Mental: Baseball versus Golf

Since I have moved back home after completing my time at Santa Clara University, my brother and I have had loving conversations, civil disagreements, and laugh out loud moments.  At the end of almost each interaction, we have both said one word.  I say "baseball," and my younger brother, Brendan, says "golf."  No, Brendan is not describing a sport for which he was an MVP and, no, I am not describing a sport where I garnered twelve hits in as many years of competition.  What his word "golf" and my word "baseball" symbolize are two stances; stances that both of us will not back down from.  It is in this special blog that I will defend baseball as the toughest mental sport and my kid brother will defend golf.  Winner will take pride, loser will suck ween...and you all get to decide who does what.  Enjoy...

Baseball
-Tito Von Flavor

You see, we were watching an ESPN highlight where some random pitcher was playing for some random team and gave up another awe-inspiring walk-off home run.  For the sake of the story, let's call it Santiago Casilla pitching for the San Francisco Giants (since, at this point, that would seem likely).  With my quick judgement and knack for knowing everything, I turned to my brother and proclaimed, "See B, that's why baseball is, mentally, the toughest sport in the world."

The comment seemed to make plenty of sense.  Bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, and the pitcher gives up a 450 foot shot that causes every fan to want to shit down his throat (trust me, you've all been there).  From a pitcher's perspective, the entire game falls on his shoulders.  All nine innings are forgotten and unless you are a commentator or simply a good guy, you blame the ass-wipe who threw the last cream-puff across the plate.  However, pitchers are not the only ones who know the feeling of being The Last Failure Remembered.  The right fielder who drops the final out (Jay Bruce '12), the manager who forgets the rules (Mattingly '11), or the first baseman who watches the ball roll through his legs (Buckner '86) are all worthy adviseries for the category of The Last Failure Remembered.  However, what about success through failure in the sport?

That's right, even when Ted Williams achieved his magical .406 batting average in the 1941 season, he still got a hit 4 out of 10 at bats.  Just for clarification, a 4 out of 10 is an 'F' in scholastic grading, an 'F' in physical appearance rating, and an 'F' in just about every fucking category you can think of unless you are a blind kid shooting free throws... except in baseball.  My point: offensive success is built completely out of failure.  Hitting a ball as far as Josh Hamilton can be hard enough, but on top of that he, along with every other successful baseball player in history, have to be okay with failing a majority of the time.

Aside from having the god-given body of a herculean athlete, mental fortitude is what makes a 20 year veteran.  Period.

Golf
-Brendan T. Morton

When my brother stated, “See Brendan, that is why baseball is the hardest mental sport, ever”, while watching a game between two teams I could not care less about, I looked at him with an unknown feeling. It may have been hatred, confusion and love all at the same time. I sat there on my living room couch looking at him and simply said “golf”. Nothing more was said, yet our eye contact understood everything. Firmly believing baseball is the toughest mental sport in the world, he is wrong. Firmly believing golf is the toughest mental sport in the world, I am right. 

Playing the wonderful sport of golf all my life, I will defend the name of it with all my power. However, I will admit when I am wrong concerning a specific topic. When one reflects on the game of golf, the idea “mental toughness” immediately comes to mind. Having to compose oneself through an 18 hole round, roughly 4-5 hours, is no easy task. Bad shots, unpredictable weather, and flaring tempers can all contribute to the mental focus of that less than one second swing. Such a swing can send the ball left or right, far or near, forwards and even backwards. The hardest part about that process is that on average, the professional golfer has to retain this focus around 70 times per round. The phrase “short-term memory” is essential to a golfers success. Being able to forget and compose oneself after a poor shot, or superior shot for that matter takes years and years of practice. My father always told me before I played “that the only shot you can control is the one you are about to hit”. My philosophy is simple: the ball does not know that you either hit it thirty yards left of the target, or knocked it two feet from the pin; the ball does not know a thing. However, it is the player’s mental serenity and toughness, which contribute to high-quality shots. To become a great golfer, one must possess hand-eye coordination, endurance, and the diligent ability to surpass all negative thoughts in order to achieve greatness. “…baseball is the hardest mental sport, ever” my ass. 

I can agree with my brother that baseball can mentally tear down a player in a matter of moments. For example, say a player strikes out for his second time in the game and is starting to become irritated. He then goes back to the dugout to reflect, maybe throw a bat or Gatorade jug around to relieve some anger, and then calm down. Let’s just say that he has a total of 20 minutes to clear his thoughts as he goes through the inning playing defense before his next “at-bat”. That is quite a bit of time to regain mental toughness if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, though, I have incredible amounts of respect for baseball players and their ability to hit a 100 mile per hour fastball over 400 feet. They are freak athletes and can do things other athletes could only dream of. However, the sport of baseball is not the toughest mental sport ever. While a baseball player has roughly 15-20 minutes to ponder and reflect, a golfer has to exercise his or her mental power in no more than 2 minutes before the next shot, for pace of play keeps players on their toes all the time. 

So, to my dearest brother Tito, I love you and enjoy the fact we can have this civil debate. That said, you my friend are wrong. Golf is the hardest mental sport, ever.