Last evening, I mingled in the lower concourse of Citizen's Bank Park with three new friends, attempting to catch some air that might be even the slightest amount cooler than the air in our seats.
Our discussion centered on baseball (occasionally it drifted to what type of concession we would consume next -- beer, ice cream, soft pretzels, Schmitters...) and at one point we settled on the topic of what made Chase Utley become Chase Clutchly. Someone said, "he looks relaxed," while another speculated that his relative youth may have something to do with it. In the end, the best our collective minds could come up with was "there's just something about him."
In the eleventh inning, Utley lived up to the moniker I've placed on him. After going oh for five during the first ten innings of play, he stroked a 2-2 count, two out pitch into the right-centerfield bleachers for an 8-6 Phillies win over the Padres.
As we cheered and high-fived at the outcome, we failed to realize what it really is about Utley that allows him to perform in tight situations. It's three things actually -- Utley apparently possesses a high levels of hypnotic susceptibility and repressive coping, and low levels of neuroticism. Seriously.
According to Dr. Roland A. Carlstedt, Chairman of the American Board of Sport Psychology, who is heavily featured in Neil Gladstone's article in Philadelphia's City Paper entitled "Pressure Cookers", those three qualities are what allows a person to perform well in pressure-packed scenarios.
Gladstone has done excellent work in this article. Often we hear from sabermatricians that there is no such thing as clutch-hitting because no one has ever been able to adequately statistically demonstrate the effect. And for the most part, all anyone has been able to do to argue for the existence of clutch-hitting is to cite anecdotal evidence. Until now. Gladstone delves into cognitive electrophysiology, fetal heart-rates, personality tests administered by teams to prospects, and the success rates of sports psychologist Charlie Maher (Charlie Manuel is a former client), as well as the usual suspects anecdotal and statistical evidence in a courageous effort to explain clutch hitting.
I've never been confused for a stellar athlete, but I have been in enough pressure situations and I am familiar enough with human physiology to know that the increased heart-rate, sweaty palms, and shallow breathing that occurs during those situations are signs that pressure must have an effect on performance. Finally, I have some objective evidence to back-up what I've always believed to be true.
If you are a sports fan of any kind, "Pressure Cookers" is an article you must read.
