Baseball Strategy Quotes

We try to exert a Ted Williams kind of discipline. In his book The Science of Hitting, Ted explains that he carved the strike zone into 77 cells, each the size of a baseball. Swinging only at balls in his "best" cell, he knew, would allow him to bat .400; reaching for balls in his "worst" spot, the low outside corner of the strike zone, would reduce him to .230. In other words, waiting for the fat pitch would mean a trip to the Hall of Fame; swinging indiscriminately would mean a ticket to the minors.

Once it gets to two strikes, it's time to battle, put something in play, and try to get the job done.

I don't watch baseball - it's too long and boring.

I was able to play alongside, in my opinion, the best hitter with Miguel Cabrera and kind of watch the way he goes about it and the way he looks at situations, when to try to drive a ball versus when to shoot a ball.

There were a small number of voices that said, 'Darvish only cares about strikeouts.' Although I may have had strikeouts in my mind, fans, team, teammates and team staff were always my top priority.

I was a fan of baseball growing up. We played baseball; I used to play in an A&P parking lot. It wasn't always easy to find a good baseball field to play in.

Cleaning up that lack of the definition between the two, and then leaning on the four-seam, having it become my primary fastball over my two-seam, it's just benefited me as a whole.

Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher.

I love the game, it's the greatest game on earth, that's why I can't understand all of this talk about trying to make the game better. People talk about the high strike zone and changing this and that. Why? To speed up the game? That's the beauty of baseball. There is no time element.

Baseball is continuity. Pitch to pitch. Inning to inning. Season to season.

There's no easier pitch to hit than a splitter that doesn't do anything.

We had to adjust and threw a few more rise balls and curves but it worked.

My dad was big about talking about baseball and Latin players.

That's how easy baseball was for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I had the knowledge before I became a professional baseball player to do all these things and know what each guy would hit.

Baseball is about homecoming. It is a journey by theft and strength, guile and speed, out around first to the far island of second, where foes lurk in the reefs and the green sea suddenly grows deeper, then to turn sharply, skimming the shallows, making for a shore that will show a friendly face, a color, a familiar language and, at third, to proceed, no longer by paths indirect but straight, to home.

I don't believe there's a baseball job that I couldn't take care of.

My pitching philosophy is simple. I believe in getting the ball over the plate and not walking a lot of men.

I played all sports growing up. Baseball was always my favorite, though.

I didn't get over 1300 walks without knowing the strike zone.

If I've got a good pinch-hitter, I hate to have him stay on the bench with men on the bases in an early inning. He may end the game right there.

You could have the bases loaded, and you bring up the best pinch-hitter in the world to pinch hit, he hits into a double play, and then all of a sudden: 'How could you do that?'

What you have to do in certain situations, that's called situational hitting.

Whenever I hit a ball in the gap, I'm thinking the extra bases. I never slow down. That's the only way you're going to get triples.

I think it's all a coincidence. I've pitched some poor games here and got a no-decision. But just give me the ball. I don't care where I pitch.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of baseball.