“If you’re afraid, you shouldn’t play the game,” Stan Musial told me with great assurance in 1957.
About sixty years ago I read a wonderful book by Leonard Koppett entitled A THINKING MAN'S GUIDE TO BASEBALL. The first word in the first chapter is Fear. Koppett wrote that you can't hit well until you overcome your fear of being hit by the ball.
Jackson Holliday is, as of August 2024, a twenty year old rookie second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles. In his initial stint with the O's he was 2-34. He was sent back down to Triple A where he justified a second chance with the big club. Recently he became the youngest player in American League history to hit home runs in three consecutive games.
Fear does not rear its ugly head only in the batter's box. Holliday showed it in a moment I never saw before in almost seventy years of watching baseball. Holliday hit a little dribbler in front of the plate. He hustled down the line but as he approached the bag, in fear of being hit by the catcher's throw, he tightened up his body, shortening his stride. He was out by a whisker. Had he maintained his normal stride, he would have been safe.
