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.
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.
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.
The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid, and if he is timid, he has to remind the hitter he’s timid.
I threw my best to every hitter I faced, and I found I had the strength to go all the way.
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.
Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution.
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.
Actually punching is a mistake; a heavy hitter will cut you with one shot.
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.
I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks during batting practice.
I believe that you’re a hitter first and you’re a slugger second type deal.
There was a time when rival teams used a shift against me. They would put the second baseman on the shortstop’s side of the bag, move the shortstop into the hole to his right, and have the third baseman hug the foul line. The idea was to build an infield wall against a known right-handed pull hitter.
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.
I see myself as a line-drive hitter first.
Anytime a pitcher hasn’t faced a hitter, I feel the pitcher has the advantage. The more times the hitter sees somebody, the more the advantage goes to the hitter.
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 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.
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