This post discusses lessons that I learned about the psychology of athletes when I recently reviewed one of my own teenage experiences with my patient.

As a senior in high school back in the 70s, I took on the role of scorekeeper and statistician for our varsity baseball team. I never had a chance to play baseball on a team because my father discouraged my participation in sports. This likely related to his growing up in a different culture in which athletics were held in poor esteem.

As the statistician, I calculated the various statistics associated with baseball including batting averages, fielding averages, and earned run averages. This was in the days before personal computers. I made my calculations using a calculator, and then I typed up the averages (on a manual typewriter!) and posted them in the clubhouse once weekly. Of course, the players were very interested in their performance statistics.

Our team started the year with several losses. I enjoyed studying how our various players performed and thought that perhaps a line-up change based on their performance statistics would be helpful. (A line-up is the order in which the nine baseball players bat in a game. Typically, the best players hit at........

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