Tom Seaver Quotes

Pitch within yourself.

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

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!'

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.

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

The good rising fastball is the best pitch in baseball.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

I would like to be a great artist. I would quit pitching if I could paint like Monet or Rousseau. But I can't. What I can do is pitch, and I can do that very well.

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.

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.

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.

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