Hitters Quotes & Sayings

But this is the point I want to make: When you talk about steroids and
you talk about what it means to the game, the three greatest home run
hitters of all time-Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, right? When
they were 39 years old, how many home runs do you think they averaged?
The three greatest home run hitters of all time averaged 18 home runs
at age 39. Now, how many home runs did Barry Bonds hit when he was 39?
He hit 73! — Carlton Fisk

Ted Williams is one of the best hitters ever to play the game, and I didn't get a chance to see him play, so all I could do was read books and look at pictures. — Tony Gwynn

The power of home run hitters in the majors is different from those here. It's probably difficult for me to match that power now. — Hideki Matsui

It's funny what a few no-hitters do for a body. — Satchel Paige

There is nothing wrong with [pitching by committee] in mid-week [games]. It creates unique problems for hitters. I think it creates more problems for good-hitting teams than it does for the other teams. — Wayne Graham

I've been in eleven no-hitters you know. — Bert Campaneris

I don't like pitchers who walk hitters. It puts pressure on your defense. The less walks you have, the better your chances of getting through innings. More walks lead to overworking your bullpen, sometimes just by having to get somebody up, just in case. — Kevin Towers

I don't want to take anything away from Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. They're both great hitters, but they're batting against guys they never would have seen in previous years. — Ted Williams

Hitters never showed me up, as hard as I threw. And I was pretty mean out on the mound. — Goose Gossage

Good hitters don't just go up and swing. They always have a plan. Call it an educated deduction. You visualize. You're like a good negotiator. You know what you have, you know what he has, then you try to work it out. — Dave Winfield

All small men, all non-power hitters, must learn to bunt well. It's half your game. — Nellie Fox

Now the advantage is all with the hitters. — Rogers Hornsby

Speaking for George Will, on whose thinking I am world's foremost authority, I say: not necessarily. The heavy hitters do have heavy responsibilities. — George F. Will

There are no short hitters on the tour anymore - just long and unbelievably long. — Sam Snead

I think about how a guy mentally prepared himself to do battle, to go out and face the pitcher. I think so many hitters do not know how to get themselves prepared to play or hit against a pitcher. You have to mentally be prepared to hit against all pitchers. — Hank Aaron

While I'm no Major League Baseball prospect, I have thrown a few no-hitters in my day. And not only were there no hitters, there was also nobody there to catch. — Jarod Kintz

People think of the greatest home run hitters of all time and think of Babe Ruth; they don't think about that Warren Spahn hit more than anybody. — Rollie Fingers

My favorite part (of the game) is knowing that they're comfortable, knowing that, no matter
what, they can count on me. What I really enjoy most about catching is the
relationship with a pitcher. The most important thing is they can relax when I'm
back there and know that I did my job, I did some homework on hitters. — Jorge Posada

A lot of hitters stay away from the plate, some are close up, some are forward, some are back. The thing about hitting is this: You have to know the strike zone. That's the most important thing. Hit strikes and put the bat on the ball. — Stan Musial

You have to be out there and have a mound presence. You have to be real aggressive and be real confident. You have to put the hitters on defense. — Eric Gagne

We just kind of relied on written scouting reports through the eighties and even the early nineties. I've really been amazed by some of the data that's out there, especially with regards to tendencies of hitters, and certainly tendencies of pitchers as well. I would have loved to have gotten that data when I played. — David Cone

You know what they say about big hitters ... the woods are full of them. — Jimmy Demaret

I like to challenge hitters with a 'Here it is, hit it,' mentality. It's definitely a big part of my game, especially when I get in situations where I need it. I usually save a little bit so it's there for me. — Justin Verlander

Major League Baseball is the best league in the world, full of capable hitters up and down every single lineup. — Ron Darling

I have five pitches. Fast ball, change, curve, slider, screwball. I don't know any hitters. Catcher, he tells me what to do. I can get any pitch I want over the plate. — Juan Marichal

