by Tyler Killian - Sept. 17, 2012 09:44 PM
azcentral sports
It's no secret that players in any sport want their team to do well. They want to be playing meaningful games as the regular season approaches its end.
The secrets, then, lie in how to make that happen.
The Diamondbacks enter Tuesday night's matchup with the San Diego Padres, the first of their final 16 regular-season games, trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by 41/2 games for the National League's second wild-card berth, and have four other teams ahead of them.
It's a tough spot, but for now the games remain meaningful, and a strong mental approach is an important element.
"Coming to the field every day, I've never really been a part of scoreboard watching or watching other teams and seeing what they've been doing," Diamondbacks third baseman Chris Johnson said. "This is all new to my career. It's exciting. You rush into the locker room after a win and then go and check what the other teams are doing."
Clubhouse morale is high, and there is no mistaking the Diamondbacks' intensity and seriousness.
"When you can feel that you're that close, and there's that light at the end of the tunnel, it makes it exciting," second baseman Aaron Hill said. "They call it the dog days of summer around this time, but when you got something to play for as far as a playoff spot, it makes it a lot easier to get through because it just gives you a little extra adrenaline."
Higher adrenaline and fiery passion may not always work to a player's advantage, however.
Dr. Jim Afremow is a sports psychology specialist at Arizona State University who has consulted with players from across Major League Baseball. He said knowing how one's mind and body work is the key to performing in stressful situations.
"One of the misconceptions about mental readiness is that you need to psych up for the game," Afremow said. "My response is that you need to psych right for the game. For some guys it might be to actually downplay the importance of the game. They might be too hyped, and they might need to just think, 'This is what I do every day and I just need to trust my teammates and do what I do.'
"Other guys might need that little extra boost to fire themselves up."
If the Diamondbacks fail to erase their deficit, and the playoffs begin to drift out of reach, players will face another pivotal decision: whether to throw in the towel and start looking to next year.
The team was certainly met with that temptation in 2009 and 2010, when it finished 22 and 26 games out of a playoff spot, respectively.
"You're (out of the race) in September, you know it's going to be a long month," catcher Miguel Montero said. "You're showing up because you have to show up, but you don't even want to because you're so tired and you're playing for nothing, pretty much. It's not a good feeling."
But Afremow said going through the motions can have effects that stretch beyond just that season.
"I think it was Gary Player that said he would rather finish 112th in a tournament than 113th because he wants to know that he's always doing his best," Afremow said. "Too many golfers, if they're going to miss the cut or they don't have a chance to win, might just try to get through the round or the rest of the tournament. Then when they're on Sunday with a chance (to win), it's going to be even more difficult because they haven't mentally prepared for it."
"... So if you are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the season is still going on, then the rest of the games of the season should be your playoffs, so the next time you are in a playoff run, it feels like you've been there before.
Diamondbacks reliever Matt Lindstrom has seen hopeless Septembers, but there is always professional pride.
"The difference is a lot of guys are trying to win jobs for the next year," he said. "The feeling is not as good as it is when there's a playoff implication in mind, but you just got to keep grinding out the games and get ready for next year, and keep that focus."
Whether the Diamondbacks make the postseason remains to be seen, and for all of Afremow's insight, Montero knows where his own attention lies.
"The main key here is to focus on one game at a time, one game at a time," he said. "We just got to worry about today, and we'll figure it out from here."
Up next
San Diego Padres
Padres update: These are the final three games the Diamondbacks will play against the Padres this season. That's probably a good thing. With each meeting, the Padres seem to be an even better team than they were before. They're 19-6 since Aug.19 and 43-26 since June29. They've been winning in different ways, including with a red-hot offense, something that's almost never been the case for the Padres, certaintly not since they moved into Petco Park in 2004. 3B Chase Headley has been one of baseball's better players in the second half, and OF Jesus Guzman (.906 OPS), OF Carlos Quentin (.848), OF Chris Denorfia (.836) and C Yasmani Grandal (.827) also have performed well since the All-Star break. The Padres also finished strongly in 2009 and wound up winning 90 games in 2010.
18 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2012/09/17/20120917arizona-diamondbacks-mental-approach-key-down-stretch.html
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