Braden Looper
Braden Looper
Braden LaVerne Looperis a former Major League Baseball pitcher...
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth28 October 1974
CityWeatherford, OK
best describe rock running shoe
The best way to describe it, ... is you have a quarter-inch rock in your shoe and you're just running with it all the time. It's irritating. You feel like you can't do what you want to do.
blame definitely hold
You definitely get the blame because the game's won, ... I hold myself accountable.
falls regardless responsibility team ultimate
The ultimate responsibility falls on me. We have a lot better team this year, regardless of this streak. I don't know why this is happening.
last plate side test
All right in a row, too. That was a big test because I thought I could go to that other side of the plate (inside on lefties), which I wasn't able to do much of last season.
game great won
Glavine pitched a great game and he should have won it, ... I stunk.
came focus focused game ground guys kicking spring three
I get in a (Grapefruit League) game and I don't focus like I did today. It was spring training. When you're in a game, you're focused and it's like kicking it to a different level. I'll take three ground balls. That's what I told you guys when I came here.
almost blame exact
As a closer, you never like to get pulled. But it's the manager's call, and he almost made the exact right call. How could you blame him?
along bad ball base felt game ground hit kept needed spring themselves throw took work
You get to throw pitches. That's what I needed to do - get in a game. I've said all along that things will work themselves out. I know where I'll be. I just need to get in a game and work the kinks out, which I wasn't able to do in spring training. I felt good, kept the ball down and got ground balls. Even the base hit was a ground ball. It just hit a boulder and took a bad hop. I felt good.
ball career entire finish liked maybe needs role
I know my role is to get the ball to Izzy and that's fine. If he needs a day off, I can close. I always liked St. Louis. I didn't get to play my entire career there, but who knows, maybe I will finish it there.
ask bad days gotten habits hopefully last pitches repeated rid three
I feel like I'm making progress. And that's all you can ask for. ... I feel like right now, the last two or three days I've hopefully gotten rid of some bad habits and consistently repeated my delivery. If I can do that, my pitches are going to be down and I'm going to be successful.
ball felt focused game helped kept spring
It helped me just being in the game and it being not Spring Training. You're concentrating more, focused on what you're doing. I felt good, kept the ball down, which is what I want to do.
bad career expected finish hoped people pitch wish
I don't want to say I expected to finish my career here, but I hoped I was going to pitch here for a while, ... I wish I would have pitched better. I don't think I was as bad as some people said, but you go out and give it all you've got.