Surrounded By Negativity, Orioles Succumb to It

The offseason has transformed from golfing and hunting trips to a several month period in which to sculpt the perfect athletic body. Players lift weights, perform various cardio exercises, consult nutritionists, and guzzle supplements of the legal and illegal variety.

With so much effort being placed on becoming physically durable, athletes ignore their fragile psyche.

In the first half of the 20^th century, scientific studies stated that the human body could not run a mile in 4 minutes. In 1954, a 25-year-old Brit by the name of Roger Bannister proved them wrong as he crossed the finish line in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. Only 46 days later, another would break the 4 minute mile. Fifty years later over 350 different runners had run a sub-four mile.

The mind sets limits on the body’s performance and can easily push athletes into a wall of impossibility.

Recently, the Orioles torrid start has cooled and they are stumbling with the finish line still 131 games away. Could the team be second-guessing their abilities because of a constant barrage of questions from the media asking whether or not they are for real?

At the very least, they are tired of answering them.

"I don't like to keep hearing, 'You guys are a piece of crap. How come you're playing so well?'" Manager Dave Trembley said as the Orioles concluded their April near the top of the AL East. "I don't like negativity. I don't have time for negativity.”

The players have tried to use the negativity as motivation by taping offending articles on the walls around the clubhouse.

Perhaps they should re-think that.

Including their May 7^th loss to the Oakland Athletics, the Orioles have won 2 of their last 11 games.

In that 11 game stretch, the Orioles have looked like a team that is psychologically weary. While timely hitting and heads-up plays in their first 22 games helped vault them to the top of the AL East and sparked those questions that Trembley hates, poor base running and lifeless bats have forced Baltimore to wonder if the prognosticators are correct.

Just as a broken bat single can be the impetus to a hitting streak, the shadow of a doubt can cool a team. In The Tao of Sports, Bob Mitchell writes that in athletics one is never as good as their best or as bad as their worst.

During a team's best times, even at their optimal point physically and psychologically a perfect storm of positive events (including the pebble that knocks the ball an inch beyond the opposition’s glove) will occur and produce results better than what the team typically is able to produce.  Conversely, the perfect storm of negative events (perhaps a bad call by the umpire) will produce results inferior to what the team should expect.

Maintaining a balanced attitude will help the psyche deal with the peaks and valleys of a long season.

Trembley understands the need of maintaining this even keel saying before the recent losing streak, “We may fall flat on our faces. When we do, I'll deal with that.”

As experts impose their limits on the Orioles, the team needs to pick themselves up and push forward with a balanced psyche and a belief in themselves. Surrounding themselves with articles stating the contrary will only prevent them from breaking down 3^rd party limits.

Self-belief will not lead the Orioles to a first-place finish at the end of the marathon that is the Major League Baseball season. However, it is an important piece that compliments the ubiquitous squats and bench presses.