A Quote by Phil Niekro

I never knew how to throw a fastball, never learned how to throw a curveball, a slider, split-finger, whatever they're throwing nowadays. I was a one-pitch pitcher.

Phil Niekro

Quote Topics

Fastball Finger How Knew Learned Never Nowadays Pitch Pitcher Slider Split Throw Throwing Whatever

Quote Author

Phil Niekro
American - Athlete
Born: April 1, 1939

Everybody wants to know, 'How do you throw a curveball, how do you throw a slider, how do you throw this and that,' when they can't even locate a fastball. Learn how to control your fastball and then once you've got that, move on to other things.

Cliff Lee

I'm trying to throw more curves because I'm always throwing fastball, slider, fastball, slider.

Yu Darvish

Back in the day when I played, a pitcher had 3 pitches: a fastball, a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a good sinker pitch.

Mike Shannon

John Wetteland had a very good curveball. He threw it for a strike, too, in any count, any situation. But, he really didn't use it much. He didn't want to throw it. He wanted to throw fastball-slider.

Jorge Posada

I love the slider. I'll throw it anytime. It helps the curve. The last five feet, it dives toward the left-handed hitter's box. It's a pitch that looks like a fastball coming in. It's a pitch I throw when I need a ground ball with a man on base.

Kerry Wood

John Wetteland had a very good curveball. He threw it for a strike, too, in any count, any situation. But, he really didnt use it much. He didnt want to throw it. He wanted to throw fastball-slider.

Jorge Posada

Everyone wants to talk about my slider, and how effective it is, but it really can't be without fastball command. It starts with my fastball, even if the slider is the pitch I want to get to.

Patrick Corbin

If you can't see the rotation and tell if it's a sink - a fastball, then you have to be able to tell whether that fastball is a two-seamer or a four-seamer. You have to be able to recognize if it's a slider or a curveball. You have to be able to recognize if it's a changeup or a split-finger.

Reggie Jackson

Zito was my favorite pitcher for a good long time, pretty much until Lincecum came into the league. Obviously, if you know Barry Zito, you know the big curveball. So that was kind of my inspiration for learning how to throw it. Tried to pattern that pitch off of him as much as possible.

Trevor Bauer

I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider. Then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first 30 feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it has crossed the plate.

Stan Musial

I feel like a pioneer with the split-fingered fastball. I was the first one to really throw it pretty much 100 percent of the time. It was a pitch that I had to have. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have been in the big leagues.

Bruce Sutter

I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider; then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first thirty feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it had crossed the plate.

Stan Musial

I want to make my fastball better. How do I high-grade my fastball to make it the best fastball in the league? I can only throw so hard. I'm close to my genetic ceiling on my velocity.

Trevor Bauer

My dad played for a coal-mining team in eastern Ohio; he was a very good pitcher. If he hadn't hurt his arm, he probably would have got a shot somewhere. He hurt his arm one spring, didn't warm up good enough, couldn't throw a fastball anymore. Another coal miner taught him how to throw the knuckleball.

Phil Niekro

I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.