Torii Hunter Quotes

It was so difficult for the fans to understand my problems with baseball.

Anybody who has played sports and says they have never choked is lying to you.

Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus, or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't.

I always got nervous the nights we played in the World Series. First pitch, I was nervous. Then after that, forget it; I'd start playing.

I am stronger than I was last year. I am throwing the ball better now in May of 2013 than I did in May of 2012 - significantly better. I got better throughout the season.

In 1987 I got dartitis, a psychological condition which means you can't let your darts go properly. For a time, I wondered what the hell I was going to do if I didn't recover. But I remained positive and, thankfully, got over it. It occurred during the Swedish Open when I found I couldn't let the darts go.

Today's Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they're out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.

I was passionate about soccer. I still am. Odd, though - playing soccer always made me much more anxious than playing tennis. On soccer days, I'd be out of bed by 6 in the morning, all nervous. But I was always calm when it was time for a tennis match. I still don't know why.

I had the pleasure, as Robin said, to live a childhood dream as many young Americans and Puerto Rican children live that play youth baseball. And I feel honored and very thankful for that opportunity.

Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting.

There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis.'

In my case what happened next in 1999 was that I fell apart over that back nine. When I saw I was in genuine contention that year I felt like throwing up. That remains probably the most nervous I've ever been on a golf course.

I used a lot of sports psychologists when I was younger... sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't.

I think if you think so much, you simply cannot bat.

When the team is losing, you can become upset and mixed up, shying away from the play, and lose control.

You look at players who are off form and there's a general disappointment, their confidence goes low and their whole demeanour can change. I've seen it hundreds of times but it's difficult to know what's really going on inside someone's mind.

I went from being one of the best players, batting .550, to not being able to do it mentally, hitting .200. I thought I was mentally tough. But I couldn't hit the ball.

Having a father as a football and a baseball coach, I grew up around college baseball players, college football players, like, I just knew sports my whole life.

I think the word 'yips' trivialises it; it is completely debilitating, like a cancer spreading through your game and just destroying it.

I can't overstate the part the yips played in bringing my career to a close.

I have been in sport in different areas for long enough to know what my life is day to day.

I just enjoy playing in the big moments, in the big games.

Every player goes through streaks where they're just not making their shots. It may last two games, it may last ten games, and a lot of times, it's something off the court that is bothering you, or coach might cut your minutes for some unknown reason.

Defensively, hitting-wise, running the bases. There's always room to improve. That motivates me to get a little better every day.

What if you didn't have education for sports? People with a natural inclination for sports, athletes without any kind of education, without any kind of training, they would just be couch athletes instead of the world class Olympians that we have.