The Power to Overcome

Last week’s blog mentioned my severely disappointing, disastrous 1982 season with the Cleveland Indians. Confidence flew out the door early in the season and never reappeared. That was a tricky path to navigate, and my road back to the big leagues was hanging by a thread and a prayer.

The prayer came through by an offseason trade to the Seattle Mariners, highly influenced by my former manager and then Mariner manager, Del Crandall. Fixing the thread was on me, though. I sewed the seed for success with an improved mental game, along with some mechanical hitting adjustments and confidence from Crandall, who believed in me.

In the aftermath of my time in Cleveland, I discovered the unbelievable power of concentration. It has the ability to overpower nerves and self-doubts. It is not easy because it requires one-hundred percent attentiveness to the “now.” If one has less than total focus, the full potential will be compromised. I had an intense focus for nine innings the following two seasons, with an even heightened awareness when up to bat. It was a borderline obsession with seeing the ball as if one was watching an alien exiting a spacecraft. It was exhausting, but it worked to stay in every moment.

It is the thing I fall back on when running a marathon, and every ounce of me wants to stop before the end. There is no chance of finishing if I can’t get my mind off the pain and the number of miles left.

The door to that concentration level is only available through loving what one does. The opposite, disinterest, causes inefficiency and derailment of the mental game, if not the physical one too.

The nitty-gritty of performing a task to one’s standards comes down to keeping the mind in the present. An often-used phrase in competition is “in the zone.” It involves blocking out the noise and performing instinctively. Those who achieve that state of mind have the best chance of reaching their objective.

Out of the Depths

The things I learned that turned it all around:

1.   It’s critical to see things the way you want them before they even start. The more efficient I became at visualizing solid play, the more it happened. The more one finds the zone, the better the chance of finishing.

2. When I learned to calm my mind, everything slowed down. When things get most daunting, those who can slow things down when all around is flying are the ones who come out ahead.

3. Success comes from doing the little things down to the minutest details. Neglecting the basics because of the pressure is the recipe of the also-rans.

4. Rising to the occasion one time brings the confidence to do it again. One moment can change everything for the better.

5. When I learned not to beat myself up after an error or strikeout, I felt free to focus on what I could control – today’s game and the next play! Ultimately, the ability to focus comes from “freeing” oneself from the past and living in the now.

Finally, I learned from baseball that the path would be bumpy, but staying in the rhythm of each step helped me persevere for 26.2 miles.