"Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss"
About this Quote
The intent is psychological warfare disguised as hospitality. By phrasing it as a question, Dean forces the hitter to imagine failure before the pitch is even thrown. That’s the subtext: I control the pace, the terms, and your self-belief. Baseball thrives on fractions of an inch and the tremor of doubt; Dean is trying to plant doubt like a splinter under the fingernail. It also telegraphs showmanship. Dean, a celebrated talker in an era when sports mythmaking traveled by newspaper and radio, understood that dominance isn’t only measured in strikeouts. It’s measured in story.
Context matters: this is the swagger of pre-free-agency, pre-sports-science baseball, when personality was part of the arsenal and intimidation was practically a skill position. Dean’s bravado reads today like vintage trash talk, but it’s also an old-school thesis on competition: if you can make your opponent participate in your confidence, you’ve already stolen a strike.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Dean, Dizzy. (2026, January 15). Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/son-what-kind-of-pitch-would-you-like-to-miss-147702/
Chicago Style
Dean, Dizzy. "Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/son-what-kind-of-pitch-would-you-like-to-miss-147702/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/son-what-kind-of-pitch-would-you-like-to-miss-147702/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
