I wouldn't describe myself as a home run hitter. I'm just trying to hit the ball hard in the gaps. Just backspinning baseballs and hitting line drives.
I don't really look at myself as a power hitter. I look at myself as someone who drives the ball to the gaps, hits line drives.
I don't think I'm a home run hitter. Most of my home runs are line drives. If I hit it, thanks God. But it's not the kind of thing that I think about. I just go out there and try to have a better season than I had before. Home runs are not in my mind.
I was kind of a slap hitter, trying to get base hits, hit line drives, stay below a certain trajectory with my ball.
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.
I'm always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don't get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself.
I've never really considered myself a home run hitter. Mostly I'm a guy who hits into the gaps for a lot of doubles.
Yeah, I'm going to go back (after hitting his 500th home run, but commenting on reaching the 3,000 hit plateau) to my Punch-and-Judy days, hit the ball the other way, start bunting the ball a little bit.
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.
Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest. It pisses me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He's playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I'm black.
You reach a point where you're trying to survive. You're just trying to put the ball in play. You're not yourself. You're searching for your identity as a hitter on a nightly basis. That's just really hard. And it is not atypical at all for players to need to change their environment in order to rediscover who they are.
No one had to tell me I was never going to be a home run hitter. I was hitting the same ball as the rest of the players, but when the big guys cracked one, it went out of the park. Mine went out of the infield.
I consider myself a line drive hitter with power. I just try to put my best swing on the ball every time.
The mark of a good hitter is someone who hits the ball hard, often. And if you run into a few home runs, that's fine.
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.
When it comes to hitting solid drives, the secret is to swing within yourself. I know that sounds like a cliche, but it's true. If you swing at 100 miles per hour and hit it on the toe, you won't hit the ball as far as you would with an 80-mph swing that catches the ball in the center of the clubface.
I don't try to hit the ball 500 feet. It looks good when you hit it 500 feet, but as long as it goes over the fence, it's a home run. When you swing hard, it takes a little bit of recognition away from you. The power you're trying to increase - you're not all the way through it with your vision.