Home Run Quotes

No one had to tell me I was never going to be a home run hitter. I was hitting the same ball as the rest of the players, but when the big guys cracked one, it went out of the park. Mine went out of the infield. ~ Nellie Fox

When I hit a home run I usually didn't care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered. ~ Mickey Mantle

The difference between a home run and a swing-and-a-miss is, what, an inch and a half? You can throw a great pitch, the guy makes a great swing. And if it's at a guy, it's an out. That's the beauty of baseball, really. There's not just one guy in control. ~ Phil Humber

« He squeezed his hands into fists. I picked up a grapefruit-sized rock and handed it to him. It went flying. Home run, Beast Lord style. ~ Ilona Andrews

That's Hendrick's 19th home run. One more and he reaches double figures. ~ Jerry Coleman

If you're not in the game, you can't hit a home run. ~ David Hasselhoff

The author relates that Mickey Mantle did not expect to play one day and showed up extremely hung over. He was nevertheless called on to pitch and smashed a towering home run to an enthusiastic ovation. He related to his teammates, Those people don't know how tough that was. ~ Jim Bouton

Between me and my roommate, we've hit 400 Major League home runs. ~ Bob Uecker

Can I be cocky for a second? If I hit a home run 80 percent of the times, and you want to talk about the 20 times I miss swinging the bat, I'm okay with that. ~ Jon Taffer

The way you get good ideas is to do two things: 1) Read two hours a day. 2) Write ten ideas a day. By the end of a year, you will have read for almost one thousand hours and written down 3,600 ideas. One of these ideas will be a home run. ~ James Altucher

I hope he (Babe Ruth) lives to hit one-hundred homers in a season. I wish him all the luck in the world. He has everybody else, including myself, hopelessly outclassed. ~ Home Run Baker

Vic Wertz once hit a ball rather famously that was later described as such: 'It would have been a home run in any other park - including Yellowstone.' Instead, he's remembered as the guy who got robbed by Willie Mays' spectacular catch during the 1954 World Series between the Indians and the Giants, a play that remains one of the game's all-time greatest defensive efforts. What people often forget about Wertz is that his greatest battle wasn't that one at bat, and that one out never defined his career. He was stricken with polio in 1955, and after 74 games his season was over and his career was hanging in the balance. 'The Catch' by Willie Mays couldn't keep him down, and neither could polio - he came back in 1956, and despite playing in only 136 games he belted 32 home runs with 106 RBIs. ~ Tucker Elliot

I don't know why people like the home run so much. A home run is over as soon as it starts ... The triple is the most exciting play of the game. A triple is like meeting a woman who excites you, spending the evening talking and getting more excited, then taking her home. It drags on and on. You're never sure how it's going to turn out. ~ George Foster

Major league baseball has asked its players to stop tossing baseballs into the stands during games, because they say fans fight over them and they get hurt. In fact, the Florida Marlins said that's why they never hit any home runs. It's a safety issue. ~ Jay Leno

The fans love the home runs, the home run competition between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. ~ Jose Canseco

Stanley was right. I never hit another home run. I struck out most of the time. But they always remembered that home run and while they still hated me, it was a better kind of hatred, like they weren't quite sure why. Football ~ Charles Bukowski

I have these brownies that I make that are just a home run with my family. I make them with almond butter, prune puree, walnuts, cocoa powder and whole-wheat flour, and I like them because they're delicious, but they're also guilt-free. ~ Tia Mowry

I don't really set personal goals for home runs or anything like that. However many I hit, I hit. If I'm making consistent contact and hitting the ball hard, then I will hit home runs. ~ Justin Morneau

I'd rather save a home run than hit one. I've always been like that. Defense is what I pride myself on. ~ Torii Hunter

I was stealing all the bases, and when you had to go to arbitration they said, 'You know, only the big boys make the money.' So I got to try and figure out how to hit a home run, too. ~ Rickey Henderson