I've always maintained that if I wasn't studying psychopaths in prison, I'd do so at the stock exchange," he enthused. "Without doubt, there's a greater proportion of psychopathic big hitters in the corporate world than there is in the general population. You'll find them in any organization where your position and status afford you power and control over others, and the chance of material gain. — Kevin Dutton

Even though Sam wasn't a romance author, he knew all the big ones, the heavy hitters and those that had crossed genres. He was greeted by most of the authors, some he knew and others who wanted to meet the famous author. Needless to say the romance genre remained comprised mostly by women authors. Sam stuck out like a rooster in a hen house. A tall, handsome, cool rooster in black jeans, his sunglasses hooked off the pocket of his pale blue oxford shirt. A rooster with a flock of hens following his every move. — Carolyn Gibbs

My family were hitters. If you made them laugh, they didn't hit you. My dad wouldn't hit me if I got him with humor right between the eyes. — Roseanne Barr

And in that moment he felt- for the first time that optimistic and cheerful boy allowed himself to feel- how badly made life was, how flawed. No matter how richly furnished you made it, with all the noise and variet of Something, Nothing always found a way in, seeped through the cracks and patches. Mr. Feld was right; life was like baseball, filled with loss and error, with bad hops and wild pitches, a game in which even champions lost almost as often as they won and even the best hitters were put out 70 percent of the time — Michael Chabon

Mr. Feld was right; life was like baseball, filled with loss and error, with bad hops and wild pitches, a game in which even champions lost almost as often as they won, and even the best hitters were put out seventy percent of the time. — Michael Chabon

Augusta is a very unique golf course. It's a long hitters' course; main reason is because the greens are so severe, and the areas where they put the pin is such a small area. The little plateaus and undulations mean it's incredibly important to be close to that pin so you can be aggressive. — Fred Funk

I saw a lot of good hitters but I never saw a better one than Paul Waner. I mean I once threw a side arm spitter right into his belly and he hit it into the upper deck. — Burleigh Grimes

I always tried to learn about the hitters. Anytime someone got a hit off me, I made a mental note of the pitch. He'd never see that one again. — Christy Mathewson

Cardinal rule for all hitters with two strikes on them: Never trust the umpire. — Robert Smith

You want to be as dominant as possible and you want to put some doubt in the hitters' heads. That's what I'm trying to do every single time I'm on the mound. — Eric Gagne

The minute you start getting in trouble, you can't try to do new stuff. You can't try to make a nasty pitch or 'paint the black' because that's when you fall behind. You have to stick with what works for you and go after hitters like there's nobody on base. — Mark Mulder

I've witnessed thousands of superior athletes try to becomes hitters and fail at it. — Willie Stargell

I know for a stretch, at least nine years, I was one of the best lead-off hitters in baseball — Brady Anderson

Pull-heavy, right-handed hitters should also have seen shifts, but rarely did. According to BIS's database, the first shift employed against a right-handed hitter in the modern era didn't occur until June 11, 2009, when the Phillies shifted left against Gary Sheffield. — Travis Sawchik

Pitchers make adjustments, and it's up to the hitters to readjust and sort of tweak what they do. — Joe Torre

I notice a lot of hitters fraternize with pitchers. I see guys laughing and giggling before the game. These are the same pitchers who are trying to beat them. I've never seen Roger Clemens talking to hitters before the game. Bob Gibson was the same way. Man, I don't even see (Greg) Maddux playing golf with hitters. — Albert Belle

If you are bored and disgusted by politics and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched Establishments of the two major parties, who please rest assured are not dumb, and who are keenly aware that it is in their interests to keep you disgusted and bored and cynical and to give you every possible reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day. By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote. — David Foster Wallace

The only players that are having fun are those having a good year, feasting on pitching or blowing down hitters and garnering all the adulation that goes with it. But, if you're not hitting or not throwing well, or are injured, you better look for fun someplace else. — Dave Winfield

If you try to give them a scheme, most hitters will rebel. — Tony La Russa

Ben Hogan was not really a big hitter. He was long enough. But Ben Hogan today? Ben Hogan today could not compete at Augusta because he did not have the massive length to compete against the long hitters. Power was always an issue at Augusta, but never so dominant that you couldn't play it. — Jack Nicklaus

