“Swing hard, in case you hit it”

“Swing hard in case you hit it” is the advice a baseball batter sometimes gets, especially against a hard-throwing pitcher. “Just swing, that’s my philosophy,” Baltimore Orioles slugger Boog Powell said in 1967. “But swing hard in case you hit it.” In 1970, Powell said that he had received this hitting philosophy from former infielder Woodie Held.
 
American former football player Dan Marino is frequently quoted for applying the philosophy of “swing hard in case you hit it” to his golf game.
 
 
Google News Archive
16 May 1967, Kentucky New Era (Hopkinsville, KY), “Game features 10 home runs” by Ed Schuyler Jr. (AP), pg. 18, col. 6:
Boog Powell is building up a reputation as a philosopher.
 
“Just swing, that’s my philosophy,” the Baltimore first basemen said Wednesday night. “But swing hard in case you hit it.”

Google News Archive
11 November 1970, “Orioles’ Powell Excited As He Is Named Most Valuable” by Hubert Mizell (AP), pg. 12, col. 4:
(Boog—ed.) Powell said he got his hitting philosophy from former infielder Woodie Held who said, “Swing hard in case you hit it.”
 
Google News Archive
23 October 1975, Bangor (ME) Daily News,  “Fisk doubled efforts to touch all four bases” (N.Y. Times News Service), pg. 12:
“I never swing for a home run. But we were always taught to swing hard in case you hit it. And that’s what I did on that swing.”
(Boston Red Sox player Carlton Fisk.—ed.)
 
Google Books
The Greatest Golf Shot Ever Made:
And Other Lively and Entertaining Tales from the Lore and History of Golf
By Kevin Nelson
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
1992
Pg. 159:
Dan Marino of the Dolphins has expressed his golf philosophy thuslv: “Swing hard in case you hit it,” and Jim McMahon, the former bad- bov quarterback for the Bears, likes to play in his bare feet.
 
Google Books
The Louisville Slugger Complete Book of Pitching
By Doug Myers and Mark Gola
Lincolnwood, IL: Contempoarary Books
2000
Pg. 202:
Todd Hundley was once asked about facing Randy Johnson: “Close your eyes and swing hard in case you hit it. With hard throwers, they supply the power for you.”
 
Twitter
GolfThere
‏@GolfThere
Golf Quote:  Swing hard in case you hit it. ~ Dan Marino   Monthly Specials are out and hot!  http://tr.im/golfspecials
4:00 PM - 13 Oct 2009
 
Twitter
Taylor Ostrich † ⚾
‏@TaylorOstrich15
@Swingn4theFence close ur eyes and swing hard in case you hit it haha
12:42 PM - 11 Jun 2015
 
Sports Illustrated Kids
Baseball, Dad, and Me
Kid Reporter Maxwell Surprenant June 18, 2015, 12:42 PM
(...)
“How did you do it, Dad?” I asked. He answered with an old joke: “Swing hard in case you hit it.”