Anticipation…again
November 23, 2009I just read a great article on Joe Mauer. He’ll probably go on to win the AL MVP today, but last week he won his second Gold Glove. In this article Mauer talks about his mental approach to his defensive game and it’s awesome.
If you go back a couple blogs ago to the “Johnny Damon Steals Two Bases” post, I make a big deal about what goes on in a player’s head for a play like that to occur. Here’s what I said…
Contrary to what most folks think, you can’t chalk these types of plays up to just “good instincts.” Damon obviously reacted correctly, but he only reacted correctly because the whole event had already happened in his head.
It goes back to what I’m always harping on about anticipation. The great players make great use of all the “in-between-action” time in baseball by envisioning all the possibilities. It’s the reason why guys like Jeter or Mauer seem to be conveniently in the right spot at the right time all the time. It’s not luck. It’s because they use their imagination better than the average guy. They see action before it happens and then just react when it happens.
So now let me tie this all together with the Mauer article and show you another example of how an elite player makes an elite play. Here’s an excerpt from the newspaper article…
Mauer is said to have led AL catchers in range factor. Not sure that’s the most important stat for a catcher — though, if you remember Mauer’s game-saving tag of the Yankees’ Brett Gardner on May 17, it comes in handy. It was one of the most unbelievable plays I’ve ever seen, and it’s interesting hearing Mauer describe what went through his mind.
Mauer: “One of the things I like to do is kind of envision myself in different situations, so when they come up, it’s nothing new and I’m not overly excited or anything like that. That play, just in general, was one of those kind of plays that I’ve never seen before, but just kind of reacting to the situation, knowing what the situation of the game was — if that guy scores, we’re done. I knew who was on second base before it happened, so you’re thinking, ‘OK, our outfielders are going to be in to have a chance to throw this guy out.’ So you know what kind of speed you have on second. When I saw the ball coming my way, my first thing was try to get an out at first. But it was a long run out there, and the guy Gardner was in the back of my head, too, that he’s probably going to score from this. It all happened pretty quick, but you’ve got to know the situation going in, and if I can get that out at first [as the second out of the inning], the game’s over anyway.”
Pretty interesting isn’t it? I find it fascinating that, just like Damon’s double steal, Mauer’s play at the plate happened inside his head before it ever actually manifested.
The bottom line is this. Great players have great imaginations. Like a great chess player, they have the ability to use the “in-between-action” moments in a game to see all the possible plays for any given situation. Then when action happens, they have the luxury of just reacting. They don’t need to think then react. They can just react because the whole thing already has happened in their mind.
“Think! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?” Turns out Yogi Berra’s quote was not only funny, it was accurate. Great players get their thinking out of the way before anything ever actually happens.
Joe Mauer making his great tag play on Brett Gardner.