To be good you've gotta have a lot of little boy in you. When you see Willie Mays and Ted Williams jumping and hopping around the bases after hitting a home run, and the kissing and hugging that goes on at home plate, you realize they have to be little boys. ~ Roy Campanella

I wish to improve my power, but not in a home run way. ~ Robinson Cano

There'll be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run. ~ Alvin Dark

I was always small. I was a leadoff hitter growing up, until I was 13 or 14 years old and had a little growth spurt and started hitting home runs. ~ Ryan Braun

Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles. ~ Steve Jobs

Finally learning his baseball history, on the topic of Hank Aaron and his home run record ~ Alfonso Soriano

Last night's homer was Stargell's 399th career home run, leaving him one shy of 500. ~ Jerry Coleman

It is unlikely that we will hit a home run anytime soon but if we are unable to get rid of offensive sports team nicknames, we will strike out. ~ Adam Dodek

I was away a lot on 'Countdown' when the children were young and I couldn't have done it without Mum's help. Because she was at home running all of that, I never had to worry about them. ~ Carol Vorderman

Do I want someone to get more hits than me? No. Do I want someone to hit more home runs than me? No. Do I want someone to have more RBI than me? No. I get a kick out of seeing the all-time leaders and my name's on top of every one, with the exception of strikeouts. I get a kick out of that. ~ George Brett

I don't think I'm a home run hitter. Most of my home runs are line drives. If I hit it, thanks God. But it's not the kind of thing that I think about. I just go out there and try to have a better season than I had before. Home runs are not in my mind. ~ Robinson Cano

Here's the thing about baseball-it's not the individual sport I thought it was. Turns out I was wrong about that.
Yeah, the batter is a lone man against the world. He stands in the batter's box like a soldier and it's up to him-and him alone-what happens next.
But here's the thing I didn't understand until I was forced to, until recently: In order to hit a home run ...
Someone else has to pitch the ball. ~ Barry Lyga

I never hit another home run. I struck out most of the time. But they always remembered that home run and while they still hated me, it was a better kind of hatred, like they weren't quite sure why. ~ Charles Bukowski

Babe Ruth was the home-run king of his time, but also the strikeout king. ~ Dan Millman

I'm mad at Hank Aaron for deciding to play one more season. I threw him his last home run and thought I'd be remembered forever. Now, I'll have to throw him another. ~ Bill Lee

The biggest takeaway for anyone seeking to write is this: don't go looking for the way other authors do their work. You won't find many who are consistent enough to copy, and there are enough variations in approach that it's obvious that it's not like hitting home runs or swinging a golf club. There isn't a standard approach, there's only what works for you (and what doesn't). ~ Seth Godin

After I'd hit a home run and took my position in the field, the fans in the bleachers began throwing packages of tobacco at me. I stuffed them in my pocket. ~ Hank Sauer

We're so bad right now that for us back-to-back home runs means one today and another one tomorrow. ~ Earl Weaver

People think of the greatest home run hitters of all time and think of Babe Ruth; they don't think about that Warren Spahn hit more than anybody. ~ Rollie Fingers

I'm always amazed when a pitcher becomes angry at a hitter for hitting a home run off him. When I strike out, I don't get angry at the pitcher, I get angry at myself. I would think that if a pitcher threw up a home run ball, he should be angry at himself. ~ Willie Stargell

George Bowering doesn't play fair. Baseball Love is so good there is no memoir in the league that can go up against it. Bowering has a sense of story and an eye for detail that eliminate the possibility that he was a lousy second baseman. Reading a home run is fun. ~ Robert Kroetsch

Why certainly I'd like to have that fellow who hits a home run every time at bat, who strikes out every opposing batter when he's pitching, who throws strikes to any base or the plate when he's playing outfield and who's always thinking about two innings ahead just what he'll do to baffle the other team. Any manager would want a guy like that playing for him. The only trouble is to get him to put down his cup of beer and come down out of the stands and do those things. ~ Danny Murtaugh

Trading is a waiting game. You sit, you wait, and you make a lot of money all at once. Profits come in bunches. The trick when going sideways between home runs is not to lose too much in between. ~ Michael Covel

