Hitters Quotations

I consider Billy Keeler, Mike Tiernan, Ed Delihanty and Larrie La Joie the toughest hitters I had to pitch to, but I did not dread them. Remember, Hughie Duffy was a member of our team, so I did not face him. In my opinion, Duffy was the greatest hitter.

Basically, hitters fall into a pattern, and once you know what they like, you can set them up for the putout with something else.

I think there's a growing number of pitchers who want to have a plan going into a game about how they're going to go after that lineup. I'd say 75 percent want to have an idea, and they plan their attack. I know that 75 percent of hitters do not have that same type of plan against a pitcher.

It must be nice for today's hitters when you don't have to worry about being thrown at. It's a whole different deal. When I played, getting knocked down was an accepted part of the game.

Ted Williams is one of the best hitters ever to play the game, and I didn't get a chance to see him play, so all I could do was read books and look at pictures.

We started the season with a little setback because we had to have two seniors move to the setter position where they haven't ever played. I know I have the hitters that I can use to run some plays and we're just now getting the confidence in the setters.

We spread the attack out well. We've got a lot of good hitters and we try to set them all.

When you swing the bats like that, you're going to be pretty tough to beat. It was a good day. The hitters did a good job. It wasn't like their pitchers were slopping it up there.

When you start talking about right-handed hitters for the Yankees who hit 40 home runs, there are only two of them. That's hard to believe, and the other guy is named DiMaggio. You know he's special.

We're not going to sit there and say that we need more runs. We know how hard it is, and it's not like our hitters need to be told. We don't need to state the obvious. They're coming in and busting their butt everyday and doing whatever they need to to get better.

Whether the general manager believes that he can help me out of my pen, I haven't asked yet. That was impressive to me to watch him come right at the hitters with a nice angle to the ball.

We're going to score some runs this year, you can count on that. Timmy is a big key to our club, but we have a really potent offense overall so we'll be quite all right. We've got a good freshman core and the big hitters to drive them home so I like our chances. We are going to compete for one the top spots in our league and before this year is over, they'll know the names of these guys.

Universal had all its heavy hitters lined up for summer months. Warner Brothers didn't have anything in the summer that was a guaranteed hit, ... It's as if they saved all their heavy hitters for the top of seventh, or later.

With the hitters we have, we are a threat to hit homers any time. I told Preston to stop showing me up. It seems like whenever I hit a home run, he gets up and hits one twice as far.

We're just not being aggressive enough early in the ballgame. I'm talking hitters and pitchers, and that has to change.

We know he's very capable. He has the pitches to get major-league hitters out.

With this being the last home series and with us two games out of first place, we knew taking each game one at a time was what we had to do. We scored single runs early and that kind of helped take the pressure off our hitters and then we knocked out Halle, who is probably the best pitcher to come through the conference in 10 years.

We have to get better in the mental aspects of the game, ... That's true for both the pitchers and hitters. The pitchers can't be giving up hits on 0-2 counts like we have, and the hitters have to find a way to get the runner over when he's on second with no outs.

We have to focus on getting hitters to transition aggressively and play strong every time, ... We got stuck against bigger teams, and hopefully we can fix that.

We have some big hitters and our top defensive players are back. We also have good leadership and (the players) are working hard. We surprised some teams last year and I think we'll surprise teams again this year.

What we're doing right now feels like we're going in the right direction. I need to face hitters and all that stuff, but we're going fast and at the same time we're really just taking it day-to-day. When you start making schedules and having to meet deadlines, then we're really not listening to what my arm is saying.

We ran into a into a guy that was throwing the ball very well ... you've got to tip your cap to that (pitching) staff today, they did an outstanding job of keeping our hitters down.

We've scored 25 runs over the last two games, so we're swinging it pretty good. We've got some good hitters and we've got a good mix of older guys and younger guys. It all seems to work out.

