New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver (1944-2020) was committed to winning. The New York (NY) Times quoted him on April 6, 1971:
   
“There are only two places in this league: first place and no place.”
 
   
Wikipedia: Tom Seaver
George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed “Tom Terrific” and “the Franchise”, was an American professional baseball player, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox, from 1967 to 1986. He played a significant role in the Mets’ victory in the 1969 World Series.
   
6 April 1971, New York (NY) Times, “Seaver Faces Expos” by Joseph Durso, pg. 31, col. 4:
He (Tom Seaver—ed.) was resolute, perhaps a touch solemn, about the new season saying:
   
“There are only two places in this league: first place and no place.”
   
Newspapers.com
6 April 1971, The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA),  “Quotes,” pg. 19, col. 5:
There are only two places in this league: First place and no place.
—Tom Seaver, as Mets prepared for opener today.
   
Google Books
Who Said What (and When, and Where, and How) in 1971
By Barbara Bennett and Linda Amster
New York, NY: Quadrangle Books
1972
Pg. 14:
There are only two places in this league : first place and no place. TOM SEAVER, pitcher for the New York Mets, on what life is like in the National League. Ap 6, 31:4.
   
Google Books
Sportswit
Compiled by Lee Green
New York, NY: Harper & Row
1984
Pg. 257:
TOM SEAVER
New York Mets pitcher:
“There are only two places in this league: first place and no place.”
 
Twitter
DuaneBonifer
@DuaneBonifer
He was terrific in every way. Was my favorite #Reds pitcher to watch in person when I was a kid. And he is responsible for one of my favorite quotes: “There are only two places in this league — first place and no place.”
@NYTimes
Tom Seaver, Pitcher Who Led ‘Miracle Mets’ to Glory, Dies at 75
A Hall of Famer, Seaver won 311 games for four different teams. But Mets fans called him Tom Terrific for turning around the club’s fortunes.
nytimes.com
8:56 PM · Sep 2, 2020·Twitter for iPhone