“Each new day has a different shape to it. You just roll with it.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When you’re hot, you try to ride it as long as you can.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Occasionally, you have to make adjustments and try different things.”
― Ben Zobrist
“There are times when your mind isn’t ready to go but your body is, and times when your body is ready to go but your mind isn’t. You try to get the two in sync as much as possible.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Anytime you put your mind on the results, you lose something in the moment.”
― Ben Zobrist
“The more I spend at one position, the more I can dive into those details.”
― Ben Zobrist
“There are different angles you have to work with as a hitter. Figuring out with my body what helps me get into those angles… is a constant discovery.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I had a chance to choose a couple different places and, well, I grew up – I was a small-town kid from Illinois, so No. 1, just trying to win a championship for my home state.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Half the time, I have trouble following our own pitcher’s sequence.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You just have to keep grinding.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I love second base.”
― Ben Zobrist
“It was like a heavyweight fight, man. Just blow for blow, everybody playing their heart out. The Indians never gave up either, and I can’t believe we’re finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We are perfect. According to God, we are perfect, yet we know that we are sinners. We believe in the fact that we are both saints and sinners at the same time as we live in this world.”
― Ben Zobrist
“My dad used to do it when we were little, and I tried it when we played around in the back yard. Eventually, I got a bat and a real ball and played around to see if I could hit left-handed.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m consistently making adjustments. You’re going to have to do that in the postseason, too.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Like anybody else that goes and does their job, there’s a way to do your job with excellence.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You want to represent Christ well with doing you job, first and foremost, because that’s what you’re there to do.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I never even thought about playing professionally. I didn’t think that was a possibility for a little kid from Illinois.”
― Ben Zobrist
“It really comes down to God opening the doors for me, and I’m trying to walk through them doing the best I can.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I didn’t ever realize that my ceiling would be this high, that I would be able to play at the major-league level. But here I am. I’ve been doing it for a while now, so it’s certainly a blast. It’s something that I want to cherish and make the most of.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I didn’t realize the ceiling that I had, and I don’t think a lot of players understand what they’re capable of. Some of them dream of what they’re capable of, but you don’t really understand until you get in the moment and you give it everything you got and see in the end where you can end up.”
― Ben Zobrist
“As a ballplayer, there is no Christian way to swing a bat. There is no Christian way to swing or throw.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You are either good or you’re not at whatever your job is. And it is more important that you understand the grace and love and peace you have in Christ, whether you are good or bad at whatever you are doing every day.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We are just so thankful that Christ does not measure us by what we do. God is not measuring us by that, He is measuring us by our faith in Christ.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We all need grace. We all need Christ.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I was so engrossed in my sport, I wasn’t thinking about the future from God’s standpoint. I was thinking about just my sporting future.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I hit my knees and I went to him with that and I said God I want to do what you want. I don’t want sports to be an idol in my life.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We know that as a Christian athlete, people are watching, and so we want to be the best example we can be and show that we are different – that Christ has changed our lives.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I still have a lot to learn about what the love of Christ is like – that it’s not just knowledge… but it’s allowing the truth to change you – allowing Christ’s message of grace and hope and love through the cross, that that message is the message that changes the way we look at everything in our lives.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You just go through highs and lows as an individual payer and as a team.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You just want the highs to start once the playoffs start.”
― Ben Zobrist
“My dad was a pastor, so we were in church all the time.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I knew all the right Bible answers and the Sunday school answers.”
― Ben Zobrist
“The most important thing is that we’re impacting people for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ… that’s why we’re here.”
― Ben Zobrist
“One-hundred years from now, nobody’s going to remember that I played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays – nobody!”
― Ben Zobrist
“The best things happen when you’re not overthinking it.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We need to just stay in the moment and stay in our routine.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I grew up in Illinois.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Knowing the opportunity to win a championship here in Chicago, right now, that’s the main motivation for me.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m just trying to create a working knowledge of my body. So it knows what to expect.”
― Ben Zobrist
“There have been nights I’ve stayed up late thinking about, ‘What’s wrong with my swing? What do I need to fix?’”
― Ben Zobrist
“Hitting is not an exact science.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We’ve got to do better at taking care of players and making sure the fans get the best of the players when they’re showcasing their abilities.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We’ve made a lot of strides over the years in making the game better for players to be able to stay healthy and showcase talent.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When the ball was hit, my first reaction as a shortstop was always go in the direction of the ball. You can’t do that at first base. You go too far in that direction, and it’s hard to scurry back and be ready to pick the throw.”
