Hitting Quotes - page 5
Listen, I shouldn't even be playing. I showed up at spring training and I told the ball club about my accident. I said my shoulder had been damaged and the ballclub said "Sh-h-h, don't talk so loud. Somebody might hear you; Now, don't tell anybody about this." They said, "I don't want to know about it." Well, I tell you, it hurts me to swing a bat and, when I know it is going to hurt, it bothers me mentally and I do not swing the same and I wince when I think of hitting the ball. I should be home, not here in the dugout, because [sic] I would rather play even if I am crippled than to sit and watch a game.
Roberto Clemente
They pay for their ticket, let them do what they want to do. I get mad. One of these days, I'll leave my uniform on the field and keep on walking. If I don't hustle or something like that, I'd say that it would be good for me to be booed. The problem with me is hitting. You hit.280, it's a pretty good average. But I used to hit.350, so.280 is not good enough. A lot of times in my career, I play when I shouldn't play. I say as long as I can run and swing a bat, I play. That was my biggest mistake. One time I play with a shoulder – it hurts so bad, I can't lift it. I hit into a double play. Then they hit a ball to the outfield and I can't bend down to pick it up, so they boo me. The season start, I hurt my finger the last weekend of spring training. I couldn't grip the bat right and I was trying to pull everything. They would like for you to start every year from the beginning, right on top, boom, boom, boom. Now I start a season a little bit slowly, so they boo.
Roberto Clemente