The Yips
Growing up I was absolutely enamored with the game of baseball. In my humble opinion, baseball stands alone atop the Mount Rushmore of North American sports in its ability to be romanticized. If you remember the leitmotif of the movie, "Moneyball", was "It's hard to not be romantic about baseball." It's tough to find a line in a film that resonates so much with reality, at least as I see it.
What other game can you watch someone try and be perfect for 27 outs and roughly 130 excruciating pitches? What other game can you watch someone lose their mind over an incident involving the length of pine tar applied to a bat? What other game can you get 'beaned', watch the pitcher 'balk', take your base, avoid being picked off by a sly pickoff move, and jump out of the way of your teammate's line drive all in a matter of a minute? Or, to think of even what happened this week in baseball, Mookie Betts took a homerun away by a matter of inches with the webbing of his outstretched glove, and thus shifting the momentum in favour of his LA Dodgers and away from the Atlanta Braves almost instantaneously. Furthermore, an umpire can influence the outcome of an entire series by calling a single pitch a strike or a ball. Oh, baseball, the most romantic game out there.
Yogi Berra once explained in only the way he could, "Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical." Yogi's wit was communicating how the game is not played solely with the body but more than anything with one's mind. If you're an all-star level hitter you fail 7 out of 10 times. If you're a good pitcher you will give up 4-6 hits each start. The best teams win fewer than 2/3 of their games. Baseball is a romantic tragedy if you're looking at it from this point of view.
What other game can you watch someone try and be perfect for 27 outs and roughly 130 excruciating pitches? What other game can you watch someone lose their mind over an incident involving the length of pine tar applied to a bat? What other game can you get 'beaned', watch the pitcher 'balk', take your base, avoid being picked off by a sly pickoff move, and jump out of the way of your teammate's line drive all in a matter of a minute? Or, to think of even what happened this week in baseball, Mookie Betts took a homerun away by a matter of inches with the webbing of his outstretched glove, and thus shifting the momentum in favour of his LA Dodgers and away from the Atlanta Braves almost instantaneously. Furthermore, an umpire can influence the outcome of an entire series by calling a single pitch a strike or a ball. Oh, baseball, the most romantic game out there.
Yogi Berra once explained in only the way he could, "Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical." Yogi's wit was communicating how the game is not played solely with the body but more than anything with one's mind. If you're an all-star level hitter you fail 7 out of 10 times. If you're a good pitcher you will give up 4-6 hits each start. The best teams win fewer than 2/3 of their games. Baseball is a romantic tragedy if you're looking at it from this point of view.
And nothing is more tragic than something baseball players acutely know as "the yips". It's another way of speaking of a mental block. It's happened to a number of players, some of which had tremendous careers derailed by this psychological phenomenon. The second baseman for the much maligned Houston Astros recently struggled in making routine throws he’s made hundreds of thousands of times, leading many to believe he caught a nasty case of the yips. I imagine many would explain Jose Altuve’s affliction as the baseball gods administering justice in the wake of the Astros’ sign stealing scandal over the last few seasons. Let’s now quickly remember some other memorable cases of these terrible yips.
Charles Barkley didn't play baseball but instead is well-known as possibly the best basketball player of all time to not win an NBA championship. He developed a serious case of the yips with his golf swing. His friends even remember when Charles had a decent golf game but that soon turned to horrid once he developed a hitch in his swing that sometimes felt like 3 or 4 seconds in duration.
Charles Barkley didn't play baseball but instead is well-known as possibly the best basketball player of all time to not win an NBA championship. He developed a serious case of the yips with his golf swing. His friends even remember when Charles had a decent golf game but that soon turned to horrid once he developed a hitch in his swing that sometimes felt like 3 or 4 seconds in duration.
Chuck Knoblauch was a Gold-Glove winning second basemen who had 4 All-Star appearances and a World Series championship on resume. He was traded to the Yankees in '98. He then proceeded to commit 26 errors in '99. He became practically incapable of throwing the ball the short distance from 2nd base to 1st base.
Jon Lester, one of my favorite baseball players, developed an inability to throw the baseball with any accuracy to any base other than home plate during the 2014 season. He was not able to even attempt a simple pick-off attempt. Base runners quickly caught on and this forced Lester to throw more pitchouts so his catcher David Ross has a slim chance of controlling base runners. This is surprising given that I still vividly remember Lester overcoming cancer and heroically returning to pitch for the Red Sox midway through the 2007 season. Boston went on to win the World Series that season and Lester was an integral component of that team's success. Once again, even immense success did not dissuade the yips from affecting another All-Star.
Jon Lester, one of my favorite baseball players, developed an inability to throw the baseball with any accuracy to any base other than home plate during the 2014 season. He was not able to even attempt a simple pick-off attempt. Base runners quickly caught on and this forced Lester to throw more pitchouts so his catcher David Ross has a slim chance of controlling base runners. This is surprising given that I still vividly remember Lester overcoming cancer and heroically returning to pitch for the Red Sox midway through the 2007 season. Boston went on to win the World Series that season and Lester was an integral component of that team's success. Once again, even immense success did not dissuade the yips from affecting another All-Star.
Rick Ankiel was a promising pitching prospect turned starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He famously threw 5 wild pitches in Game 1 of the 2000 NLDS, which eventually led to him becoming an outfielder. Accepting this transition helped to prolong Ankiel's professional career.
Baseball, that astoundingly beautiful game that brings forth genuine awe from fans like me. Baseball, also that game that confounds and frustrates the psyche.
The yips, no fun whatsoever!
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