Dusty Baker Hit Quotations

I would say he's not where he was last year at this time, yet. Sometimes you have to hit with your mind. I'm sure he can do it.

I didn't have any choice because I had a short bullpen. If we tied the game up, and I'm out of pitchers, where I have to hit for them -- I only have five guys. That's why I double-switched, to get the most innings out of the guys pitching without running out of pitchers and running out of position players.

I don't walk across the street thinking I'm going to get hit by a car,

He's a ballplayer. These are things a ballplayer does -- they run the bases well, they hit well, they throw, they throw to the right base, they steal a base. I think we're very fortunate to get such a talent at such a low price.

He will hit a home run, ... That will be 704.

He's got the legs (to be a power hitter). We know he can hit the ball to right field, he's got a good eye for the strike zone and he can run and he's making fine progress for a young man who came out of Double-A.

He's going to get better. It's a big jump from Double-A to the big leagues. He's hit everywhere he's been. If you've hit everywhere you've been, you should hit where you're going.

What do I want to find out for? ... I know already. I'd be foolish to try to find out at this point, right? I mean, this guy is going to hit until he can't even walk.

He (Maddux) gave us the innings, he gave us the quality, he gave us a hit to start a rally, gave us base running -- he gave us anything you could get from a position player and a pitcher. We needed it badly.

He is making progress. He hit on the field so that's a big improvement right there, so will keep our fingers crossed.

He expects the ball to be hit back to him and he gets in good position. He reminds me of a guy I used to play with, Fernando Valenzuela . They expect the ball to be hit back at them and they practice it. Perfect practice makes perfect results.

He got beat up pretty good today. They hit some balls hard. He was around the plate, throwing strikes. I just hope he's all right.

It got a little hairy there when we had a 3-0 lead and Delgado hit that home run. But that was the only mistake Zambrano made.

I was pulling for him to get one more hit to get to 200. It's even more for him to shoot for next year.

We're not taking anything away from the young guys, but early spring is for the young. I said the other day, the young hit fastballs now, but they hit two breaking balls out. Those weren't quality breaking balls, but you've got to hit those if you are going to hit. I've got to give them some props for not missing them.

Usually, if he makes a mistake, they don't hit him out of the ballpark with that sinker, ... He made a mistake; that's what happens with youth. We have a young pitching staff and a young bullpen that's subject sometimes to walks and also subject to mistakes.

When we hit it hard, it was right at somebody,

When we hit it hard, it was right at somebody. He (Lowe) got strike one low and away. He had good stuff today.

They say come to the ballpark and you'll see something you haven't seen before. I haven't seen that before, you hit a guy in the helmet on the double-play ball.

They say you come to the ballpark and you'll see something you haven't seen, and I haven't seen that before when you hit the guy on the helmet with a double-play ball. They get a run out of that and another run on the two-out base hit.

You still have to have the punch to hit a three-run homer when you need it.

I like his approach. Anybody who can hit the ball up the middle and to the opposite field is going to hit. He'll learn how to hit with power. If he can hit balls to right field, he has power.

If you don't see them, you're not going to learn how to hit them.

It's possible. I was there in L.A. and I was booed by 50,000 people every day. The next year, I hit 30 home runs and I made the Dodgers All-Time team. Performance changes everything. I've been on both sides.

I'll use the DH as long as I can until the end of spring, when the pitchers will be going far enough to hit. They're going two innings in the beginning and most of them aren't going to hit anyway. Once they get going four, five innings, I'll start using the pitchers. Initially, I'll try to DH whenever I can to get guys at-bats.

He's strong. He's going to love Wrigley Field. He has tremendous sock to left field and to left-center. He doesn't hit the ball up in the air. He keeps it relatively low. The ball jumps off his bat. So far I like his swing. He can hit that fastball, which is where it starts.

They hit some balls on the nose. The elements were with us tonight. This is sort of strange. You think spring is here, then winter shows back up again, I guess that is Chicago; you've just got to deal with it.

They'll have to get some concentrated at-bats. Every year, I send guys who I don't think are ready down to the Minor Leagues to hit at the top and bottom of the order so they get nine to 18 at-bats at a time. When they get back, I'll find out exactly how much they played. In the case of a catcher, you have to get his legs ready squatting up and down in a game, too. We'll do whatever we can to get them ready.

The guy can pitch, but we had an opportunity to beat him today, just like we had an opportunity to beat him in St. Louis and he gets off the hook. He wasn't sharp early, he hung some breaking balls we hit hard, but we didn't find any holes.

The easiest time to hit is when you first get there because nobody knows you. After that, you've got to make adjustments. Once you get around the league, 'You don't like this, you don't like that. You chase this ball.' That's when it becomes interesting once people have a book on you.

You don't want him to get hit on the wrist or elbow.

They're avoiding him because he can hit you out of the ballpark. It doesn't have to do with anything but that. That's it. I don't believe any manager would let personal feelings - no matter how they feel - get in the way. They're trying to win games.