Players who stand flat footed and swing with their arms are golfers, not hitters. — Rogers Hornsby

A pitcher will never be a big winner until he hates hitters. — Early Wynn

You had to pitch in and out. The zone didn't belong to the hitters; it belonged to the pitchers. Today, if you pitch too far inside, the umpire would stop you right there. I don't think it's fair. — Juan Marichal

Hitters are too big, too strong, and their bats are too quick. I have to go inside to have success. — Tim Hudson

I hate all hitters. I start a game mad and I stay that way until it's over. — Don Drysdale

With all that IMF money, the Thailand's and Mexico's are spared the consequences of their fiscal incompetence, and Wall Street's heavy hitters are spared the consequences of their stupid investments. The global economy is a rigged game, rigged so Third World politicians, rich investors and global corporations win - and U.S. taxpayers lose. — Pat Buchanan

If they knocked two of your guys down, I'd get four. You have to protect your hitters. — Don Drysdale

Hitters get paid a lot of money to hit. Let's face it, man, sometimes they just do. — Andy Pettitte

Nothing is wrong with Tom Brady. When you look at the New England Patriots, they are going to have to readjust how they evaluate talent ... You have to bring in some heavy hitters to protect Tom Brady at 37 years old and help him get the ball out of his hands. — Sterling Sharpe

It must be nice for today's hitters when you don't have to worry about being thrown at. It's a whole different deal. When I played, getting knocked down was an accepted part of the game. — Harmon Killebrew

If they know you're a nibbler, they're going to wait and look for that. Hitters have to be more aggressive if you're more aggressive. — Brad Lidge

I want to be on the field. It's a better place to talk to the guys. It's a relaxed atmosphere. You want to make sure you know what's going on, not just with the hitters. — Don Mattingly

Old third basemen become first basemen, and old first basemen become designated hitters. — George Brett

I like my friends to be the hitters. The pitchers, they all have the same brain as I do. The hitters see the game from a different perspective. — Joe Mays

I consider Billy Keeler, Mike Tiernan, Ed Delihanty and Larrie La Joie the toughest hitters I had to pitch to, but I did not dread them. Remember, Hughie Duffy was a member of our team, so I did not face him. In my opinion, Duffy was the greatest hitter. — Kid Nichols

When I got to the stadium, one of my biggest things was watching video of hitters. — Bengie Molina

If I'd been able to put the collection together in one go, say over two years, we'd have had a special team, most wouldn't stay. One or two glory seasons and they were off. To them, the north-east was too far out. They wanted to be with the big hitters. — Bryan Robson

The difference between winning nineteen games and winning twenty for a pitcher is bigger than anyone out of baseball realizes. It's the same for hitters - someone who hits .300 looks back on the guy who batted .295 and says 'tough luck buddy. — Warren Spahn

Novelist time is reptile time; novelists tend to be ruminant and brooding, nursers of ancient grievances, second-guessers, Tuesday afternoon quarterbacks, retrospectators, endlessly, like slumping hitters, studying the film of their old whiffs. — Michael Chabon

There aren't many hitters who like facing knuckleball pitchers. They may not be intimidated by them, but they sure are thinking about them before they go into the box. — Phil Niekro

Like some cult religion that barely survives, there has always been at least one but rarely more than five or six devotees throwing the knuckleball in the big leagues ... Not only can't pitchers control it, hitters can't hit it, catchers can't catch it, coaches can't coach it and most pitchers can't learn it. The perfect pitch. — Ron Luciano

Why shouldn't we pitch to Babe Ruth? We pitch to better hitters in the National League. — John McGraw

To be the first player to do it three consecutive years (fifty or more home runs), you go back through the thousands of power hitters who played this game and nobody has ever done it, and I can sit here and say I'm the first. I'm pretty proud of that. — Mark McGwire

