“A guy that throws what he intends to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher.”
As quoted in 22 Success Lessons from Baseball (2003) by Ron White, p. 43
Sandy Koufax:
13
quotes
0
likes
Famous Sandy Koufax Quotes
“Pitching is the art of instilling fear.”
As quoted in Involvements : One Journalist's Place in the World (1984) by Colman McCarthy, p. 243
“Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser.”
Source: As quoted in "One Hard Way to Make a Living" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1981/05/04/one-hard-way-to-make-a-living by Roger Angell, in The New Yorker (May 4, 1981), p. 96; reprinted in Late Innings (1982) by Roger Angell, p. 358
As quoted in "Koufax Still a Champion" by Les Biederman, in The Pittsburgh Press (May 8, 1967)
As quoted in "Koufax" https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/03/21/koufax/3139f66f-996a-485f-8cce-8f7671152136/?utm_term=.174cfc71ede2) by Thomas Boswell, in The Washington Post (March 21, 1979)
As quoted in Total Baseball : The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball (2001) by John Thorn, p. 2468
Context: In the end it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win — if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last.
Sandy Koufax Quotes
1966 press conference announcing retirement, as quoted by UPI, in "Sandy Koufax Announces Retirement from Baseball at News Meeting" https://newspaperarchive.com/pittsfield-berkshire-eagle-nov-19-1966-p-30/ by Alex Kahn (UPI), in The Pittsfield Berkshire Eagle (November 19, 1966)
Context: I don't regret one minute of the twelve years I've spent in baseball, but I could regret one season too many. [... ] I've got a lot of years to live after baseball and I would like to live them with complete use of my body.
Excerpts from 1966 press conference, in Baseball: 8th Inning – A Whole New Ballgame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ouIk6RvUl8 (1994) by Ken Burns, Geoffrey C. Ward
Context: I don’t know if cortisone is good for you or not. But to take a shot every other ball game is more than I wanted to do and to walk around with a constant upset stomach because of the pills and to be high half the time during a ball game because you’re taking painkillers … I don’t want to have to do that [... ] I don't regret one minute of the last 12 years but I think I would regret the one year that was too many.
“The only time I really try for a strikeout is when I'm in a jam.”
As quoted by Jack Orr in My Greatest Day in Baseball, and Baseball's Greatest Quotations : An Illustrated Treasury (2008) by Paul Dickson, p. 302
Context: The only time I really try for a strikeout is when I'm in a jam. If the bases are loaded with none out, for example, then I'll go for a strikeout. But most of the time I try to throw to spots. I try to get them to pop up or ground out. On a strikeout I might have to throw five or six pitches, sometimes more if there are foul-offs. That tires me. So I just try to get outs. That's what counts — outs. You win with outs, not strikeouts.
“You've got to be lucky to pitch a no-hitter, and if you have good stuff, it's easier to be lucky.”
Speaking on July 1, 1990, at Chavez Ravine, in reference to a no-hitter thrown there just two days before by the Dodgers' Fernando Valuenzela (and, coincidentally, just hours before the Yankees' Andy Hawkins would, thanks to three 8th-inning Bomber miscues, famously record a 4-0, complete-game loss to Chicago, despite giving up no hits ); as quoted in "Notes on a Scorecard" https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-02-sp-474-story.html by Allan Malamud, in The Los Angeles Times (July 2, 1990)
As quoted in "Stuart's Problem; Suppose Sandy Had Become a Boxer" by Sid Ziff, in The Los Angeles Times (July 7, 1966)
“People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball.”
As quoted in "Sandy Began Slowly and Then Got Worse; At Tired Arm Stage" by Charles Maher, in The Los Angeles Times (April 14, 1966)
As quote in "Quote... : Father knows best; Soviet hindsight; Life in the NBA: Koufax strategy," The Christian Science Monitor (June 24, 1976), p. 11
