"You win some, you lose some, and some get rained…

“You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out” (also given as “you win a few, you lose a few” and “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose”) is a popular baseball adage that’s also used in non-baseball situations. It’s another way of saying “you can’t win them all.”

Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige (1906-1982) is credited with saying, “You win a few. You lose a few. Some are rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” However, it’s not known when Paige said this and no citations in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, or 1960s credited Paige.

“You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all” was called “Askerberg’s Axiom” in a 1979 book and has been credited to “J. Askenberg” since at least 1989. It’s uncertain who this person is, but it’s likely that he or she was repeating (in the 1970s) an existing baseball saying.

“You’re going to lose some, win some and some are going to be rained out. So why worry?” was said by University of North Carolina baseball coach Charles Bunn “Bunny” Hearn (1891-1959) in March 1939. “Well, boys, we’ll lose a few, we’ll win a few and a few will be rained out” was said by the University of North Carolina, Class of 1947, Yackety Yack Yearbook to be Hearn’s “annual remark.” A 1949 newspaper article called it “Hearn’s favorite expression.” It’s likely that Hearn coined and/or popularized the baseball expression.

New York Mets manager Casey Stengel (1890-1975) said in 1962: “Now there’s three things you can do: you can win or you can lose. Or it can rain.”

Wikipedia: Bunny Hearn
Charles Bunn “Bunny” Hearn (May 21, 1891 – October 10, 1959) was a major league baseball pitcher, major league scout, and minor league, semi-pro and college level manager.

Biography
He was born on May 21, 1891 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
(...)
Hearn served as the manager of the North Carolina Tar Heels in 1917 and 1918, and again from 1932 to 1946. He compiled a record of 214–133–2 while in Chapel Hill. Hearn’s Tar Heels won six Southern Conference titles and two Ration League titles.

He died on October 10, 1959 in Wilson, North Carolina.

Legacy
Hearn was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1966, and the Elon Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.

13 December 1939, Greensboro (NC) Record, “Jack Horner’s Sports Corner,” pg. 11, col. 1:
You can’t win them all, however, and there’s no need for too much worry when you lose a game. Bunn Hearn, veteran diamond master and baseball coach at the University of North Carolina, says: “You’re going to lose some, win some and some are going to be rained out. So why worry?” That’s a pretty good answer, too.

E-Yearbook.com
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC) - Class of 1947
Pg. 382:
Baseball Coach Bunn Hearn’s annual remark, “Well, boys, we’ll lose a few, we’ll win a few and a few will be rained out,”

Google News Archive
21 March 1949, Wilmington (NC) Morning Star, “Southern League Coaches Moaning For More Hurlers,” pg. 7, col. 3:
Jamerson repeated North Carolina Coach Hearn’s favorite expression to sum up the season ahead:

“Some we’ll win, some we’ll lose,” Jamerson said, “and some we’ll have rained out.”
(Bunn Hearn, University of North Carolina baseball coach—ed.)

30 September 1950, Burlington (NC) Daily Times-News, “Looking ‘Em Over…” by Richard Morris, pg. 6, col. 1:
In turning to Hearn, the man who made the saying “some games we’ll win, some we’ll lose and some will be rained out,” a pass word for every student that ever tried out for a baseball team during his 22 seasons at the University of North Carolina, the magazine recalls that he once tossed a super shutout, 20 scoreless innings for Toronto against a Jersey City team.
(Bunn “Big Steam” Hearn—ed.)

3 May 1951, Brownsville (TX) Herald, “The Sports Spade,” pg. 5, col. 1:
There is the old story about baseball that no doubt will stand up against the years to come—you win some games and you lose some and some are rained out.

7 May 1953, Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX), “Sports Comment” by R. C. (Doc) Osborn, pg. 8, col. 1:
After all, we win some and lose some and some of them are rained out.

8 July 1953, Rocky Mount (NC) Evening Telegram, ‘Bobbin’ Along” by Bob Williams, pg. 2B, col. 1:
You win a few, lose a few and some get rained out.

5 July 1958, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, “Teen Athletes” by Kitte Turmell, pg. 13, col. 1:
Meanwhile, he never forgets the old philosophy: Some you win, some you lose, and some get rained out.
(Stan Tinkham of the Walter Reed Athletic Club, Washington, DC—ed.)

23 February 1961, Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), “Random Shots” from Bud Montet, pg. 2D, col. 3:
In baseball you win some, you lose some, and some are rained out.

22 May 1962, Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), “Random Shots” from Bud Montet, pg. 2C, col. 1:
It all falls back to the judgement of officials and like a baseball game, you win some, you lose some, and some are rained out.

Google News Archive
26 March 1961, Tuscaloosa (AL) News “Bama Wins Six But Loses Two,” pg. 10, col. 3:
You win some, you lose some and some get rained out, as the saying goes.

Google News Archive
11 October 1966, Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), “Butts Case Reviewed By High Court” (UPI), pg. B7, col. 5:
Butts’ attorney, William H. Schroeder, said he talked to the Supreme Court clerk in Washington Monday, but was in formed the court gave no indication why it had decided to review the case.

“Some you lose, some you win, and some you get rained out,” Schroeder said.

Google Books
1,001 Logical Laws, Accurate Axioms, Profound Principles, Trusty Truisms, Homey Homilies, Colorful Corollaries, Quotable Quotes, and Rambunctious Ruminations for All Walks of Life
By John Peers, Gordon Bennett and George Booth
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1979
Pg. 57:
Askerberg’s Axiom:
You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.

Google Books
Words of Wisdom
By William Safire and Leonard Safir
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
1989
Pg. 279:
You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all. — J. Askenberg

Google Books
Dreyfus Affair:
A Love Story
By Peter Lefcourt
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
1992
Pg. ?:
“You win a few. You lose a few. Some are rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” —SATCHEL PAIGE

Google Books
Extraordinary Comebacks:
201 Inspiring Stories of Courage, Triumph and Success
By John Sarkett
Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.
2007
Pg. 69:
PAIGE, LEROY ROBERT “SATCHEL”
“You win a few; you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.”