When you commit to a delivery alteration or different focus, which we've done with almost every single pitcher on the staff, it sometimes takes a while to get the consistent release point. It takes a while to be able to throw the baseball without concentrating on that alteration. Once it's ingrained in there to where they can throw without concentrating on that and put all of their focus on getting hitters out, then they pitch better.

Luke looked like his old self today. He was consistently ahead in the count against most hitters and was throwing all of his pitches for strikes.

Making the rotation is my goal. Today I was able to get ahead of most of the hitters and that makes for short innings. That's been a problem for me the past few years.

Let's make no mistake; he was a good hitter to begin with. But good hitters need to be strong, too. The added strength has made a lot of difference for his this year.

So far, the pitching has been very good. The hitters are still getting their timing down. The pitching has remained consistent and we are scoring enough to win and getting some timely hits.

She's really pitched well for us this season. Today she really kept hitters off balance with her pitching. She's got a great change-up, and she's not afraid to use it. Even with a full count.

She's one of the most pure hitters I've had.

She's one of the hardest hitters we have.

She had a big night. You can always credit hitters for hitting well, but if they aren't getting a good ball, it doesn't matter how good a hitter is.

She did a great job. She stayed ahead of hitters and took care of business.

She has an arsenal of pitches that she and our pitching coach use freely. They do a good job analyzing the weaknesses of hitters on other teams, and she has the pitches that allow us to do that.

She's a good setter. And we have more than one weapon, so she has a variety of hitters to go to. That helps. And we've had good defensive players, so she usually gets good passes. It all works together.

She pitched a good ball game. She didn't just throw, she pitched a good ball game. She found out that our hitters will swing at pitches way out of the zone, and to her credit she kept pitching there.

She moved the ball real well and kept our hitters off-balance.

No one pitches that alike unless they're brothers. They pitch so much alike you'd have to split them up in the rotation just so hitters didn't get the same look.

My crazy times are over. That's when I was a rookie. I've got seven years in the big leagues. I think some hitters say, 'Oh, Zambrano is crazy.' I used to be. Now I try to pitch my game and do my best to help this team.

Murphy did a great job for us in a difficult situation and got some good hitters out.

Obviously Joe Warren did a good job of keeping Booker hitters off-balance. That was key. He's done a real nice job the last two outings.

Obviously, anytime both teams combine for 23 hits then you?re swinging it pretty good. The hitters looked very comfortable in the box.

Right now he's getting ahead of hitters and throwing three pitches for strikes. That's what a starting pitcher needs to do.

One of the reasons she was voted unanimous all league is because as a setter she was such a pivotal part of what we did. She has to make adjustments to all the hitters plus make the plays, plus make the plays she needs to and she did a good job doing those things without getting rattled. She had to make all those split-second decisions and she did a good job with that.

I was impressed with (Ellis). He got the curve ball over, and he kept our hitters off balance.

I was feeling really comfortable out there. I just tried to get ahead of hitters ? that's the name of the game in college baseball.

I was really proud of the way the girls played, ... They played very well. We were up against a couple of really tough hitters but we defended the ball well. The score may not show it, but it was a very good match to watch. The girls played with their hearts on their sleeves.

I would have liked for him to be a little better out there, a little sharper, and gotten the hitters out a little easier. But things weren't there.

I don't have the luxury to work on anything. I'm just going to go compete and ... try to get hitters out like I have from day one. Certain guys have the luxury of easing into the situation, but from the get-go I feel I have to pitch well and have good results.

I didn't make hitters uncomfortable. They didn't have to move their feet. We threw inside, but it wasn't where people had to move. I felt like I had really good stuff today, and they hit it, and that's why.

I don't care if it's low end, high end, wood, you've got to find the barrel of the bat. That's what separates good hitters from bad hitters.

Basically, when Vic is down, he's pretty good. When he's up, the hitters are pretty good. His stuff's fine. It's a matter of keeping the ball down, locating the pitches and changing speeds.

