Phil Niekro Quotes

If a pitcher sees you fiddling with the bat, he'll stall until your arms are tired before you even get a chance to hit.

If you can get an out on one pitch, take it. Let the strikeouts come on the outstanding pitches. Winning is the big thing. If you throw a lot of pitches, before you know it, your arm is gone.

I think we mixed a lot more curveballs than normal because they were either going after my drop or laying off of it and that's normally my go-to (pitch).

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.

When a batter swings and I see his knees move, I can tell just what his weaknesses are then I just put the ball where I know he can't hit it.

If you try to give them a scheme, most hitters will rebel.

Basically, hitters fall into a pattern, and once you know what they like, you can set them up for the putout with something else.

I was never a strikeout pitcher. Why should I throw eight or nine balls to get a man out when I got away with three or four?

If I get two strikes, I'll go to a pitch maybe that will help induce that a little bit.

Most pitchers are too smart to manage.

Now the advantage is all with the hitters.

My pitching philosophy is simple - keep the ball way from the bat.

Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is 80% of being a successful hitter. The other 20% is just execution.

I'll win more games playing everyday in the outfield than I will pitching every fourth day.

Everybody in the league knew I had trouble with the inside pitch. I got away with it only because the great majority of pitchers were afraid of making a mistake in that spot. The threat of power is one of the best weapons you have in the batter's box.

I never chased around with the opposition or got too well acquainted with them, because when the time in the ballgame came up where I had to pitch inside, I didn't want to hesitate.

Strikeouts are important. Anytime you can generate an out without the ball being put in play, there's nothing that can be done in those situations.

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.

I don't really think about the runs too much. I mean, if we get, like, a five-run lead, then I'll start to pitch according to that.

At this point, I'm just grinding through it, trying to establish strikes in the zone with my pitches, using some information the opposition gives me, and kind of moving forward in that regard.

You never want to be in a defensive mode or have a defensive mindset. You always want to know that you're in control as the pitcher, you make him get hits, you're never passive, always aggressive. If I get beat, I want it to be because I got rocked, got hit hard, never because I walked a couple of guys and before you know it.

I'm not trying to throw six or seven pitches just to be able to strike you out. I'm trying to do it in three or four. It's the homework and the process between starts that I really focus on to help me do that.

Learn the league, learn the pitchers, learn how they're going to go after you.

When I can buy strikes with that curveball, that just lets everything else play up.

I just try to make the pitcher work.