Mentally tough players give full effort all of the time. This holds true whether it is practice or the most important game of the year. Full effort all of the time means when you are playing your best or your worst. Mentally tough players do not allow something they can control like effort to get in the way of how they play. I'm reminded of something Greg Maddux said in his Hall of Fame speech. Maddux recalls a conversation he had with his pitching coach with the Cubs Bill Connors. Here is the snippet I am talking about:
"Billy Connors asked me a question one day. He asked, "Do you ever wonder how good you can be?" Of course I said no. And he said, "Why don't you go out there and try to find out." I've been trying to find the answer to that question every day since."
For me, this sums up this behavior of mentally tough baseball players. They are on a constant, never-ending quest to see how good they can get, and their effort reflects it.
Maybe the truest test, however, of this characteristic is not with the best players on the team who are always getting playing time. How about the guy who is on the team and works his butt off every day without reaping the rewards of doing so in game competition? These guys may be the mentally toughest of all. How do you come to every workout, work extra on your swing, and compete to the best of your ability every single day when you know you are not going to get significant playing time? Oh, and you do all of this and are still a team guy through it all! Players who are able to do that, for me, are just as mentally tough as anybody else.
Got someone who comes to mind? I'd love to hear about them. Tweet or email their story to me. I'm sure they would appreciate the shout out!
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