David Cone
David Cone
David Brian Coneis an American former Major League Baseballpitcher, and current color commentator for the New York Yankees on the YES Network. A third round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals in 1981 MLB, he made his MLB debut in 1986. During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched until 2003 for five different teams. Cone batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth2 January 1963
CityKansas City, MO
CountryUnited States of America
We charted individual pitches by hand, so I had that data from game to game, but from year to year, I didn't really have that data, because a lot of times it was discarded.
We just kind of relied on written scouting reports through the eighties and even the early nineties. I've really been amazed by some of the data that's out there, especially with regards to tendencies of hitters, and certainly tendencies of pitchers as well. I would have loved to have gotten that data when I played.
At nighttime, you just try to keep him out of jail.
I was a professional baseball player from the time I was drafted out of high school in 1981 until the time I retired in 2003.
I love being out there on the mound with the ball in my hand. I can control the game. I'm out there. No clock - nothing happens until I throw that thing. Nothing happens. I love that feeling.
I like to think of the world's greatest athlete coming up to bat against me - Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, I don't care who it is - and I'm looking at him thinking, you have no chance.
I think the changeup has become more popular recently by pitchers like Pedro Martinez and the success he had with it.
I have far too many skeletons in my closet to think about any sort of serious mention of public office.
I think I rushed and I needed more time with my comeback. I needed more time to get my legs stronger to be able to handle the workload. You can only train for that by pitching innings. You can't simulate pitching off a mound in a game inside a weight room.
I can't remember a major league game where I could make eye contact with my dad. I kept wondering if he was going to yell at me for hanging a pitch or something.
A major league pitching coach is a really difficult job. It takes a big commitment in terms of time, travel and workload.
Im a finesse pitcher without the finesse.
We played hard and we partied hard. I'm not ashamed of that. I was no angel - I did some things I shouldn't have done, lived a lifestyle I shouldn't have lived. I had a blast at times; other times, I probably compromised my job, my duty to do my job, to be ready as a professional.
This is the place to be. Baseball town. The intimacy of Fenway, the toughness of it. I like that. I'm used to it. I need it. If I went somewhere else, it might have been a bit of a letdown. I like the edge.