I have struggled before like this in the minor leagues. The difference is that major-league hitters are better and don't miss mistakes.

I hate really making excuses for what happened, but he didn't catch many breaks. Jeremy didn't have things go his way. He's a pinpoint control pitcher and just fell behind a couple of hitters and didn't execute a perfect game plan.

I felt perfect on the mound. I threw all fastballs. I hoped to get to throw some more but the hitters were swinging at the first pitch. But if I have to choose five pitches or 15, I'll take five every day.

I felt good, it was fun to out there and face hitters again. I was a little shaky the first couple of hitters but it got better.

I can't get a hit every time. So the next best thing for me is to walk. I try to work a pitcher. You go up there and take a couple of pitches and go deep in the count and it helps the other hitters out, too. They're all watching to see what the guy's got.

Getting ahead of hitters and throwing a lot more strikes early in the count has been the biggest difference.

Getting kicked around as much as I did, you get tired of it. I'm not trying to hit people. But at the same time, hitters were very comfortable facing me last year, much more so last year than any year in the past, obviously. But there's something you can do about that as a pitcher, and you've got to be proactive in doing it. I feel like my command is good enough that I can throw the ball in off the plate and get people off the plate without hurting people.

From everything I hear, they're a scrappy team. Their No. 1 and 2 hitters are obviously very dangerous and they get after it. I understand their pitchers all stay around the (strike) zone." ()

I expect he will be geared up to play here. What hitters aren't when they come here?

Give their pitcher credit. He came on in a very tough situation and he got our 3-4-5 hitters out. When you get in that situation, we should get one or two out of it, but I give credit to their pitcher. He got us out.

I got behind hitters and made poor pitches. I thought a lot instead of letting things happen. I didn't attack guys like I normally do.

I got ahead of hitters and my stuff looked a little sharper tonight. I attacked the strike zone. It's very nice to get first win.

I got ahead of a lot of hitters in that game, and really that's what I need to do every time out. Controlling the count is very important.

I go into each game with three guys written in as pitchers. If I feel someone is losing something, we'll put someone else in. It's nice. A lot of times hitters are only seeing a pitcher once, so they are constantly adjusting.

He?s got very good stuff and the one thing he?s very good at is command. That typically is what separates kids that come to this level. In A-ball you don?t have to be so fine. Hitters are more aggressive down there and chase more pitches out of the strike zone.

He was all around the zone. He hit all his spots, changed speed a lot. He was ahead of the hitters all game. It's tough to get in a groove when someone's throwing like that.

He was cruising along and pitching really well. He just made some mistakes with pitches and the hitters hit them.

I always preach, attack the fastball. We set the stage in the ninth and both hitters got a 2-1 fastball.

He worked ahead of hitters all day. He had good command of his change-up and breaking balls.

He was unbelievable tonight. If he can set the table and do that day in and day out, we are going to win a lot more games because of it. If you can be on base, with all the hitters we have in our lineup, it's going to be a big advantage for our team.

He was throwing strikes with his off-speed pitches. That is fine the first few times through the order. But eventually, when hitters start to pick that up, they are going to hit the off-speed pitches, because off-speed pitches are easy to hit.

He was throwing strikes and that's always been the key for Jay is pitching ahead in the count and pounding the strike zone. That's what he did. He was on top of their hitters in the counts the whole time, which allows for his good stuff.

He's a young guy who works hard. He's not just scraping by in the ninth inning. He's going out there and dominating hitters and people in the stands want to see that in a ninth-inning guy.

He had the knack for being able to put the bat on the ball. They would bring in side-arming left-handers and he'd go up there and stroke the ball the opposite way. If they would hang a breaking ball, he'd hit it out of the ballpark. He was one of the better hitters I've seen.

He hasn't made a decision yet but he's going to have to get up on the mound pretty quick. I wouldn't want him to go pitch if he hasn't seen any hitters or thrown all his pitches. I'm not worried yet. He said he felt better today. But I'm not sure he's ready to get on the mound.

