Hal McRae Hit Quotations

Jimmy's been off and on, and we know how capable he is. He either bats before or after Albert. It's going to be important that we hit around Albert so he gets pitched to, so he feels he can take his base on balls and another guy will do it. It's going to be important for (Edmonds) to have a good week.

He's getting a lot of base hits to the opposite field, which is a positive. He stopped hitting the lazy fly balls to right field. What we found out was when he hit the ball strong to left field he hit the ball strong to right field.

You're trying to be ready for everything, and you're not ready for anything. We'd like for them to be ready for the one pitch, the fastball. That's where you start. We go from there. ... All timing comes off the fastball. You've got to be a fastball hitter first.

We're not hitting on all cylinders like we were last year. But if I'm not mistaken, there were periods last year when we struggled also. I still feel we're going to be OK. I just want it to happen now, not later.

On-base percentage is No. 1. If you strike out a hundred times, but you also walk a hundred times, you're a pretty good hitter -- like Bobby Abreu. Yeah, he'll strike out. But his on-base percentage is always over .400, which is what you want.

Make them pitch into his strike zone. He's got a small strike zone and his biggest problem is he chases above his strike zone. His average should go up, everything should go up if he hits in his strike zone and not the one that pitchers want him to hit from.

Nobody could hit like that. Plus, the league is not going to let you hit that way. You might get a few hits, but you're not really going to hit that way.