I hit an inside-the-park home run! I beat it out! Can you believe that? ~ Babe Ruth

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. ~ Mickey Mantle

It was the kind of promise a father makes easily and sincerely, knowing at the same time that it will be impossible to keep. The truth of some promises is not as important as whether or not you can believe in them, with all your heart. A game of baseball can't really make a summer day last forever. A home run can't really heal all the broken places in our world, or in a single human heart. And there was no way that Mr. Feld could keep his promise never to leave Ethan again. All parents leave their children one day. ~ Michael Chabon

I'm seeing the ball well. I'm not trying for home runs. I'm trying to hit to right field more. When I do that, the home run comes. ~ Sammy Sosa

The home run became glorified with Babe Ruth. Starting with him, batters have been thinking in terms of how far they could hit the ball, not how often. ~ Rogers Hornsby

Even on home runs that I hit in the past, guys were like, 'Man, you need to slow down. You've got that one. ~ Curtis Granderson

I want to be a guy who produces runs, who drives in runs, who can beat you with a single or can beat you with a home run, who's just a tough out. ~ Lance Berkman

You can't judge a man by watching him live ... I personally watched Babe Ruth at bat three times, and he struck out every time. But at the very time that I was watching him strike out, the record said that he was the greatest home-run king who ever lived. ~ Sterling W. Sill

Hit a home run - put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is more - a lot more important than the name on the back. ~ Ryne Sandberg

[John H.] Sununu promised Republicans that the relatively obscure [David H.] Souter would be a 'home run for conservatives,' but this prediction could not have been more wrong. Souter ended up being one of the liberal members of the Court during the late 1990s and the 2000s, which prompted a 'no more Souters' mantra among conservatives. ~ Joan Biskupic

Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony-hushers, "Even if you are not ready for day it cannot always be night." You will be right. For that is the hard home-run. Live not for battles won. Live not for the-end-of-the-song. Live in the along. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma, cause it's GRAND SALAMI TIME! ~ Dave Niehaus

In 1961 somebody could've hit a home run to win the game and the next day the headline was about the M&M boys not hitting a home run. But everyone was real good about it. Instead of getting mad they joked about it. ~ Mickey Mantle

When you're going into a game, you're not expected to hit a home run every game. You're just doing everything proper with proper swings. ~ Frank Thomas

There is nothing better than walking out and hitting a home run. ~ Barry Bonds

Men love independent women because they leave them alone. They love chasing women who are busy. It gives them a thrill, as big as a touchdown or a home run. ~ Ellen Fein

There are two ways to approach the application process: trying to hit a home run by getting an immediate 'Yes, here's an offer' or trying not to be eliminated. I recommend the second approach. ~ Guy Kawasaki

It could be, it might be ... It is, A home run! ~ Harry Caray

Oscar Charleston was the Willie Mays of his day. Nobody ever played center field better than Willie Mays. Suppose they had never given Willie a chance, and we said that, would anybody believe there was a kid in Alabama who was that good? Or there was a black guy in Atlanta who might break Babe Ruth's home run record? No. ~ Monte Irvin

Nothing great happens when you hold back. ~ Scott Elrod

On-base percentage is great if you can score runs and do something with that on-base percentage. Clogging up the bases isn't that great to me. The problem we have to address more than anything is the home run problem. ~ Dusty Baker

Wake up! Become more aware and alive of what feeds YOUR soul without seeking permission from others. Many curve balls have been thrown. Don't hesitate - NOW is the time to hit a home run. ~ Charlena E. Jackson

When McGwire started the home run mania, attendance came back. The owners understood that the sudden spike in homers wasn't accidental. All baseball knew it. But baseball is run on money, and home runs meant money. Baseball turned a blind eye. ~ Gary Sheffield

Rick Miller hit only one home run last year, and that's like hitting none. ~ Jerry Coleman

An incredible advertising career is not about creating an incredibly amazing ad, it's about making an incredible amazing ad every single day of your career, it's about getting those adds killed, and resurrecting them over and over again. It's about your season average not that occasional home-run. ~ Lee Clow

