pitching is one of those business skills that depends heavily on the method you use and not how hard you try. Better method, more money. Much better method, much more money.

Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game

In pitching, control is the main thing—one thing you've got to have. Few pitchers have it. In batting, it is timing—waiting on the ball, not hurrying the swing—just as it is in golf. Most hitters in baseball swing too quickly. They can't wait on the pitch. Old Joe Jackson could wait. So could Speaker and Cobb

Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back

never let the fear of striking out from swinging in the batters box

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game

Preparation is very important. The pitcher is going to do his job and prepare for you so you as a hitter must do the same. I always watch videotape of pitchers before the game and even sometimes during.

Nowadays, when a pitcher gets a ball close to the hitter, the hitter comes back to the bench and says: "You know, I think he's throwing at me." That shows you how times have changed. When I broke in, you knew damned well they were throwing at you.

I'm afraid that someday I'll kill some pitcher. It is one thing I've always dreaded. My heart stood still in that game in Detroit when I almost got Ehmke with that drive through the box. I thought for a certainty that the ball would hit him before he got his hands up to protect himself. A couple of pitchers have asked me not to hit the ball back at them, and I always try not to. Why should I try to hurt any ball players? We are all out there trying to make a living, and no man worthwhile would deliberately try to injure another.

In the first inning, there is always something wrong. I hit somebody, I walk somebody, there's a blooper. But that's part of the game. You have to be able to control yourself and make good pitches to get yourself out of trouble.

A good pitch is set up in three acts: The first act is the past, the second act is the present, and the third act is the future. The first act is where you’ve been — what you want, how you came to want it, and what you’ve done so far to get it. The second act is where you are now in your work and how you’ve worked hard and used up most of your resources. The third act is where you’re going, and how exactly the person you’re pitching can help you get there.

Do not try to guess how fast or slow a pitch will be. Just let the ball arrive at its own pace, and be there to greet it

I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.

I'll never know. I've never been in a fight. But I doubt whether pitching speed would have any significance. You can't go into a windup in the ring.