"Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest"
About this Quote
Coming from Ted Williams, this isn’t empty bravado. He was the archetype of the hitter as myth: the last .400 season, the obsessive technician, the guy who treated batting like engineering. He’s also speaking from an era when baseball was hardening into mass entertainment, when radio and television helped lock in a simple visual hierarchy: the ball in play, the bat as spectacle, the hitter as the face fans can memorize. Pitching is art, defense is craft, baserunning is friction. Hitting is a moment you can sell.
The subtext has an edge: if fans, owners, and media are going to make hitters the center of attention, then hitters should stop pretending their dominance is just “team-first” humility. Williams is blunt about the incentives because he’s arguing for honesty. Baseball’s values are partly competitive, partly commercial, and the batter stands where those two meet.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Williams, Ted. (2026, January 15). Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/hitting-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-game-it-156087/
Chicago Style
Williams, Ted. "Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/hitting-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-game-it-156087/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Hitting is the most important part of the game. It is where the big money is, where much of the status is, and the fan interest." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/hitting-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-game-it-156087/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.