― Ben Zobrist
“If we just focus on stats, we’re gonna eventually not have them.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You have to catch the breaks.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You used to be taught to let the ball go as far as possible and then drop it on the runner, whereas now it might be even more advantageous to direct the ball in front of the bag and get the guy on the leg.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I didn’t think I’d be getting a contract at 34. That wasn’t in my mind.”
― Ben Zobrist
“A lot of times, if you stay in the present and focus on getting the most out of yourself today, then things work out the way they’re supposed to.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Outfield to infield is the most jarring because in the outfield, you have much more time to throw.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You want to be comfortable, but it’s also good to stay on your toes, especially in the midst of a long season.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When I move to second after playing right field, I feel like my action has gotten too deliberate, and I have to switch back into that quicker, boom-boom infield mode.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When you get moved around, it can be jarring, but it helps to fine-tune your focus in the middle of the season, when other guys are getting a little lackadaisical.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Wiffle ball was my first experience hitting left-handed.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m not the most powerful. I’m not the fastest. I don’t have the best arm. I don’t have any of that, but put it all together and do the little details well, and you’re going to be a very productive player.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m not the best athlete.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I was never the star of my team, not even in my small town.”
― Ben Zobrist
“There were always kids better than me. Because of that, I had to learn to be a role player and do my part.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’ve always loved the infield, because I came up as an infielder.”
― Ben Zobrist
“What I need as a player is just to get at-bats, I think.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Out in the field, I feel like I’m flexible enough to where I’m comfortable at different positions, wherever they want to put me.”
― Ben Zobrist
“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.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I did the utility thing at first out of necessity to find a place on the team.”
― Ben Zobrist
“In the minor leagues, previous to 2008, I took a lot of pitches. I prided myself on on-base percentage. I made sure that I made the pitcher work.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I was kind of a slap hitter, trying to get base hits, hit line drives, stay below a certain trajectory with my ball.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I have family and friends who are strong Cardinal fans, and they are having a tough time since I signed. They want to root for me, but rooting for the Cubs is next to a sin.”
― Ben Zobrist
“One of my best friends, James Miller, managed to find the only Cubs hat that is all red.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’ve been back to the Kansas City area a lot in the past. My sisters went to college in the area. My brother went to college in the area. I’ve got friends there, so there’s some ties to the area.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I played a lot of right field with Tampa.”
― Ben Zobrist
“For me, it’s not so much about picking the right position; it’s about the team.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We’ve got to win a championship and bring a World Series trophy back to Chicago.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I know what I need to do to prepare myself, and I try to do the best I can to take care of my body and prolong my peak years as a baseball player.”
― Ben Zobrist
“As I get older, I just need to continue to make sure I’m staying in peak shape and taking care of my body the best I can.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I just try to focus on one step at a time, what I have to do or what the team has to do to get here.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I just try to be the player I am.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You don’t get a chance to go to the playoffs and World Series very often, but to be able to experience it with the people you love most in the world is really fun.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m a manager’s player, in a way, because he can use me in a lot of different ways, and I’m willing to do that.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I spent so many years shuffled around. I’m used to it and can deal with it.”
― Ben Zobrist
“My favorite day is relaxing at home with family and friends.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When I’m at the plate, I’m not thinking about what I’m trying to do with the bat – I’m thinking about what the pitcher is trying to do with the ball.”
― Ben Zobrist
“If you’re free of mechanical thoughts and free of knowing that your body and bat are going to be in the right position at the right time, you can freely focus on the ball. It’s a great feeling.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I can’t take 200 hacks in the cage before the game. Not because I’ll get tired, but because I’ll hurt myself! I can’t do that. I might get injured.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I felt like in Tampa Bay a lot of people thought we were overachieving.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You’re not going to hit a bunch of three-run homers every game.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I’m not a cleanup hitter. I’m just batting fourth.”
― Ben Zobrist
“Sometimes, you just feel like you’re just surviving for parts of the season.”
― Ben Zobrist
“The one thing is the more I play second base, the more I can work on the intricate movements of that position.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I am a student of the game.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I want to try and get better in every facet of the game.”
― Ben Zobrist
“It’s important to set a tone and get some momentum.”
― Ben Zobrist
“At the end of the day, you can’t control the results; you can only control your effort level and your focus.”
― Ben Zobrist
“We don’t even think about it out there. We just focus on doing our job. The ball is the same baseball, the game is the same game. We’re going to just keep trying to do our jobs.”
― Ben Zobrist
“When I left Tampa Bay, I felt like if my career ended at that point, I’d be okay.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I love baseball history, and Wrigley Field is as good as it gets when it comes to that.”
― Ben Zobrist
“You just keep working and try to have quality at-bats.”
― Ben Zobrist
“I can tell there are times when my body’s getting tired and I just need to take a day here or there and make sure I’m healthy.”
― Ben Zobrist
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