Of all the prospects Pittsburgh received in its 2009 fire sale, possibly the most alluring was 25-year-old right-hander Charlie Morton.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Morton came armed with a knee-buckling curve, a swooping slider, and a darting fastball that blazed past hitters at 95 miles-per-hour.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0He dominated Triple-A in 2008 and 2009.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Word was he was the ideal pitcher except for one little thing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he lacked confidence.<\/p>\n
Actually, though, confidence is no little thing at all.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0University of Washington professor Ronald Smith, who has consulted for the Houston Astros, believes a ballplayer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s psychological profile is just as important as his physical tools in determining his ultimate success \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and this is especially true for pitchers.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s research suggests mental outlook is more strongly correlated with pitching performance than IQ is with a student\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grades in college.<\/p>\n
Since the trade, Morton is 6-14 with an ERA of 5.74.<\/p>\n
Neuroscientists estimate between 95 and 99 percent of human thought is unconscious.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what makes those doubting voices deep inside our heads so insidious; they can whisper very, very quietly. \u00c2\u00a0In fact, it is not always easy to know whether you lack confidence.\u00c2\u00a0 Once you know it, it can be exceedingly difficult to discover the root of the problem.\u00c2\u00a0 After you discover the root of the problem, then comes the arduous task of re-shaping well-worn patterns of negative thinking.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 People spend years in psychotherapy seeking shelter from their insecurities.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of them never really get anywhere.<\/p>\n
By comparison, a lot of physical problems are no sweat.\u00c2\u00a0 Bad shoulder?\u00c2\u00a0 Dr. Andrews can clean that up.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Need a few more miles per hour on your fastball?\u00c2\u00a0 Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s try a different arm slot.\u00c2\u00a0 Out of shape?\u00c2\u00a0 Put down the Sam Adams, push back from the table, and hit the weights.\u00c2\u00a0 These are concrete problems with proven solutions.\u00c2\u00a0 A man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind is much murkier, densely-forested territory, with switchbacks all around and creepy goblins lurking in the darkness.<\/p>\n
In his 2007 book The Psychology of Baseball<\/em>, Mike Stadler contrasts two New York Mets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 prospects from the 1980s, Billy Beane and Darryl Strawberry.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite remarkably similar skill sets and pedigrees, their professional careers unfolded very differently, largely because of the unconscious mental frameworks that structured each man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thinking.<\/p>\n Strawberry saw himself almost like a predator.\u00c2\u00a0 With a bat in his hands, he believed he was in total control of his own fate and that of the opposing pitcher.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0He simply knew<\/em> he was a great hitter. \u00c2\u00a0It was a plain, incontrovertible fact, no different than knowing birds fly or that two plus two equals four.\u00c2\u00a0 Strawberry had other demons that eventually flatlined his career, but confidence at the plate was not an issue.<\/p>\n Conversely, Beane perceived himself as prey.\u00c2\u00a0 The batter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s box was a trap, a place where he felt under siege, helpless, and at the mercy of forces beyond his control.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Beane was aware, at a rational level, that he was a gifted hitter fully capable of succeeding in the majors.\u00c2\u00a0 But deep down he never bought it, and his career came to almost nothing.<\/p>\n Most of us remain woefully uninformed about the mechanics of the mind.\u00c2\u00a0 We all like to believe we are rational actors, like Mister Spock, making coldly logical judgments and decisions based solely upon the facts in front of us.\u00c2\u00a0 We are only dimly aware of the kaleidoscope of emotions that is constantly coloring our thoughts and affecting our behavior.\u00c2\u00a0 When a talent like Billy Beane is on the skids, it is natural to assume his self-assurance will come roaring back if he can just string together a few hits.\u00c2\u00a0 Or surely if he studies enough video, or if he tweaks his batting stance, or if someone finds the right words of encouragement, the light will flicker on like magic.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes that is exactly what happens, but for other players it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that simple.<\/p>\n Pirates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pitching coach Joe Kerrigan has encouraged Morton to concentrate on repeating his delivery and ordered him to stop throwing his sinker ball.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Kerrigan could be on to something. \u00c2\u00a0He is a highly respected coach who knows his business.\u00c2\u00a0 But it also is possible that Charlie Morton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confidence in his sinker is irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 The real problem might be Charlie Morton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confidence in Charlie Morton.\u00c2\u00a0 If so, then Kerrigan is just rotating the tires on a car with a blown engine.<\/p>\n Although our deepest thoughts defy radar guns, stopwatches, and all the standard tools of player evaluation, they are not completely beyond our grasp.\u00c2\u00a0 More and more major league teams rely on quantitative testing to mine the minds of the young men on their draft boards. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0However, these kinds of questionnaires, while better than nothing, contain inherent flaws in that they require our conscious brains to explain our unconscious thoughts.\u00c2\u00a0 Although we can provide answers, those answers are not necessarily truths.<\/p>\n An alternative or complement to quantitative surveys would be a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews that emphasize psychological projection techniques and a painstaking analysis of the metaphors players employ to describe their performance and themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 Linguists know the metaphors we use casually in our everyday speech can reveal the secrets of how we think \u00e2\u20ac\u201c secrets we probably don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know ourselves.<\/p>\n The Pirates thought Morton was a good risk, and, of course, he might eventually prove them right.\u00c2\u00a0 Without knowing the man, it is a fool\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s errand to try to get inside his head.\u00c2\u00a0 But if Morton really is battling profound self-doubt, as some baseball people have suggested, then his tantalizing potential may well remain unfulfilled.<\/p>\n Most general managers would reflexively recoil at the thought of acquiring a young pitcher with chronic elbow trouble or a centerfield prospect who is gimping around on a torn ACL.\u00c2\u00a0 They should be no less alarmed about the subtle mental miseries that can grind the most promising prospect into mush.<\/p>\n James Forr is the 2005 winner of the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award and co-author of<\/em> Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography, released in January 2010.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of all the prospects Pittsburgh received in its 2009 fire sale, possibly the most alluring was 25-year-old right-hander Charlie Morton.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Morton came armed with a knee-buckling curve, a swooping slider, and a darting fastball that blazed past hitters at 95 miles-per-hour.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0He dominated Triple-A in 2008 and 2009.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Word was he was the ideal pitcher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7074,417,7081,7068,1195,244,7065,621,7069,7076,3215,7079,7083,7071,7080,7073,7066,1919,7070,7075,7072,7082,1821,7067,7077,7078,7064],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-arduous-task","tag-billy-beane","tag-charlie-morton","tag-concrete-problems","tag-confidence","tag-darryl-strawberry","tag-dr-andrews","tag-fastball","tag-few-more-miles","tag-fire-sale","tag-houston-astros","tag-insecurities","tag-joe-kerrigan","tag-mental-outlook","tag-miles-per-hour","tag-negative-thinking","tag-physical-tools","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-professor-ronald","tag-proven-solutions","tag-psychological-profile","tag-psychology","tag-right-hander","tag-ronald-smith","tag-sam-adams","tag-ultimate-success","tag-washington-professor"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t