Dealing with the Grind

[Brett]

I wanted to open with a thread dedicated to all questions of how to deal with the grind of playing pro ball.

Unlike any other level of baseball, you play pretty much every day from March to September. Imagine getting only 2 or 3 off days a month and playing in the hottest, most humid time of year.

Don't get me wrong, playing baseball for money is great, but it is a grind unlike any other. I like to think of it as slow motion breakdown of your body. Is it as hard on you as football? No, but playing every day makes you confront new challenges mentally and physically that if dealt with correctly, will give you an advantage.

Some of the challenges include, but are not limited to:

-Long bus rides
-Eating right
-Dealing with slumps
-Managing aches and pains

I would be more than happy to answer any questions from readers on these subjects or any that you can think of.

I'm not sure if he has been here in a while, but HiddenGem would be a great reference for this as well.

[cosmo34]

Great thread. I'll lay low and let the real professionals contribute.

What would you say is the single most important thing to being able to withstand the grind? Mental toughness, physical conditioning, mental capacity to think ahead and forget past bad plays/AB's?

[Brett]

Aug 5, 2009 12:22:12 GMT -8 cosmo34 said:

Great thread. I'll lay low and let the real professionals contribute.

What would you say is the single most important thing to being able to withstand the grind? Mental toughness, physical conditioning, mental capacity to think ahead and forget past bad plays/AB's?

Wow, great questions, and obviously tough to answer.

If I had to pick one, it would be mental toughness. I would call having the mental capacity to think ahead and forget your past failures an aspect of mental toughness as well.

As far as physical conditioning goes, my assumption is that if you are getting paid to play at the professional level you will make sure you are in shape.

Pro baseball will attack every level of mental toughness you think you have. We always hear that it is a game of failure, and never is it more apparent than in pro ball. The key, which is so much easier said than done, is learning how to deal with those failures and use them to your advantage.

There will be days where you have had a 10 hour, all night bus ride followed by 4 hours of sleep, lunch, then a game. I always liked to call these 'Monster Days,' because I would get a Monster energy drink before the game. Anyway, you are tired, sore from sitting on a bus, its 103 degrees with 100% humidity, and you have to face a stud with a 95mph heater and a 12-6 hammer. You better be mentally tough or will have no shot.

To me having mental toughness is not letting all of those factors build up excuses to lean on if you fail. If you start practicing that you will not last long. You have to find a way to focus and lock in even when you don't feel 100% (which is pretty much every day).

I just watched E:60 on ESPN last night where they had a great piece on Evan Longoria. He has worked a lot with Ken Ravizza, a professor at Cal State Fullerton who has been working with baseball players on the mental game for years. Basically Longoria would not be the player he is today without him because he has been able to develop a mental game beyond his years.

The funny thing about that is I watch that story then turn on Sportscenter last night to see what Longoria did:

• 3 k's vs. Lester and a dropped foul pop up early in the game
  
• 8th inning bomb to tie it at 2-2
  
• 13th inning walk-off bomb
  

I thought it was a perfect example of his mental toughness. He was awful early in the game, but was able to push that aside so he could be in the moment and locked in when the game was on the line. Impressive stuff.

If you can view every mistake and/or failure as a learning experience I feel you will improve your mental toughness exponentially. IMO it builds a confidence in that you know you will fail, but you are not worried about it. Those who are worried about it will fail more often and having a shorter shelf life in pro ball.

Great question again, and I hope I didn't ramble too much there...

[cosmo34]

Any and all words are good. Very nice.

I found it extremely ironic that they did that E60 piece, and then Longo has the ultimate feast or famine game. Gotta be very clear mentally and tough to block all the K's out to come through like that.

[cosmo34]

IMO, one great/terrible thing about playing games day after day after day, is that when you are locked in and it seems like all you see is beachballs with an 8 inch dot in the middle saying "hit here", you can stay hot and locked in for a very long time. There are no 2-3-4 days off where you can "lose it" or lose your timing. You're just ready to rock and wake up just itching to get to the park.

At the same time, if you aren't mentally tough enough or understand your swing enough to make adjustments, you can fall into a funk and not be heard from for 2 weeks. (Mike Moustakas and his 1-40 this year come to mind)

Now, the most I ever played in one season was 50+ games, or 80+ if you count summer ball. How hard would you say Brett (or HG if big daddy's around) to maintain a level of "even keel" to understand that there are going to be amazing peaks and terrible valleys of a 140-160 game season and work through them?

I've got my thoughts, but hey, this is the professional forum.

[Brett]

Aug 6, 2009 21:35:08 GMT -8 cosmo34 said:

Now, the most I ever played in one season was 50+ games, or 80+ if you count summer ball. How hard would you say Brett (or HG if big daddy's around) to maintain a level of "even keel" to understand that there are going to be amazing peaks and terrible valleys of a 140-160 game season and work through them?

