A Home Run Derby is fun. It's just like taking batting practice, and you just want to go deep. Guys do it every day. Yes, there's a little more pressure when they pull that cage back, but if you practice properly, it shouldn't affect the second half of your season at all.
I go out there every day, take early batting practice, fly balls.
The offseason after the 2014 season, I worked with hitting coach Damon Mashore. I always had power in batting practice but couldn't take it into a game consistently. We made a little adjustment with my hands, lowered them a bit to get a consistent path to the ball, a natural uppercut to elevate the ball and backspin some balls.
In the old days, you know, they didn't have batting cages. And in most ball parks, they only had one runway to the dugout.
Spring Training is a fun time for me.
We are all really working hard to improve our batting.
Our sister Alma was the best hitter in the family. We used to soak corn cobs in water so they wouldn't fly so far when we hit 'em. Alma was the first to hit one far enough to break a window in the barn.
I want to hit the ball and I want to get at-bats. The results really dont matter to me.
I don't hit home runs in BP.
My kids would watch from the window and wave to me during batting practice.
I need at least two months to try and figure out where the centre of the bat is.
On the road, we're hitting in the cages during our normal batting practice for our position players.
I probably hit 35 balls into the right-field bleachers.
The most fun I ever had in my life was hittin' a baseball. And the best sound I ever heard in my life was a ball hit with a bat. Powww!
Some people enjoy taking a light stroll in the morning and that gives them relief and that sort of feeling. That is what I gain by practicing, by swinging the bat.
During the season especially, we take a lot of swings, we play a lot of games, we swing a lot in games, batting practice, all that, so to maintain your shoulder the strongest is one of the key points that we focused on in the offseason.
Your bat is your life. It's your weapon. You don't want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect.
I study pitchers. I visualize pitches. That gives me a better chance every time I step into the box. That doesn't mean I'm going to get a hit every game, but that's one of the reasons I've come a long way as a hitter.
You might as well go in and start getting dressed. I'm going to hit his first pitch for a home run.
When I was 12, I was taking batting practice with an aluminum bat at Tiger Stadium. I don't know where it landed exactly, but upper deck somewhere. Yeah, people were surprised.
I don't see pitches down the middle anymore - not even in batting practice.
I wanted to play baseball ever since I was 5 years old.
We devote our entire lives to becoming good ball players. We take batting practice until our hands bleed.
My desires are simply I love to teach, I love to be in uniform, I love to throw batting practice, I love to be with the kids.
Then there's Johnny Pesky, hit me countless number of ground balls and improved my fielding so much.
