your standards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/somethings-get-easier-you-get-more-confident-in-your-abilities-and/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“But their suffering doesn’t mitigate yours.” “Suffering doesn’t make me special. Sooner or later, life knocks everyone down. It’s how you deal with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/but-their-suffering-doesn-t-mitigate-yours-suffering-doesn-t-make-me/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“He’d left her stranded in front of three hundred wedding guests, wearing a white dress and glass slippers like some deranged Cinderella, while he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/he-d-left-her-stranded-in-front-of-three-hundred-wedding-guests/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [“Wasn’t that just the theme of her life? Marginalized on the outskirts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/wasn-t-that-just-the-theme-of-her-life-marginalized-on-the-outskirts/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [Their tongues met, starving, two years without this delicious meal. They kissed and kissed and kissed. The joining of their mouths was more intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/their-tongues-met-starving-two-years-without-this-delicious-meal-they/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) [Explore all 36 Lori Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) ## More Backward quotes > [I hate looking backward, but every once in a while it sneaks up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-lancaster/i-hate-looking-backward-but-every-once-in-a-while-it-sneaks-up-on-you/) [Burt Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-lancaster/) > [“Thus the thoughtless drift backward toward slavery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/thus-the-thoughtless-drift-backward-toward-slavery/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [“Whoever said that the past isn’t dead had it backward. It’s the future that’s already dead, already played out. This whole night has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/whoever-said-that-the-past-isn-t-dead-had-it-backward-it-s-the-future/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/honestly-if-you-were-any-slower-you-d-be-going-backward/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I learn things in a backward way. I learn all those limitations, and slowly my brain soaks them up, and if things go right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-odenkirk/i-learn-things-in-a-backward-way-i-learn-all-those-limitations-and/) [Bob Odenkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-odenkirk/) > [“It took us a while to discover that we do effectively think, but that we more readily narrate backward in order to give ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-took-us-a-while-to-discover-that-we-do-effectively-think-but-that/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The thing I love most about my job is watching people age backward, becoming more lively and energetic as they free themselves from situations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/the-thing-i-love-most-about-my-job-is-watching-people-age-backward/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [“Dreaming her way backward in time, resurrecting images, the young girl realized, with wonder, that the absent are always present, that you don't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-shields/dreaming-her-way-backward-in-time-resurrecting-images-the-young-girl/) [Carol Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-shields/) > [This was the Darker Life, where every truth was written backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/this-was-the-darker-life-where-every-truth-was-written-backward/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!I am so weary of toil and of tears,-Toil without recompense, tears all in vain!Take them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chase-allen/backward-flow-backward-o-tide-of-the-years-i-am-so-weary-of-toil-and/) [Elizabeth Chase Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chase-allen/) > [I loved you backward and forward in time. I loved you beyond boundaries of time and space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/i-loved-you-backward-and-forward-in-time-i-loved-you-beyond/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead; that is where your future lies. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-landers/nobody-gets-to-live-life-backward-look-ahead-that-is-where-your/) [Ann Landers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-landers/) > [“Life, too, is like that. You live it forward, but understand it backward." from CUTTING FOR STONE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/life-too-is-like-that-you-live-it-forward-but-understand-it-backward/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [The poorest and most backward societies are always those that put women down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/the-poorest-and-most-backward-societies-are-always-those-that-put/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) Browse all 340 Backward quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Us ballplayers do things backward. 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