Top 230 Hitter Quotes & Sayings - Page 3

A good player who is a great putter is a match for any golfer. A great hitter who cannot putt is a match for no one.

I always say that I think my job is behind home plate, call a good game, play some good defense, and also, I know I was not a power hitter.

The bigger the game, the better I liked it. Not that I was about to let anybody know I was excited. I approached every game the same way. One pitch, one hitter at a time.

Drew McFedries was the hardest hitter I've ever been around. A big, strong, athletic guy with power. He didn't have to hit you with a hard shot or load up - even the little short shots could hurt you.

If you got a hit every third time that you went up to bat in the major leagues, you'd be the greatest hitter of all time. I think my average is a little better than that.

I never wanted to be a slap hitter. It would hurt my pride if someone called me one. I wanted to be a guy who could do everything.

If you want to steal a base, steal a base. Don't make the hitter swing at a bad pitch trying to protect the runner.

You’re not going to be a 1.000 hitter all the time. You’re going to be more wrong than right. You just have to correct your errors as quickly, as economically, as possible.

You never know when you're going to throw a no-hitter or if you're ever going to get the chance to do it. It's one of those deals where the ninth inning comes around; it's either going to be your night or just a complete game.

The game of baseball is a game of failure because it's so difficult to play. A 300 hitter, a superstar fails seven out of ten times at the plate. So what does that tell you about the game and its difficulty?

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 know when I get to 0-2, 1-2, when I'm ahead in the count, that I hold a distinct advantage over every single hitter. I have so many options because I don't have to work within the strike zone anymore.

Traditionally, baseball punishes preening. In a society increasingly tolerant of exhibitionism, it is splendid when a hitter is knocked down because in his last at bat he lingered at the plate to admire his home run.

There's only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher.

There's been times where I've come out of the bullpen thinking I was going to throw a no hitter, and I've lasted two or three innings. So I try not to use my pre-game warm ups as a barometer of how I'm going to pitch.

Baseball players are not specialists; they all have to do it all. That is why I, and many aficionados, dislike the American League's practice of replacing the pitcher with a designated hitter. This creates two players who do not have to do it all.

You could have the bases loaded, and you bring up the best pinch-hitter in the world to pinch hit, he hits into a double play, and then all of a sudden: 'How could you do that?'

We won. The media. We destroyed Barry Bonds, drove him crazy, turned the most disciplined and feared hitter the game has ever known into a fence-swinging hack, drained all the excitement out of his 714 home runs.

I was able to play alongside, in my opinion, the best hitter with Miguel Cabrera and kind of watch the way he goes about it and the way he looks at situations, when to try to drive a ball versus when to shoot a ball.

My changeup looks like a fastball, but one goes straight and the other goes away from the righthanded hitter. Sometimes it cuts by itself, and I don't know where it's going.

When I wake up in the morning, I don't think of myself as being better than anybody else. I think of myself as a good hitter.

The Negro League had some of the best players in history. Satchel Paige was probably one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball, and many believe catcher Josh Gibson was a better hitter than Babe Ruth.

I was always small. I was a leadoff hitter growing up, until I was 13 or 14 years old and had a little growth spurt and started hitting home runs.

Preparation is very important. The pitcher is going to do his job and prepare for you, so you as a hitter must do the same. I always watch videotape of pitchers before the game and even sometimes during.

Preparation is very important. The pitcher is going to do his job and prepare for you so you as a hitter must do the same. I always watch videotape of pitchers before the game and even sometimes during.

There are different angles you have to work with as a hitter. Figuring out with my body what helps me get into those angles... is a constant discovery.

You can struggle for a little while. It's going to happen. If a guy hits .200 for a while, it doesn't mean he's a .200 hitter.

Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgement and nothing can help you escape it - that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life.

Balls and strikes are the basic tenet to everything in baseball. From the perspective of hitting, pitching, offense and defense, it's all about the strike zone and how the battle is waged there between the pitcher and hitter.

There are always things to improve on. I want to improve on my defense, and you can never be a perfect hitter. I want to focus on just playing more and being able to improve on all parts of my game.

