Top 80 Hitter Quotes

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 pitcher has to look at the hitter as his mortal enemy.

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.

Playing shortstop is 75 to 80 percent anticipation, knowing the hitter and the pitch being thrown.

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.

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.

As a hitter, I think if we wanted to change something, we should scoot the mound back. But that’s never gonna happen.

I’ve won plenty of games by knowing when to take out my pitcher; whom to replace him with; or how to place my infield or outfield to defend properly against the opposing hitter.

I mean, I think I pride myself on being a good hitter so if I have to, my job changes and I have to adapt to do that.

One game, one pitch can change everything for a hitter. The way I like to approach it is that every at-bat is its own unique opportunity to go out there and do something really good.

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.

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.

I’m not scared of it. I’m not shy of it or afraid of it. It’s just funny to think of me as a three-hole hitter.

I had to lower my hands, I had to work my hips a different way. I also had to stride to get the power. I’d always been a standstill hitter and had to generate power from my upper body. Basically, I had to change everything I was doing. It was really difficult.

At the end of the day, all we’re trying to do is get the hitter off balance. Get him in a position where he’s not strong in the strike zone.

I came up as a number 2 hitter. My first year I hit 16 homers, and I was like, Whoa, I’m rollin’!

As an average hitter myself, I lacked that true back knee drive.

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.

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.

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.

Ted Williams was the greatest hitter I ever saw, but DiMaggio was the greatest all around player.

If a hitter gets hot, I wouldn’t take a hot hitter out of the lineup.

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.

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.

I don’t like the designated hitter. A guy who plays should be able to catch and hit.

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.

We try to do a great job of understanding the opposing hitter and his tendencies. Maybe understand the hitter better than he knows himself.

I don’t want to be a slap hitter, but be a dangerous hitter in the lineup and want people to come right at me.

Ted Williams, an extraordinary hitter in his day, has said the swing starts in the hips, and Sosa arrived with one of the strongest lower bodies in the game.

All I really try to do is whatever hitter gets in there, I just try to get him out in as few pitches as possible.

If there was ever a man born to be a hitter it was me.

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.

In baseball I was very singularly focused. If I was pitching it was me versus the hitter.

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.

I am an arm hitter. When you snap the bat with your wrists just as you meet the ball, you give the bat tremendous speed for a few inches of its course. The speed with which the bat meets the ball is the thing that counts.

I’d probably be the most unintimidating three-hole hitter in the league at 150 pounds.

It helps if the hitter thinks you’re a little crazy.

I like the style of National League baseball. I like the different moves that have to be made. I like the fact that the No. 8 spot in the lineup can be one of the more challenging spots. It’s a lot more strategy for that hitter and for the catcher sometimes with the pitcher coming up.

To be a good hitter you’ve got to do one thing – get a good ball to hit.

I’m a good hitter for a pitcher.

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.

For me, it’s about finding ways. Obviously I’m not a great hitter, but I’m going to try and beat you anyway I can. I think about that in every aspect of the game. Running? I’m not the fastest runner, but I can steal a base. For me it’s about taking advantage of what I can.

The leadoff-hitter thing, I think, it’s always nice to have an established leadoff hitter and to have someone who can really get on base and set the tone.

You never want to lose a strength, but I’ve also got to try and be a complete hitter.

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.

Going into Portland, I was just trying to not step on anybody’s toes, stay quiet, and play my game. I think I was just trying to figure out the kind of sequences I was going to see as a hitter and learn from that.

I’ve always said, even batting leadoff, that I want to be a dangerous hitter.

You never want to have Yadier Molina up with the bases loaded in the World Series, but, dammit, you wouldn’t want a better hitter up. Maybe that’s not the way most people think, I don’t know. That’s how I think.

The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.’s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too.

I wonder why there is a designated hitter in baseball after all these years? As an experiment, it seemed like a swell enough idea, but you would think the novelty would have worn off by now and everyone would get back to playing baseball.

You should have seen Willie Wells play shortstop: as good as Ozzie Smith and a better hitter. How I wish people could have seen Ray Dandridge play third base, as good as Brooks Robinson and Craig Nettles and all of those. He was bowlegged; a train might go through there, but not a baseball.

I’m a leadoff or a two-hole hitter, contact guy.

I was a lousy hitter in May doing the same things that made me a great hitter in June.

I consider myself a line drive hitter with power. I just try to put my best swing on the ball every time.

I was the most powerful left-handed hitter in the Alameda area.

I’m not a cleanup hitter. I’m just batting fourth.

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.

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.

Anytime you can see a hitter and face a hitter, you gain knowledge, and you gain that experience. Whether they hit a homerun off you, or you strike them out or whatever it is, it’s information.

There is no doubt that because I am a switch hitter I have one of the best offensive advantages that a hitter can have.

I was kind of a slap hitter, trying to get base hits, hit line drives, stay below a certain trajectory with my ball.

There has always been a saying in baseball that you can’t make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game.