Pitcher Quotes

What is life, after all, but a challenge? And what better challenge can there be than the one between the pitcher and the hitter.

Walk rate is probably the area in which a pitcher has the most room to improve, but a rate that high is tough to overcome.

Every pitcher can beat you, it doesn't matter how good you are.

Pitchers did me a favor when they knocked me down. It made me more determined. I wouldn't let that pitcher get me out. They say you can't hit if you're on your back, but I didn't hit on my back. I got up.

A pitcher will never be a big winner until he hates hitters.

When Bryan Price taught me how to throw a changeup, he made me see myself. All my life, I've been the equivalent of a fastball pitcher - trying to use blazing speed and brute force to wow the people around me.

I figured that pitchers had a better chance of getting drafted than fielders, so I decided I should be a pitcher. But I never expected to be picked in the first round. I wasn't even sure I'd get picked at all.

What's unfortunate about buying a pitcher for $12 million is that he carries no warranty.

The way we're going... if I called up another pitcher, he'd just hang up the phone on me.

Let the pitcher move first, then, as he draws his arm back, you draw the bat back and you are ready.

The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favor and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting.

A manager uses a relief pitcher like a six shooter, he fires until it's empty then takes the gun and throws it at the villain.

In baseball, I was a pitcher, which I hated because there was no action there.

You better be looking for another pitcher.

A guy that throws what he intends to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher.

A pitcher has to look at the hitter as his mortal enemy.

And then when I went to stay in '68, I can honestly say that I was not focused on my career and on what it took to be a major league pitcher and to be a starting pitcher.

The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. Period. That's what you do to pitch. That's what pitchers have to do to win games.

No baseball pitcher would be worth a darn without a catcher who could handle the hot fastball.

I never faced a pitcher with better stuff than Nolan Ryan.

After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.

During my time, there might have been one pitcher or two that were top pitchers on a team. Teams that won maybe had three, but today they have a lot of depth. They have a lot of long relievers, short relievers, and the strategy is different.

A pitcher needs two pitches, one they're looking for and one to cross them up.

A pitcher is only as good as his legs.

If I ever find a pitcher who has heat, a good curve, and a slider, I might seriously consider marrying him, or at least proposing.

But because I could throw so hard when I got to college they made me a pitcher.

When I was 12, I had a coach tell me I would never be a championship pitcher. That devastated me. I was crushed.

If a pitcher sees you fiddling with the bat, he'll stall until your arms are tired before you even get a chance to hit.

Certain guys, they can see a guy do a certain thing with their glove and know what pitch is coming. I couldn't do that. But I can get on first base and I can tell you by his move if that pitcher is going to first base or home plate every time.

I think that's why I like baseball. There's something great about it - you're young, the pitcher's young and he's got this great arm, and he doesn't really realize anything about strategy.