If you want to steal a base, steal a base. Don't make the hitter swing at a bad pitch trying to protect the runner.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Stealing bases is just something I like to do. I figure if I can hit home runs and steal bases, I'd be different than everybody else.
Well, stealing bases adds some runs but very few, and you lose most of the runs that you gain by having runners caught stealing.
In my own case I have frequently faced the pitcher when I had no desire whatever to hit. I wanted to get a base on balls.
I might have a great game hitting, but if I'm not having a great game fielding, if I feel like I let a guy get an extra base that I could have stopped, that's something I've got to do better, got to get better at.
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.
If you can get an out on one pitch, take it. Let the strikeouts come on the outstanding pitches. Winning is the big thing. If you throw a lot of pitches, before you know it, your arm is gone.
There are only so many pitches in this old arm, and I don't believe in wasting them throwing to first base.
My pitching philosophy is simple - keep the ball way from the bat.
Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move.
Stealing home is one of the most sensational plays in baseball. If the run thus scored is the winning tally, the play is, of course, all the more thrilling. It is a play that requires a lot of quick thinking to bring about a successful completion. The chap who has slow moving feet and a slower moving brain had better never try to steal home.
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