STARRED REVIEW
April 2007

It’s all in your head

By Mike Stadler
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<b>It’s all in your head</b> University of Missouri psychology professor Mike Stadler has always had a passion for baseball. In <b>The Psychology of Baseball: Inside the Mental Game of the Major League Player</b>, he merges that interest with his academic training to turn out a rarefied investigation of where head meets heart at the highest level of the sport. Stadler succeeds at keeping the writing lively, while also dropping in research results and some necessary terminology in trying to help readers understand the psychological aspects of batting, fielding and pitching, with further examination of elusive subjects such as hitting streaks and clutch performances. He offers plenty of examples of famous players and how their demonstrated abilities fit into his conclusions. The text winds up with a fascinating deconstruction of the nature of fandom. This book offers something a little different from the usual baseball fare, and its original approach puts a new slant on how to view the summer game.

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