He has four pitches that he can locate to both sides of the plate, and that's exciting. You're just excited to see him in competition against big-league hitters and see how they react.

He did a huge job. He was throwing three pitches for strikes. He didn't throw in a lot so I'm kind of disappointed that our hitters didn't adjust more.

He is capable of getting both left-handed and right-handed hitters out. He may be called on in certain situations, but I don't see him as a one-batter pitcher.

He is a very competitive person. He is one of top two or three hitters on the team. He is one heck of a player and is one of the key players that make us tick.

He is about as intelligent a hitter as you can get, it?s amazing how quick he makes adjustments. You see him get fooled on a pitch, he steps out, you can see him clear his mind and you can see him make that adjustment. That?s what makes him better than a majority of the guys in the big leagues. Good hitters make adjustments in between games, and he makes adjustments in between pitches.

He froze a few hitters out there. I was impressed.

He does things that drive hitters nuts. I've never seen a pitcher get so many ground balls back to the mound. That's all about movement.

He gives us a pretty good outing every time he goes out there. He's an 18-game winner. He's going to be a 20-game winner, there's no doubt in my mind. He just makes the hitters hit the ball and doesn't mess around too much.

He loves to pitch in, and you could tell the Dodgers hitters weren't able to swing. I want to be able to call a Pelfrey into my office four to five starts from now to say, 'Hey, you're going to the big leagues.' That's what it's all about.

We're playing well and have a lot of confidence right now. Last year we waited around for our big hitters to get things done. This year we're getting something from everybody.

When he went the second time through the lineup I thought it would be hard to get a hit off him. He faced hitters like Carlos Lee, and these hitters are usually very good making adjustments after seeing a pitcher for the first time.

We've got to make sure we're hitting our spot. The purpose of 0-2 pitches is we don't want to give them anything good to hit. But if we miss our spots, good hitters are going to take advantage of it.

We talk about two words: Confidence and commitment. We have one common goal: Win. It's not about anybody in particular. It's about the team and playing the basics: Three outs to an inning, not four; be smart hitters at the plate; and have fun along the way.

Having Shaun and Hudson and Matt anchor the team is very comforting. To have a setter that can get all the hitters going early in a match will be huge for us. We've got weapons this year, and we've just got to use them.

He's aggressive and he takes what the pitcher gives him. He's evolved as a hitter every single year. He does things that a lot of good Division I hitters don't do.

Going into the games, I wasn't sure what to expect from our hitters just going against out pitchers. I guess our pitchers had a little more movement than what we faced down there.

Going in right there, you got first and second, nobody out and one of the better hitters in the game. My main focus was getting strike one. It's key to get strike one. Get the fastball in on his hands and kind of open up away. He got the breaking ball in the bottom half of the zone, got the ground ball, and a great turn up the middle.

Good hitters want to extend their arms, they want to take away the inside of the plate and look middle-to-away. If a pitcher can establish the inside of the plate, it keeps a hitter honest.

Good hitters make adjustments and he has been making adjustments. You don't do that, you're not going to survive at this level, but he's been doing that.

Good hitters don't tweak too much and they adjust very well. They try to recapture a feeling. With Jason and his makeup, (a slump) isn't going to last long. Good hitters can figure things out quickly, and he's a good hitter.

Good hitters capitalize on poor pitching. He got some balls up in the zone.

Going out and getting people out on a regular basis is my main concern. I felt like I did that. Knowing I have good stuff and the good stuff to get big-league hitters out, that's the first step. And today it was a step in the right direction.

He's a kid who wants to help carry us -- which is commendable -- and of late it hasn't happened. It's like we say about hitters who want to go out there and do too much. The same is true of pitchers, and Jeremy, unfortunately, still falls into that rut of -- instead of being a pitcher -- reverts sometimes to being a thrower.