Satchel Paige Quotes

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Joe Torre would tell you to make sure you can hit the ball on the outside part of the plate.

I grew up in an era where the perfect drive was a line drive, with quite a bit more spin.

My batting practice would be a guy throwing balls in the way in which I liked it. It was all about getting ball on bat, rather than something whizzing past your ear.

Once I found my swing, I feel like if I put a good swing on it, I feel like it's got a good chance to go wherever - left, right, center - it doesn't matter. But I'm not just out here going to swing for home runs of anything. I'm just trying to put a good swing on the baseball.

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

Hitting is not an exact science.

I just try to make contact with the ball. It's obvious that I like to swing the bat. I'm not thinking of taking a lot of pitches.

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.

I could always hit. I learned to hit with a broomstick and a ball of tape and I could always get that bat on the ball.

Some batters, and good ones too, scoff at the whole theory of place hitting, calling it a myth. They are wrong, however.

I was a contact hitter my whole career but I learned how to handle the ball inside. And Ted Williams played a big part in that. He gave me the advice on how to handle inside pitches.

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.

I am happy with the way I hit the ball. There is a certain element of power into it but not completely. It is like 80 per cent timing and 20 per cent power. Why do I need power hitting when I can clear the ropes with timing?

Everybody believed you had to have a big piece of lumber and then muscle the ball over the fence. But by the time I and Hank Aaron - another guy who did it with his wrists - were through, there were a lot of guys ordering light bats and playing handball.

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.

I think my mindset and my approach is to hit the ball hard, whether it be first pitch or work the count.

You never hit a good slider or curveball; you just try to go after the mistakes.

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