Book Review: The Psychology of Baseball

Psychology is an element of the game that oftentimes goes overlooked by fans, possibly because it is really difficult to quantify. However, it does have an effect on performance because this is a game played by human beings, and teams know this. At the time of this book's publication (2007), twenty of the thirty Major League teams subscribed to results of one or several personality tests administered to amateur athletes around the country, and teams use these results in their scouting profiles (along with stats and talent evaluations, of course) on who to select come draft day. At any rate, I've become increasingly fascinated by the "mind game within the game," and so my interest was piqued when I came across this book. My review follows after the jump.

The Psychology of Baseball (Amazon link) is written by Mike Stadler, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri. The book covers a broad range of topics. The first three chapters deal with hitting, catching fly balls, and pitching. I was somewhat disappointed in these chapters because they mostly dealt with subconscious processes and mechanics ("muscle memory") rather than conscious thought, but I did glean some interesting tidbits nonetheless. For example, Stadler theorizes that there are two common psychological reasons why pitchers have command problems. The first is that the pitcher is telling himself to "not" do something (such as "Don't walk the guy" or "Don't give up a home run"), which actually makes him more likely to do it, since it "primes" the part of the brain that controls it. It's similar to that old cliche of telling someone not to think of an elephant. The second cause is the pitcher thinking too much about his mechanics (sounds like a certain Venezuelan right-hander we're all familiar with). When he does this, he is overriding what is essentially an automated process, and it is all but impossible for the conscious mind to be as fluid and consistent with the delivery as the subconscious mind (too many "moving parts," so to speak). The book does not really get into these pitfalls in terms of hitting, but I imagine it would be the same scenario.

The middle chapters are the most interesting, especially the one on streaks and slumps. in particular, I found the sections on slumps and choke jobs to be quite fascinating (this includes a detailed description of the Cubs' collapse against the Marlins in the 2003 NLCS). Topics discussed in this chapter include whether or not there actually is such a thing as a clutch hitter, possible psychological reasons for choke jobs, and the mental effect of jinxes, curses, and other superstitions. I found this passage to be of particular interest (page 173):

Psychologists seldom appeal to curses as explanations of behavior. Poor management and bad luck seem much more likely causes. But there may be something to curses and jinxes, in that they may become self-fulfilling prophecies of a sort. When members of a group (or team) are, rightly or wrongly, expected to perform poorly, they often do...If a player lives day in and day out with talk and more talk about failure under pressure, he may, however subtly and unconsciously, try to fight against that belief and, in so doing, turn up that harmful self-focus that undermines his normal level of play.

Also included in this chapter are discussions of topics such as home field advantage, sophomore slumps, and free agency/trades. The free agency and trades section was another particular point of interest. A statistical analysis shows that most (but not all) players have a tendency to put up way above average numbers (relative to his career norms) in the year prior to free agency, only to fall to subpar numbers in the year immediately following his big mega-contract and then rebound (or exceed career norms) in the second year of the deal (If this pattern holds true for Justin Verlander, I will be a very happy Tigers fan). And yes, there is evidence to show that a lot of players tend to perform well against teams that traded them, and there is a set of four criteria that make it even more likely for this scenario to occur.

The final chapter deals with the psychology of fans (why we are fans in the first place, why we like the teams we like, etc). Again, I gleaned lots of interesting tidbits here. For example, studies have shown that athletes (both male and female) experience an increase in testosterone levels when they win and a decrease in testosterone when they lose, and that fans experience the same phenomenon. Also (and not surprisingly), a dedicated, passionate fan of the Pirates probably identifies with his/her team differently than an equally dedicated, passionate Yankees fan.

I don't agree with every conclusion made in this book. For instance, Stadler argues that the concept of a hitter being "due" and the concept of "riding the hot hand" are fallacies. However, his reasoning merely includes discussing random chance principles and the perceptions of fans without taking the players' mindset into account. Also, Stadler had a tendency to overuse the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets in his examples and anecdotes (though he does discuss other teams as well, the Tigers are not one of them). However, even though the book started out slowly and did not address some topics I would have liked it to, it did prove to be a rather interesting read (though I would not exactly categorize it as "light" reading). I'd suggest a "try before you buy" approach, maybe by getting it from the library and then buying it if you feel like you're going to want to reference it in the future (And though this is a long review, I have not discussed all the topics covered. Not by a longshot). It's definitely worth your time, and it's a book to consider putting on your list of things to do to pass the time during those dreary offseason months.