- [first lines]
- Narrator: This is the story about the early days of baseball. It the story of what it was like and how it felt to be a baseball player at the turn of the century and in the decades shortly thereafter. This is also the story of America at the turn of the century and prior to World War I - a time of cobblestone streets and horse-drawn trolleys. It is the story of young man's hopes, his struggles, his triumphs and his failures in what history has recorded as "The Quiet Time". It is about the time when the fate of young men was seen as their own doing and hard work was viewed as the pathway to success.
- Narrator: It is about the time in baseball when Ty Cobb would win 12 batting championships in 13 years and had a .371 average in the one year he didn't win. It is about the time when home run champions could win the title with six or ten or 19. It is about the time of John McGraw, Iron Man McGinty and Christy Mathewson; the time of Walter Johnson, Rube Marquard, Tommy Leach and Honus Wagner. All these were honored in their generation... and were the glory of their times.
- [referring to Jim Thorpe]
- Self - Cincinnati Reds Outfielder: I'd run him around the ballpark just to see him run. I said to him one day, I said, Jim, I said, when you ran in the Olympic games, did anyone make you run your best? He looked at me and said, "Hmm. Never saw anyone I couldn't look back at."