Quote

The only thing I do to my bat is put some tape around the handle to build it up a little bit because I broke my finger about six years ago and can't really close it the way I want to. Other than that, the same bat, same Louisville Sluggers.

Used to be bats had thick handles and a big barrel. Then they found it's not the size of the bat that gets home runs - it's the speed with which you can swing it.

Are you tall? Are you strong? How big are your hands? You must be honest with yourself or you will end up using the wrong bat.

It makes no difference to me what kind of bat I have. For instance, I often grab the first bat I come across when I go up to the plate. Muggsy McGraw uses a light stick and Jake Stenzel uses a heavy one, but I'm liable to take any one of the miscellaneous lot that falls in my way.

I cut up loads. I always want everything shorter, shorter, shorter.

I don't need to practice my swing. I grew up with a bat in my hands.

I had a rat-tail when I was younger. I had this nice Bobby Brown fade, with a rat-tail that was long enough to wrap around my face. I used to chew on the end and bite it.

When you bat, you need to have a lot of patience. I started training for it from the age of eight or nine. So, I knew what I needed when I stepped on the field to bat.

I never used to like how big my hands were because I hadn't grown into them yet.

The first time at age 5 and a half, when I took a racket in my hands and my father fed me some balls, I made 50 backhands in a row - didn't miss a single one.