Viv Richards Quotes

My theory of hitting was just to watch the ball as it came in and hit it.

You gotta keep the ball off the fat part of the bat.

The offseason after the 2014 season, I worked with hitting coach Damon Mashore. I always had power in batting practice but couldn't take it into a game consistently. We made a little adjustment with my hands, lowered them a bit to get a consistent path to the ball, a natural uppercut to elevate the ball and backspin some balls.

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.

If someone throws you a good slider, you're not going to hit it. You've got to always hunt those ones that kind of pop up or hang thigh-high or up.

In the split second from the time the ball leaves the pitcher's hand until it reaches the plate you have to think about your stride, your hip action, your wrist action, determine how much, if any the ball is going to break and then decide whether to swing at it.

It would be useless for any player to attempt to explain successful batting.

Swing hard, in case they throw the ball where you're swinging.

How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball.

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

A lot of hitters stay away from the plate, some are close up, some are forward, some are back. The thing about hitting is this: You have to know the strike zone. That's the most important thing. Hit strikes and put the bat on the ball.

You can't see the bat hit the ball if you're generating any bat speed. If you're just laying the bat through the strike zone, sure, maybe.

If you're free of mechanical thoughts and free of knowing that your body and bat are going to be in the right position at the right time, you can freely focus on the ball. It's a great feeling.

Stay inside the ball, put the barrel on it, and swing hard.

When the ball is swinging, you really need to play close to your body.

The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go.

I swing hard all the time. That's what I've done my whole life - hit.

You get to the plate and nothing is going through your mind. You see the ball, you see the seams.

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's no easier pitch to hit than a splitter that doesn't do anything.

If a pitcher makes a mistake inside, I'm going to hit it.

As hitters, I think we take for granted at times how good our hands are and just how much the value of truly getting the barrel to the ball is. We don't have to do as much as we think we have to.

I'm pretty close to Miguel Cabrera. We are such different hitters, but at the same time, we're pretty close because we both like to hit the ball middle-away.

I want to be able to drive the ball to all fields.

That's one thing I learned from watching great hitters hit. A lot of hitters, they're ready to hit from pitch one.