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 think I'm a guy who loves to play defense. I have a great time in the outfield. I think it's fun robbing guys on hits - there are plenty of times you're gonna be robbed as a hitter.

The game of baseball between pitcher and hitter sets up like a game of chess in that you have to anticipate several moves ahead to set up your opponent.

Lower stress equals a calmer approach at the plate. Calm equals a still head, allowing us to see the ball better. Confidence and relaxation; the hitter's Holy Grail.

A lot of people just thought I'd be a .260 hitter all my life. I was kind of like, 'Let me make some adjustments and let me learn the game a little bit.'

A lot of pitchers today are afraid of the ball. Warren Spahn pinch-hit for me when I was a rookie. He hit a sacrifice fly. I couldn't argue. I was 20 years old and just happy to be in the big leagues. And Spahnnie was a good hitter.

Tom Seaver was let loose twice by the Mets and pitched a no-hitter for the Reds and won his 300th game for the White Sox, but he wears a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame as homage to the 1969 championship.

I think the thing I'm most excited about is the fact that I was able to, for the most part, change pitchers' mindsets about what kind of hitter I am.

When I'm out there on the mound, I'm fighting for my teammates, fighting for the ability to stay in the game for a long time. It's war. I see the hitter - I think about what I want to do, but it's a very quick process. Then I attack. It's almost primal.

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.

The big thing I noticed from High-A to Double-A is that when you have an advantage count as a hitter, you're not going to get as many fastballs. Adjusting to the 2-0 changeup, that 3-1 off-speed pitch - things like that. I think my swing can stay the same; I just was getting myself out.

Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's what it feels like when Nolan Ryan's thrown balls by you.

The no-hitter was the highlight of my career. The specialness of it, I didn't know how lasting it would be when it happened. Everywhere I go, people talk about that game, how exciting it was. That makes me very proud. I'm awfully happy that a ball didn't bloop in somewhere.

The British are actually a lot more appreciative of the comic. In Canada, if you're perceived as a comic writer, there's a real snobbery, and you can't be serious. You're not a big hitter.

I'm the leadoff hitter, it's my job to lead this team. I know people say the way I go is how the Mets go, so I'll do whatever it takes.

I feel so overwhelmed by the kind of double hitter of a successful book and record. I just assumed at least one of them... would hopefully stick. So it's nice that both did so well.

One of the best ways to [improve my longevity] that is to minimize injury or avoid it by being more flexible?especially when we are meeting at the net. There is a hitter and blocker, which means a lot foot contact, where you can twist your ankle easily.

When you start a game, you don't think to yourself, "well, OK, I'm going throw a one-hitter today." It just becomes an organism, your outing becomes an organism and it grows.

There's different kinds of laughs. It's like a baseball lineup: this guy's your power hitter, this guy gets on base, this guy works out walks. If everybody does their job, we're gonna win.

My biggest regret was letting my lifetime average drop below .300. I always felt I was a .300 hitter, and if I could change one thing that would be it.

I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the President or the Pope or as a 400 basball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.

Chris Gayle is the biggest hitter. He hits long, he hits big, he is a big dude.

People always told me that my natural ability and good eyesight were the reasons for my success as a hitter. They never talk about the practice, practice, practice.

I know Daniel Murphy is a really good hitter. He's definitely pulling the ball right now for power, although he did go left-central the other night against the Dodgers, I believe.

I think the biggest adjustment I've made before coming here was going from High A to Double A. I was going in facing pitchers who had more experience and knew how to throw all their stuff for strikes and in hitter's counts, things like that.

I always talk about it like I'm a hitter first and if I'm doing things right and my body's in the right place, I drive the baseball.

The hitter asks the owner to give him a big raise so he can go somewhere he's never been, and the owner says "You mean third base?"

You would be amazed how many important outs you can get by working the count down to where the hitter is sure you're going to throw to his weakness, and then throw to his power instead.

A successful pitcher keeps the leadoff hitter from reaching first base and puts the first pitch over for a strike - the two most important rules of pitching.

I study pitchers. I visualize pitches. That gives me a better chance every time I step into the box. That doesn't mean I'm going to get a hit every game, but that's one of the reasons I've come a long way as a hitter.