At-Bat Quotes

When I went to home plate in a game-tied situation or with a chance to do something and help the ballclub win one, I'd try to make eye contact with the pitcher.

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 show business, and the business is sometimes in capital letters. You just have to give it your best shot when up at bat.

The only way you can get a hit is if you take a swing.

One game, one pitch can change everything for a hitter. The way I like to approach it is that every at-bat is its own unique opportunity to go out there and do something really good.

I don't really watch video, but I see the replay; like when I do strike out, and I'm walking back to the dugout, I look up and see if they do show the replay of me swinging and missing.

If I'm ready to hit early, if I get fooled, then whatever. I've still got two more strikes.

Man, it literally starts from after the game. I get every at-bat sent to me from the game. I'll go home, I'll watch every at-bat, kind of break down the game, kind of see, OK, what did I do? Why'd I miss this pitch? Why'd I hit that pitch?

Your most precious possessions on offense are your twenty-seven outs.

I've never heard a crowd boo a homer, but I've heard plenty of boos after a strikeout.

I hate it, but a popout is the same as a strikeout. It's a matter of productive at-bats, a matter of how you do it.

Balls and strikes are the basic tenet to everything in baseball. From the perspective of hitting, pitching, offense and defense, it's all about the strike zone and how the battle is waged there between the pitcher and hitter.

You have to go up there, and it's you vs. the pitcher. No one's there to help you. That's how I go about it.

Everyone goes through those stretches. Everyone you talk to in this game, old coaches, old teammates, old players, whatnot, they all have those, 'Oh, I was 0-for-25, I was 0-for-30 one time.' I just try to not to get it that far, get it to that point and take it one at-bat as a time.

You don't always make an out. Sometimes the pitcher gets you out.

You obviously want the results but you must do your job in every at-bat and deal with what every situation dictates.

Each time I go back to bat, I will want to get more and more runs.

When you're going into a game, you're not expected to hit a home run every game. You're just doing everything proper with proper swings.

The guy comes up to the plate, there's always a chance where he can get a grand slam and everybody forgets about all the times he missed.

There's definitely more pressure to get the first hit when you are 0-for-8 to start the year.