Risk Factors and Baseball Players
I have been providing sport psychology services for thirty years to major league baseball players, coaches, and front office executives. In addition, I have been actively involved during that time in the psychological assessment of thousands of high school and college players for the amateur draft.
Based on these experiences as well as research that I have conducted on risk in baseball, I have identified nine factors--- largely mental and emotional in nature--- that can place baseball players at risk.
Some of these risk factors have to do with on the field and at the ballpark matters; other factors have to do with risks that are present home, school, and community settings.
These mental and emotional risk factors are:
1. Failure to respect the game.
2. Defining yourself by baseball alone
3. Feeling invincible
4. Cutting corners
5. Not following a plan
6. Unwillingness to recognize stress
7. Allowing certain kinds of people to undermine you
8. Frequenting troublesome places
9. Letting harmful things get into your hands and body
In the remaining sections of this article, I will discuss each one of these nine risk factors and provide some time-tested suggestions for how to cope effectively with them as a baseball player.
Failure to Respect the Game
The inability of any individual performer to respect the game of baseball and how it should be played is a basic risk factor for players. This is a very subtle risk factor, however, and often goes unnoticed by teammates and coaches, until it is too late and the professional damage is done.
In our organization, the Cleveland Indians, respecting the game and playing it the right way means the following, behaviorally, for our players:
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