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Interviewing Doug Gardner
By: Keith Dobkowski, MLB News Writer
Can going Zero for Four be a success? How about four for four
being a failure? After speaking with former Boston Red Sox
Sports Psychologist Doug Gardner, both questions make sense.
As a batter, if you were to hit four balls on the screws and great
plays were made to rob you of four hits, wouldn’t that still be a
success? And if you were to take bad swings, make bad contact
and end up with four infield singles, could you really claim victory.
When success is measured by control and not results the answer
is clearly yes. As a batter, you are to hit the ball as hard as you
can as often as you can. A batter is to work the count into his
favor so that the batter can get the pitch he desires in the hopes
of hitting the ball hard. However, in the case that you hit the ball
hard and a defensive player who is paid millions a year to make
great plays, makes a great play, did you, as a batter, do anything
wrong? You hit the ball on the screws. And a player paid millions
to catch that ball caught it.
A batter only controls how hard he hits the ball and not how
great of a defensive play will follow. Or so says Doug Gardner.
Doug Gardner started with the Cleveland Indians as an intern
and upon completing his degree joined the Boston Red Sox.
Gardner’s biggest claim to fame is the development of Shea
Hillenbrand, former American League Rookie of the Year.
Gardner and Hillenbrand were first placed together when
Hillenbrand reached Double-A ball for the Boston Red Sox. Over a
dinner of Carne Asada, the two got to know one anther and
Gardner quickly picked up on Hillenbrand’s weaknesses.
Hillenbrand was often distracted by both off-field activities of his
teammates and result-based success.
Hillenbrand was distracted by the other players’ lack of care and
work ethic. And these distractions affected Hillenbrand in both
the field and in the batter’s box. With Gardner’s help, Hillenbrand
was able to focus on the task at hand. His natural ability lead
him so far, but to make the giant leap into the Majors, Hillenbrand
would have to learn to focus on what he could control.
As Gardner often stated during our interview, results do not
determine success. A mistake pitch can be a strike and a great
pitch can be hit over the fence. Success should be measured by
control and not results. A batter’s job is to hit the ball hard, but
once it leaves the bat, the ball is outside of the batter’s control.
Understanding Gardner’s message helped Hillenbrand succeed.
However, turmoil with the Boston Red Sox followed. Gardner
believed that his job was to save the organization money by
helping younger, less expensive players become stars. When
Hillenbrand became the everyday third baseman for the Red Sox,
Dante Bichette took a seat on the bench. With him, Bichette took
his $10 million salary.
Gardner stated that his work with Hillenbrand allowed the Red
Sox to play a $250,000 player instead of a $10 million player.
Gardner had saved the organization millions. However, the Red
Sox, a ‘yes sir’ organization, saw Gardner’s desire for credit as an
insult and parted ways with the sports psychologist shortly
thereafter.
So while the curse of the Babe looms large in Bean Town,
sometimes it is the smaller decisions that truly affect an
organization. Grady Little keeping Pedro Martinez in. Bill Buckner
not being replaced by a defensive first baseman in the late
innings of game six, because the manager wanted Buckner to be
on the field for the celebration. Not pulling the trigger on A-Rod
while backstabbing Nomar and Man-Ram in the process. And on
the small behind the scenes scale, firing Gardner even though he
had saved the team millions by helping develop young players.
Finally, as any baseball fan will tell you or rather name for you,
Gardner and I discussed the player every team has with all the
talent in the world but just couldn’t cut it.
In San Francisco, Shawn Estes was that player. Estes, a left-
handed pitcher with a mid nineties fastball and a 12 to 6
curveball where the bottom completely dropped out, never
reached his full potential. Even in Estes’ best season when he
won 19 games for the Giants, any fan could see the mental battle
he faced on the mound. Estes was often seen talking to himself,
belittling himself over pitches thrown and mistakes made.
When discussing this very issue with Gardner, he again came to
control. A pitcher only controls the ball until it leaves his
fingertips. At that very point, a pitcher can no longer decide if the
ball breaks enough. A perfect pitch can still be hit out of the
park. Remember, Barry Bonds’ is paid $20 million a year to hit the
ball.
Gardner’s philosophy based off reality and not clinical psychology
butts heads directly with the past belief that a player must think
of nothing in order to succeed. Gardner’s vision of focus and
control allows a player to celebrate what the rest of us may see
as failure. So when Shea Hillenbrand went Zero for Four on
opening night and many Diamondbacks’ fans groaned,
Hillenbrand called Gardner to discuss his four successful at bats.
Hillenbrand worked the count and hit the ball hard. Hillenbrand,
and thus Gardner, had done his job. So too had the defensive
players.
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