I was kind of a slap hitter, trying to get base hits, hit line drives, stay below a certain trajectory with my ball.
My favorite singer to this day is Nat King Cole. I've tried to emulate his phrasing. It is so absolutely beautiful to listen to his lovely voice.
A couple things I'm gonna be remembered for: the hat backwards and the swing. And the smile.
I have all the rhythm in my left hand, and I use the rhythms that Gene Krupa did on his drums.
Karl Johnson, my first piano player at Milt Trenier's, he just swung really hard and gave me a sense of really belonging to the jazz scene.
Jack Nicklaus liked to curve the ball by opening or closing the clubface at address. I never felt I was good enough to do it his way. I didn't like changing my swing path, either, which some guys do.
A macho attitude is totally to my advantage. Guys try to hit it 400 feet out of the park, but in softball you have to use a short, quick swing. Big, huge swings equal big, huge strikeouts.
I had a baseball swing my whole life. When I was growing up, everyone had a different, very specific softball swing that was very short. And I had a big stride and I had, you know, a baseball swing, and people did not like it.
In some ways Lester Young is the most complex rhythmically of any musician. He does some things which are just phenomenal.
If you hear Bing Crosby trying to swing, it doesn't work. He swings like a rusty gate.
It's easy to get swayed by advertisements or the latest new gear, but what you think you want could actually rob you of yards and add strokes to your score, based on your personal swing and playing style.
