Tom Seaver Quotations

If the Mets can win the World Series, the United States can get out of Vietnam.

The thing most people don't understand is that pitching isn't the same every time out.

In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end.

There are only two places in the league - first place and no place.

My job isn't to strike guys out; it's to get them out - sometimes by striking them out.

What's important is to get into the pitcher's head: to know what he's made of.

Im a huge advocate of pitching. You have to have good pitching as the solid core, the foundation. It keeps you in every game.

Imagine if these computer geeks who are running baseball now were allowed to run a war? They'd be telling our soldiers: 'That's enough. You've fired too many bullets from your rifle this week!'

The good rising fastball is the best pitch in baseball.

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 had 12 years under my belt of baseball at the amateur level before I got to the big leagues.

There's nothing wrong with pitch counts. But not when it's spit out by a computer, and the computer does not look at an individual's mechanics. And you can't look at his genes. It should come from the individual and the pitching coach and the manager.

My pitch count as a general rule was 135. And I knew how many pitches I had when I went to the mound for the last three innings.

Take a look at all of them: Marichal, Jenkins, Spahn - what do you think made them successful? They conditioned their arms by pitching more, not less, starting from when they signed their first contract.

Once a year, I take my whole wine team down to see the Giants, and we meet the players. Ive never seen anyone pitch like Lincecum that can throw the ball and get through the front leg. He has that stiff front leg.

It takes 20 victories for people to recognize you as a great pitcher.

Pitching is what you have best on the day you work, and if you can't get your fastball over the plate, then maybe you can win with your curve.

There is no set numerical value you can put on a pitcher. Theyre all different.

I would like to be a great artist. I would quit pitching if I could paint like Monet or Rousseau. But I cant. What I can do is pitch, and I can do that very well.

My turn came in the San Francisco airport. I wore the wig and put shaving cream on my face and sang like crazy.

I don't remember ours at all because at the time it was nothing special, ... It's what you were expected to do and what we expected of ourselves.

God is living in New York, and he is a METS Fan.

I think they all share a lot of the same characteristics. Great discipline. Great physical and mental strength. Great work ethic. Great focus.

Ozzie's not looking for a reason to change pitchers,

With his stature and the Cy Young Awards he has on his wall, he can say: 'No. I want to stay in there,' ... ... You've got to pitch seven innings, regardless of the score.

I wanted to say, 'What the heck are you doing out here?' And I probably did say something like that,

because maybe it will trigger something. Maybe complete games will make a comeback.

But he fit in because he was a pro's pro.

Some pitchers want to be known as the fastest throwers that ever lived. Some want to win 30 games in one season. Some want to pitch a no-hitter. All I want to do is the best I can, day after day. In other words, I want to prove I am the best.

No one had more impact on my career than Gil Hodges. Playing for him was a learning experience, and he was a tower of strength. Not everbody liked him, but everybody respected him. He went about his job in a very professional manner, and it caused me to do the same with my job.

The artful pitcher must take the inevitable peaks and valleys of pitching in stride and never give in to the batters or lose sight of his/her own strengths.

Pitch within yourself.

You have the honor and privilege of being in position to do something amazingly special. If you have the chance, you must do it.

Pitching is what you have best on the day you work, and if you cant get your fastball over the plate, then maybe you can win with your curve.

My job isn't to strike guys out; it's to get them out, sometimes by striking them out.

Lou Brock, along with Maury Wills, are probably the two players most responsible for the biggest change in the game over the last fifteen years - the stolen base.

I wasn't ever much of a Yankee fan.

It's (baseball) on the radio and in the newspapers every day, the only game you can follow on that basis. From whatever arm's length you choose, it's always there.

He (Joe Morgan) knew when something needed to be done, and he'd do it.

Do you think it's easy to just walk up to Joe DiMaggio and start up a conversation? I've been around him at old-timers' games, and believe me, he's someone special. It's not easy to walk over and say, 'How ya doin', Joe, whaddya say?' You really feel as though this is the one old-timer you have to call Mister.

These kids today, they want to be men, they want to be foxhole guys, but they’re not being allowed to do that. Imagine if these computer geeks who are running baseball now were allowed to run a war? They’d be telling our soldiers: ‘That’s enough. You’ve fired too many bullets from your rifle this week!’

The concentration and dedication- the intangibles are the deciding factors between who won and who lost.

Only three or four outs directly affect the outcome of any given game...One of the greatest challenges of pitching is to recognize these critical situations and rise to the occasion with consistency and a competitive spirit.

If you don't think baseball is a big deal, don't do it. But if you do, do it right.

There are only two places in this league, First Place and No Place.

God is living in New York, and he's a Mets fan.

A good professional athlete must have the love of a little boy. And the good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were Little Leaguers.

Fenway is the essence of baseball