I've got my thoughts, but hey, this is the professional forum.

That is the whole challenge, as cliche as it sounds; To keep an even keel throughout the whole season is extremely tough to do. I could never do it the way some guys could. I could keep an even keel if I was doing well but if I started to struggle, I was on suicide watch (not literally, but I would get down).

I'm not sure who it was, but I remember an MLB player talking about how he envied the way Fred McGriff went about his business. For example, he recalled seeing him strike out with the bases loaded late in the game to end an inning. Instead of slamming his bat and helmet down, he calmly placed them down and jogged back out to first base for the next inning. If you were not paying attention to the game, you would not have known what he just did. His reaction emotionally would have been the same if he hit a homer in that situation. He was in a mindset that did not allow him to get too high or too low.

Now slumps are inevitable, and they always challenge your mindset. I am a firm believer in that if you stay consistent in your preparation and approach that you will come out of slumps earlier. Instead of an 0-4 you will go 1-4, or instead of 1-4 you work out a walk and go 1-3.

Staying consistent in your preparation and approach allows you to stay away from thinking about the slump and the feeling of 'I have to get a hit.' If you stick with the approach of watching the pitcher, gathering information, and developing a plan to give you the best chance at a quality at bat, your slump will have a better chance of ending sooner.

Again, it is so much easier said than done because baseball loves to play with your mind, but if you can stay consistent mentally you will have a lot better chance to stay even keel over the course of a season.

[emanskisheroes]

I've got one for you Brett....how important is winning for players in the minor leagues? On the one hand, they didn't get to where they are without being competitive and hating to lose. On the other hand, they really aren't looking to stay where they are for long...they want to show their ability and earn a promotion.

Also, with the nature of minor league life, there is free time, you're up late most nights, etc....it can lead some guys down bad roads to poor choices (booze, women, etc). How do other players handle a guy that maybe lives it up a little too much, especially if it starts to affect the team's success? I'm thinking here of an example like David Wells supposedly pitching hungover and that type of thing.

Lastly, hotel rooms are torture for me, especially during the day...you're away from home, in some middle of nowhere town, nothing to do, nothing on tv....how do guys handle the free time? Do you end up just getting to the park really early and playing cards? Surfing the web, reading, or what? Or just sleep a lot?

[Brett]

Aug 7, 2009 10:02:19 GMT -8 emanskisheroes said:

I've got one for you Brett....how important is winning for players in the minor leagues? On the one hand, they didn't get to where they are without being competitive and hating to lose. On the other hand, they really aren't looking to stay where they are for long...they want to show their ability and earn a promotion.

Another very good question.

Of course winning is important, but it gets trumped by overall player development IMO.

Don't get me wrong, the bus/clubhouse is a lot more fun after a win than a loss, but the goal is unlike any other level of baseball.

In high school 99% of the players will never sniff pro ball, and probably 98% of them will never play college ball, so it is about having fun and winning.

In college the vast majority of guys will not play pro ball and coaches are paid good money to get to Omaha, so it is definitely about winning.

In the minor leagues, it is very individualized and each guy has one goal: get to the show. The coach's job is to give each player the necessary tools to prepare them for the big leagues. Everything is based on how well you can develop players to win at the MLB level.

Let me put it this way; how many guys do you think would stay in the minor leagues to play for a championship over going to the big leagues for a September call up if given the chance?

Often times players who play winning baseball end up being the best players who get promoted, so winning and development can go hand in hand. But it does not have to be the case, and I have seen many examples to prove my point.

Also, with the nature of minor league life, there is free time, you're up late most nights, etc....it can lead some guys down bad roads to poor choices (booze, women, etc). How do other players handle a guy that maybe lives it up a little too much, especially if it starts to affect the team's success? I'm thinking here of an example like David Wells supposedly pitching hungover and that type of thing.

Well, I don't think many of Wells' teammates had an issue with him because he threw his perfect game while hungover (according to him) ;D

For me, I always stuck around the guys who were dedicated to their job. The guys who screwed around were out of sight, out of mind, and if their off-field antics affected me or others on-field, we would have words. But that was rarely the case.

If there is a guy who does not care enough to take care of himself, I'm not going to waste my time or energy trying to help him, especially in the dog-eat-dog world of pro ball.

Lastly, hotel rooms are torture for me, especially during the day...you're away from home, in some middle of nowhere town, nothing to do, nothing on tv....how do guys handle the free time? Do you end up just getting to the park really early and playing cards? Surfing the web, reading, or what? Or just sleep a lot?

We would usually have 2 departure times from the hotel, one an hour before the other for any guys who needed treatment, and I would always go on that bus. I loved getting to the field early, even just to hang out there, and so did my buddies.

Most of us had laptops as well, so we would spend a lot of time in the hotels looking up YouTube videos, checking box scores, and updating our Facebook status...all with BBTN on in the background.