I never thought home runs were all that exciting. I still think the triple is the most exciting thing in baseball. To me, a triple is like a guy taking the ball on his 1-yard line and running 99 yards for a touchdown. ~ Hank Aaron

My first postseason home run was a walk-off in the Division Series. That was just a special moment in my career. ~ Mark Teixeira

The farmer doesn't care for the pitchers' battle that resolves itself into a checkers game. The farmer loves the dramatic, and slugging is more dramatic than even the cleverest pitching. ~ Home Run Baker

We can change our brains, but it takes time and diligence, because the human brain has a built-in "negativity bias" whereby it stores and learns from negative experiences far more readily and lastingly than it stores and learns from positive ones. This is a natural survival strategy by which the body records danger signs for future reference. It is far more useful for an evolving creature to remember Hungry lions bite than to remember Flowers are pretty. Thus we are neurologically wired to remember more vividly and lastingly a bad experience - say, a public scolding - than to remember a good experience - say, hitting a home run - that occurred on the same day, even if both experiences carried exactly the same emotional intensity for us at the time. ~ Anneli Rufus

Good game," someone said, patting my shoulder.
"Thanks," I said, laughing.
Then I felt arms come around me and pull me close.
"Hey," Jason said, kissing my neck before parking his chin on my shoulder.
Smiling brightly, I turned around in his arms. "Great game."
"Thanks."
"You hit a home run," I said, like maybe he hadn't realized it.
"I know it seems odd, considering how long I've played baseball, but I've never hit one before," he said. "But I knew, I knew as soon as I felt the bat make contact with the ball, that it was going to go out of the park. I don't know if it sounded different or felt different, but I just knew."
"You did look stunned out there."
"I was. Like I said, I'd never done that before. I mean, hitting has never been my strength."
"It was tonight." I reached up and kissed his chin.
"I need to figure out what it was I did that made me hit the home run."
"You connected the bat to the ball."
"No, it was more than that. Something I did before the game, maybe--"
"No, no, no," I said, lifting myself up onto my toes so I could look directly into his eyes. "There was no thing you did other than keeping your eye on the ball and hitting at the precise moment when the impact would send the ball over the fence."
"I'm not so sure."
"Okay, you want to know what it was? It was having me for a girlfriend--"
He put his hand behind my head and kissed me to shut me up. Obviously, he didn't thi ~ Rachel Hawthorne

Traditionally, baseball punishes preening. In a society increasingly tolerant of exhibitionism, it is splendid when a hitter is knocked down because in his last at bat he lingered at the plate to admire his home run. ~ George Will

The desire to hit a big home run is dominating the music business. ~ Billy Corgan

Don't just hit a home run. Knock it out of the park. ~ A.D. Posey

That home run ties it up, 1-0. ~ Jerry Coleman

The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt! ~ Harry Kalas

Don't you think bases are too slow ? First base, second base, third base... Satisfying to get to, but slow. I'm more of a home run kinda guy." And suddenly, the husky tone of his voice and the glint in his eyes and the way he's trying not to grin all suddenly click together. [...] "Are you really talking about baseball here ?" [...] "If only. ~ Estelle Maskame

The first time I picked up a bat in a professional game, I hit a ball hard left-handed, and my first home run was so effortless, it surprised me. ~ Chili Davis

[W]hen Ben was kissing me, the whole world retreated. I felt things I'd never felt before, in places I never knew were connected.
But I was pretty sure that whatever was buzzing against my thigh was not normal. For one thing, it was ringing.
Ben dragged his mouth away from mine and mumbled a curse that was a little shocking and kind of hot.
"Ignore it," he said.
That was easy for him to say when his cell phone was rounding third base. If anyone got a home run tonight, I didn't want it to be Verizon Wireless. ~ Rosemary Clement-Moore

"It's me," whispered a familiar voice.
"Der - "
Thwack. He stumbled, Liz behind him, a sturdy branch raised.
"Liz, it's - "
She hit him again, a home-run swing between the shoulders, and he went down with an oomph and an oath. She recognized the voice - or the curse - and leaned over, getting a look at him.
(Liz) "Whoops."
(Simon) "I'd say he deserved that, always sneaking up on people." ~ Kelley Armstrong

batter hell-bent on hitting a home run. ~ Joey K.

