J. D. Martinez Quotes

I got to the big leagues when I was 20. I thought I had it all figured out. Went to spring training that next year and started off well, got sent down, and I pouted pretty much all of 2000. And it wasn't the right way to handle it.

In a sport like baseball, you strike out or get embarrassed, you turn the page.

A good balance of winning and losing is important. If you just win all the time, you won't get anything out of it; having some tough losses can be really important.

Sport and life is about losing. It's about understanding how to lose.

Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe.

I'm fortunate now that I coach at Duke University and we've won a lot. I have some kids who haven't failed that much. But when they get to college, they're going to fail some time. That's a thing that I can help them the most with.

Some people take defeat and losses a certain way. You see how some fighters take losses.

People strike out. I strike out a lot - it happens. Just got to keep working.

When I first started playing in a youth football league, I was the worst kid on the team. I quit the first year. And then the next year, I was still the worst kid - I didn't even play.

If it was up to me, I wouldn't lose at all, but when it happens, that's when you have to show your real strength.

I can understand failure: I've failed loads of times in my life; it's not a problem. I've never feared it, because it's a part of life.

The calls aren't always going to go your way, and you can't complain about it. I tried to learn that as a young player, and you just got to play through it.

I hate when pitchers get me out multiple times. It's probably an ego thing, but I don't like that.

Baseball is a game of failure. There are plenty of opportunities to be down, or to feel sorry for yourself, or to be upset at somebody or upset at yourself.

Losing is the bane and bugbear of every professional athlete's existence, but in baseball the monster seems to hang closer than in other sports, its chilly claws and foul breath palpable around the neck hairs of the infielder bending for his crosshand scoop or the reliever slipping his first two fingers off-center on the ball seams before delivering his two-and-two cut fastball.

I have always felt that although someone may defeat me, and I strike out in a ball game, the pitcher on the particular day was the best player. But I know when I see him again, I'm going to be ready for his curve ball. Failure is a part of success.

There is a lot of difference between failure and defeat. Failure is when you are defeated and neither learn nor contribute anything.

Some times you lose more than you win. It's about handling losses and trying to turn them into positives. You get out into the big leagues and there's a period of adjustment to be made. You've got to handle it.

What helped me most were my failures and slumps - when I couldn't get work, people weren't interested in me or had written me off.

Don't worry about it. Babe Ruth struck out on occasion, too.

I didn't fear failure. I expected failure.

I feel like, with ski racing, you need to have a short memory. You crash all the time, and sometimes it's a really bad one, but sometimes it's not so bad.

One time I was doing a speech to a group of kids, and just before I get there, I see this little kid crying. I found out they just lost a game, and he was the losing pitcher. I went over there, put my arm around him, and said, 'What are you crying for? When major league players lose, they don't cry.'

Failure and things of this sort - you can take it one of two ways. You can either let that hurt you and really affect the way that you live your life in the future, or you can use that as an opportunity for growth.

It's tough to strike out. Believe me. I hate striking out. It's no fun. It's embarrassing. But there really isn't anything I can do. It's just a part of my game.