Trust me though, hotel down time was always a treat for us. An opportunity to get off of our feet, relax, and decompress.

Now when it came to food, finding good places to eat on the road was always tough...

[HYP]

I've never played pro ball and I am sure it can be a grind. Turning a game into a job. With that said, I would say stay in it as long as you can because of what the alterantive can be.

Try working 12 hour days in the road with the sun or rain beating down on you. In a trench that is deeper then you are tall laying water pipe that weighs a 1000lbs a stick and can crush you at anytime. Getting 4 to 5 days off a month and being on call for a week of that month, where you get called out at 2 am because a pipe broke and is tearing up the street. Going out and fixing the leak until 7 am and when you get done with that you get to start your normal work day. All for just enough money to survive.

I would much rather have the grind of playing baseball.

Sorry to sound bitter and sorry if this is way off topic.

[teacherman]

The difference between playing for money and playing for fun is big.

The example I'm close to is pool. I had a 11 yr old kid walk into my place in 1989. He had some talent. I worked with him. At 14 he was the 14U National Champion. I had another kid walk in when he was 9. He won the 14U National Championship and the 18U championship twice. Andy Quinn. Justin Bergman.

Both had so much fun, and made money gambling as kids. They always had $600 to $1000 on them.

When they turned into adults and committed to playing the game for a living......to become professionals.....all of a sudden it was a job. Not so much fun. If they won they ate. If they didn't win they went hungry. That puts quite a different spin on things.

NOW you find out if you have what it takes.

You might see Justin on TV. He is a man on a mission. Andy doesn't have 'it'.

[Brett]

Aug 8, 2009 21:23:43 GMT -8 HYP said:

I've never played pro ball and I am sure it can be a grind. Turning a game into a job. With that said, I would say stay in it as long as you can because of what the alterantive can be.

Try working 12 hour days in the road with the sun or rain beating down on you. In a trench that is deeper then you are tall laying water pipe that weighs a 1000lbs a stick and can crush you at anytime. Getting 4 to 5 days off a month and being on call for a week of that month, where you get called out at 2 am because a pipe broke and is tearing up the street. Going out and fixing the leak until 7 am and when you get done with that you get to start your normal work day. All for just enough money to survive.

I would much rather have the grind of playing baseball.

Sorry to sound bitter and sorry if this is way off topic.

I really think it is different for each player, yet I understand your point. For me, that is why I went to college and why I ended up staying for my senior year and graduating.

I always told myself that if I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel I would get out, and that's what ended up happening. I was on the east coast, away from all of my family, my future wife, and friends. I got hurt, buried behind guys, and the better alternative for me was to move on.

I have friends that are 24,25 years old, and still hanging on in low A ball, partially because they are east coast people and the strain on their relationships is not as great, and partially because they don't know what else they can do. For some people, that is a valid option. For me, it wasn't.

First of all, I got $1,000 to sign out of UCLA. After taxes, that ended up being $673. Now you make roughly $900 a month for only the months during the season. You don't get paid during the offseason unless you get a job, which becomes a necessity when you got basically nothing as a signing bonus. Now you are behind the curve of players who got a big signing bonus and can afford to have a personal trainer and nutritionist while you have to work out on your own and work to get some extra cash in the offseason.

Let it be known I am not looking for pity here. I realize the opportunity to play pro ball is fantastic and that many would give a lot to have that chance. I had a great time while it lasted, had great memories, and great friends. I simply am showing the reality that my career decision was based on.

Which leads me to this:

Aug 9, 2009 6:18:21 GMT -8 teacherman said:

The difference between playing for money and playing for fun is big.

Couldn't agree more.

When they turned into adults and committed to playing the game for a living......to become professionals.....all of a sudden it was a job. Not so much fun. If they won they ate. If they didn't win they went hungry. That puts quite a different spin on things.

NOW you find out if you have what it takes.

You might see Justin on TV. He is a man on a mission. Andy doesn't have 'it'.

It is not only about a 'strech and fire,' or 'torque' of the handle now. Like I have been saying, it is such a mental task to go through the ups and downs day in and day out for six months. If you already have the money in your pocket, that takes some of the stress off, but if the only way you will be able to make a decent salary is to get to the show, it makes life stressful.

Now that I made my decision to leave, I have a job making decent money, I can play golf on the weekends, and travel to places that I always wanted to go to.

I had a great time playing baseball, but for me, it ran its course, and I moved on.

My advice to those who have the chance is to not throw all of your chips in unless you cannot say no to an offer from pro baseball. For me, unless I was offered life changing money, I was going to college. When I finally signed, I wasn't scared of life after baseball. I knew that I had the credentials to land a job based on my degree and I had the life skills to be successful based on my experiences at school.

[Brett]

While short, I believe this thread has some of the best posts here at Baseball Debate. I'd like to bump it in hopes of getting contributions from others who have experience with what it takes to handle the grind of professional baseball, or those that have further questions about it...