Barry Bonds in the news. Yesterday Barry Bonds' agent said that Bonds could hit as many as 1,000 home runs. And the agent admitted he's on more drugs than Barry Bonds. ~ Conan O'Brien

I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run. ~ Babe Ruth

There was buried in Ruth humanitarianism beyond belief, an intelligence he was never given credit for, a childish desire to be over-virile, living up to credits given his home-run power - and yet a need for intimate affection and respect, and a feverish desire to play baseball, perform, act and live a life he didn't and couldn't take time to understand. ~ Waite Hoyt

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. ~ Frank Thomas

I would never do it because if I took steroids, I would hit 60 or 70 home runs. ~ Ryan Braun

I learned the hard way. When I started hitting home runs, I thought, I can hit these pitches. Then I started thinking, if I can do this, I can hit the pitch four inches outside or four inches up. I expanded the zone and got myself out. Pitchers are smart. If they find out they don't have to throw strikes, they won't. ~ Carlos Delgado

Imagine if you had baseball cards that showed all the performance stats for your people: batting averages, home runs, errors, ERAs, win/loss records. You could see what they did well and poorly and call on the right people to play the right positions in a very transparent way. ~ Ray Dalio

I have only one superstition. I touch all the bases when I hit a home run. -Babe Ruth ~ Babe Ruth

I was thinking (when he hit his 500th home run) about my mother and dad, about all the people in the Chicago Cubs organization that helped me and about the wonderful Chicago fans who have come out all these years to cheer me on. They've been a great inspiration to me. ~ Ernie Banks

Today, there are more opportunities for writers in terms of access to larger success, but it's more difficult to publish a literary novel in the lower ranges. In other words, you almost have to hit a home run. You can hit a triple, maybe, but nobody's interested in a single. ~ James Lee Burke

Traumatic events can be compared to facing a demon pitcher on the baseball diamond. Life tells us we have to take a swing at the ball, but engaging this demon comes with consequences. If you make first base, you'll feel the need to sleep. Not so bad. Second, you'll want to forget it all happened. Don't we all? But third base brings the onset of madness and if you step off the plate there's only death. In the great game of life, sometimes it's better to strike out than hit a home run. After all, you can relax in the Dugout with friends until you're ready to knock the demon out of the park."

Alexander Rollins, Keystrokes ~ Michael Gardner

Unfortunately, (the rumors) are going to be a part of it. But that's OK. I'm probably tested more than anybody else. I'm not hiding anything. That stuff didn't help me hit home runs. I don't care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball. ~ Jason Giambi

Ability is the art of getting credit for all the home runs somebody else hits. ~ Casey Stengel

I think it's important for anyone who is artistic to look back on their body of work and be critical. Maybe the Beatles can look back and say everything was perfect, but we've come up with hundreds and hundreds of dishes, and anyone who is honest with themselves has to realize that every single one wasn't an absolute, unequivocal home run. ~ Wylie Dufresne

Whenever I hit a home run, I make certain I touch all four bases. ~ Babe Ruth

It's much easier to remember the World Series heroics of Tony Pérez, Pete Rose, and Joe Morgan than it is to recall who set the table for Rose during Game 7 of the 1975 World Series vs. Boston. The Red Sox led 3-2 in the seventh when [Ken] Griffey drew a free pass. Not nearly as memorable as the home run Pérez hit against Bill Lee that made it a 3-2 ballgame, not nearly as memorable as the hit Rose got to tie the game, and for sure not as memorable as the hit Morgan got to win it in the ninth, but … it's a shame people forget Griffey stole second base with two outs to get into scoring position. ~ Tucker Elliot

It's cool to have a well run, comfortable and inviting home. ~ Anthea Turner