Joe Garagiola Quotes

In my own case I have frequently faced the pitcher when I had no desire whatever to hit. I wanted to get a base on balls.

Problem with (John) Wockenfuss getting on base is that it takes three doubles to score him.

We've got to learn how to stay out of triple plays.

A good time to hit is with men on base, because the pitcher ain't got no place to put you. He's going to get that ball around there somewhere. He don't want to walk you.

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 believe your catcher is intelligent and you know that he has considerable experience, it is a good thing to leave the game almost entirely in his hands.

Pitching is 80% of the game and the other half is hitting and fielding.

Hitting is business. With two strikes you really protect that plate.

Big league defense is going to get outs most times.

Pop flies, in a sense, are just a diversion for a second baseman. Grounders are his stock trade.

If there was no intentional walks, the guy would just walk him anyway, unintentionally intentionally walk him. You see a lot more of that than what meets the eye.

But I'm not going to walk Barry Bonds, like some teams do, in the first inning with nobody on.

I love talking about baserunning.

I think there's more of opportunity to win games in the National League than the American League because there are more decisions to make.

'Get up and hit a home run,' has never been a part of the usable technique of any manager.

Ken Holtzman could pitch a game in ninety minutes. Wouldn't throw a breaking ball. And he had a great breaking ball.

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.

That's why, to me, Spring Training is so hard, because every time you go up there, there's a new pitcher, and you have to come up with a new plan.

There's plenty of situations where we'll come up with guys on base, less than two outs, and those are opportunities for us to help ourselves out.

I just try to make the pitcher work.

Once I get completely right mechanically and with command, maybe I only use two or three pitches to get through seven innings.

I talked to the ball a lot of times in my career. I yelled, "Go foul. Go foul."

All good balls to hit are strikes, though not all strikes are good balls to hit.

The way to get a ball past (Honus) Wagner is to hit it eight feet over his head.