Mentally Sound

Having success in a sport usually depends on how big or tall the person is, how strong they are, how fast they are, and the level of hand-eye coordination that they have. In baseball, it is a totally different story. As Yogi Berra said,

“Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical”.

To be successful in baseball, as a pitcher, catcher, hitter, or even a fielder, the players have to be mentally trained aside from being physically fit.

Many people say that baseball is foolish and simpleminded because it is such a slow moving game. Those people are the ones that truly don’t appreciate the game. What they don’t understand is, at every second of every inning, there is something that each player on the field should be thinking about and planning for. Many spectators and even players don’t know this, but the part of a player’s body that needs to be the sharpest, is their brain. Along with their abdominals and legs of course.

Pitchers are required to have control with their pitches, power behind their pitches, and pin-point accuracy with their decisions of which pitches to throw. Many pitchers can throw a few different kinds of pitches. For example there is the fastball, which usually just travels straight the whole time. Then there is the curveball which drops at the last second. Another popular one is the slider, which veers off to either the right of left right before it reaches the batter. Certain teams have their pitchers pick which of these pitches to throw, others have coaches call the pitches, and other teams even have their catchers call the pitches. If the pitchers have to call their own pitches, they always have to be thinking. One wrong call of a placement of a pitch could be a game-changer. Pitchers hold the fate of a game in their hands, physically and theoretically.

Have you ever heard the saying that “The catcher is the director of the game”? Well this is 100% true. The point of view from the catcher position is perfect to analyze and alter the positions of the other players on the field. If it is a left handed hitter, the catcher will call for a shift of the outfield and have each outfielder take a few steps to their right. If he thinks the batter is going to bunt, then he will call out a previously determined code word so that the fielders can be aware. For example, my team’s code word is the number “51!”. If the catcher thinks a base runner is going to steal, he will let the fielders know, and tell either the shortstop or second basemen to cover the bag in case he throws the ball in an attempt to get the runner out. As you can tell by now, the catcher has to be thinking and communicating constantly to be an efficient and successful catcher.

Many people may not think so, but every fielder has to be thinking before every pitch just as much as the pitcher or catcher. Players playing in the infield have to know what they are going to do in every situation. They have to know which bag to cover if there is a bunt. They have to know how many outs there are and how many people are on base. Also, they have to know where to position themselves depending on how fast of a runner the batter is, and which side of the plate he is hitting from. In present day, an example of a player that does all of these fundamentals perfectly is Dustin Pedroia. He is the second basemen for the Boston Red Sox. He is only 5’9’’ and 165 pounds! He is an amazing player because he is always mentally prepared and focused. Outfielders also need to be on the top of their mental game. Players playing in the outfield have to know how deep to stand depending on how much power the hitter has. They also need to know how many outs there are and how many people are on base to know where to throw the ball if it gets hit to them. Fielding may look easy,, but it is actually complicated and mentally tiring.

Hitting is tricky in the aspect of being mentally sound. Most coaches tell players to clear their mind when they are hitting. There are a select few that say players should be thinking critically in an attempt to try to get inside the head of the pitcher. In my opinion, each player should try to find a happy medium. Hitters should be thinking of what types of pitches they could possibly see before each pitch. While they are in the batters box though, they should clear their mind and just focus on their hitting mechanics. This requires some thinking, but it is more muscle memory than anything else. Most of the thinking for the process of hitting the ball should happen before players actually step foot in the batters box.

Baseball is definitely a sport where the players need to be strong and athletic, but that is not the most important part. If they know where to be in every situation, that is the best advantage they can have.  It is better than being super fast, having a great arm, or being able to hit home runs.

One reason that I love baseball so much is because I can relate it to life. Even though I may not be the physically best at what I do in many things, I can usually succeed by using my intuition and strength of my mind. Baseball is the same way. Baseball is one of the hardest things to succeed at physically and mentally. That is what makes the challenging game of baseball so interesting and enjoyable.