A Quote by Walter Johnson

Well I can't rightly say (which player hit the ball hardest), but the ones (home runs by) Ruth hit got smaller quicker. — © Walter Johnson
Well I can't rightly say (which player hit the ball hardest), but the ones (home runs by) Ruth hit got smaller quicker.
I don't really set personal goals for home runs or anything like that. However many I hit, I hit. If I'm making consistent contact and hitting the ball hard, then I will hit home runs.
I've gotten stronger, but I don't ever try to hit home runs. I stay with the same approach, just hit line drives. If you get under one and it goes out, it's a home run, but I don't feel any pressure to hit home runs.
How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball... The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.
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!
I never wanted all this hoopla. All I wanted was to be a good ball player and hit twenty-five or thirty homers, drive in a hundred runs, hit .280 and help my club win pennants. I just wanted to be one of the guys, an average player having a good season.
No one hit home runs the way Babe (Ruth) did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings, then take off for the stands.
Some of the longest home runs I've hit, I didn't actually realize they were going that far. Everyone says, 'What does it feel like to hit the ball that far?' Actually, there's no feeling at all. I know when the ball meets the bat whether or not it's left the park. It's a nice easy thing.
I have the speed. People said, 'Just hit the ball on the ground, slap the ball, just get on base.' But I wanted to be able to hit home runs. I wanted to be able to bunt, steal bases, play defense.
At the Home Run Derby, you're expected to hit home runs. You're up there trying to hit home runs.
I'm seeing the ball well. I'm not trying for home runs. I'm trying to hit to right field more. When I do that, the home run comes.
Sometimes you go to home plate, and you have an idea, like a clear idea, of what they're going to throw to you. I think that's all: getting better pitches to hit, realizing when you hit the ball better, what pitch you hit, if you're chasing too much. If you figure out all that, you can get a little better as a player.
The fun part of golf is the variety of shots. In football you can do anything with a ball, but you can do anything with a golf ball as well. When you hit a shot and the ball does exactly what you want it to do ... that's wonderful. It's just great when you hit the ball well. You should always try not to make the ball cry.
For a long time, I'd been vaguely fascinated by the idea that Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic and Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in the same summer.
It's been my experience in politics that you can try and plan it out: 'I'm going to hit the three ball which will hit the eight ball.' You've just got to go run and try to do everything right. And then have a little luck.
I just try to get on anyway that I can, hit, hit-by-pitch, walk, home runs, anything.
If I was just a guy who hit 24 home runs and drove in 100, I wouldn't be a special player.
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