Needless to say, I have more no-hitters than Nolan Ryan. — Ernie Harwell

I do feel I was overshadowed by some of those guys (who took steroids) ... I had a diminished-skills clause written in after I hit 29 home runs and drove in 92 RBIs, and I think those (steroid-aided home run hitters) are partly to blame. — Frank Thomas

I'm a pitcher, so the glove is my only accessory. The hitters get to have all the fun. They have batting helmets, the actual bats, gloves, elbow guards - all this cool stuff to wear. And all I get is a glove. — C. J. Wilson

I wish I was just a left-handed hitter. It's really tough having to keep both sides sharp, and that's one reason why you don't see switch-hitters hit for that high of an average. You're always fighting one side or the other. — Lance Berkman

The pitch would normally be low, but my ball starts carrying and stays on a sustained plane. Everyone always complains - 'that ball is low' - but then you go back and look at the tape, and it's right there. My catchers tell me, and the hitters tell me, that the ball stays true flight the last five or six feet. — Roy Oswalt

I use high velocity to keep hitters off balance. — Justin Verlander

All we are is proof that love can survive anything. You and I, we're heavy hitters, but even at our worst, we still couldn't break this bond. If you're honest with yourself, we didn't even come close. — R.K. Lilley

Basically, hitters fall into a pattern, and once you know what they like, you can set them up for the putout with something else. — Tom Seaver

Bruce Sutter and his new pitch, the split finger fastball, fascinate the manager of the Cuban national teams. 'We must find out about this new weapon,' he said. 'Are the American hitters plotting to murder him? — Thomas Boswell

Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, sort of the three big hitters on the Republican side. — Steve Kornacki

Most of the managers are lifetime .220 hitters. For years pitchers have been getting these managers out 75% of the time and that's why they don't like us. — Bill Lee

Lunatics are similar to designated hitters. Often an entire family is crazy, but since an entire family can't go into the hospital, one person is designated as crazy and goes inside. Then, depending on how the rest of the family is feeling that person is kept inside or snatched out, to prove something about the family's mental health. — Susanna Kaysen

I've worked with a lot of real heavy hitters, and Quentin is maybe heads and shoulders, at least a forehead, above just about anybody I've ever worked with. — David Carradine

I'm just trying to work hard every day, trying to be a better player and one day, to be right there with them, one of those special hitters. — David Ortiz

I think there's a growing number of pitchers who want to have a plan going into a game about how they're going to go after that lineup. I'd say 75 percent want to have an idea, and they plan their attack. I know that 75 percent of hitters do not have that same type of plan against a pitcher. — Tony La Russa

Vietnam helped me realize who the true heroes really are in this world. It's not the home-run hitters. — Willie Stargell

I'm glad I don't have to face that guy (Don Mattingly) every day. He has that look that few hitters have. I don't know if it's his stance, his eyes or what, but you can tell he means business. — Dwight Gooden

True, [Gary Nolan] might not strike fear into the hearts of all you free-swinging power hitters out there - at least not in the same way as, say, Tom Seaver ... but without question he was one of the most talented pitchers in baseball during the Big Red Machine era, and except for countless injuries that plagued him year after year he'd have the numbers and awards to back up that claim. — Tucker Elliot

My manager said it would more effective against left-handed hitters. It seemed to me that was impossible to do without the high leg kick, which I started that day. — Juan Marichal

In baseball, even the best hitters fail seven of ten times, and of those seven failures there are different reasons why. Some are personal failures, others are losses to the pitcher. You just get beat. In those personal failures, I felt I could have done better. — Ichiro Suzuki

Good hitters don't become intimidated. They become infuriated. — Ken Singleton

On radio, you're in your own little world. Every time I'd be doing a possible no-hitter - I think I've done something like 25 no-hitters and a couple of perfect games - I would always put the date on the tape. Not for me, but for the player, so that 25 or 30 years later when he's playing it for his kids or grandkids, you have that date. — Vin Scully

I don't think I've shied away from anybody. I'm not scared. I respect hitters, but I'm not afraid. — Mark Prior