Reese Kaplan -- Patience is a Major League Virtue, Too

As Mets players make the giant leap into the majors after succeeding to varying degrees in the minors, not everyone hits the ground running.  The pitching is better at the highest level, the media attention is more intense and what would be dismissed as an "oops" in the minors becomes fodder for bloggers, talk shows and major newspapers.  

Recently New York's Daily News ran a fascinating piece about struggling youngster Mark Vientos and how he's found the adjustment from Syracuse to New York.  When reading the piece a fan was expecting the usual fluff about how great it is to be playing in "The Show" and how grateful he is for the opportunity to do what he loves.  

Instead, Vientos was frank about what the transition was like and it was kind of eye opening.  He talked far less about how he prepared physically for the games and the expectations he had upon sitting in the major league dugout.  He instead talked more about how little attention is paid to the mental aspects of preparation for the majors.  When you think about it, many of us probably never gave it much thought either.

Step back from the game for a minute and consider your own personal career.  Were you fortunate enough to move up to a significantly more prestigious position.  Obviously that promotion was the result of hard work, strong decision making and/or exceeding whatever metrics the folks in HR or on the management team felt were indicative of how you would handle a broader set of responsibilities.

Back when I was working in corporate America I was competing with another team leader for accolades, respect and the cherry assignments that would help me develop into the next level of management professional.  One of the routes I took was to earn a Master's degree with honors in Management Information Systems which would reinforce my credentials and give me a leg up on my working rival.

The day came when the Managing Director called me into his office to let me know he had decided to make me the Director of Information Technology.  I kind of saw it coming and it matched my own personal plan to move on up, but the next part stuck out to me as vividly today as it was when it was first said.  My boss, Ray, gave me the usual reiteration of the good things I had done to prove to him and to everyone on the company's senior management team that I was indeed the right person to be promoted.

Then came the unexpected and off center advice.  He told me, "Reese, it's only natural for someone in your situation to become a bit of an asshole.  Be aware of it, minimize it and don't let it change who you have been in the past since that's what got you the new title."

Whoa.  I hadn't expected that and frankly I needed to process it properly.  As our meeting continued I wound up saying some things in the privacy of his office to him which most definitely would have fallen into that asshole characterization.  He smiled and said, "That's why I said what I did.  You need to get that out of your system, take the rest of the day off to celebrate your good fortune, then come back into the office on Monday ready to hit the ground running."

That whole incident flashed in my mind as I read more about what Vientos and Buck Showalter had to say about the role of being a major leaguer.  While all of us hear about hitting and pitching coaches players follow throughout their ascension up the ladder, no one hears about what the teams are doing to help players understand what it is like being in the major leagues.  There is no privacy whatsoever, everything you do on the field, at the plate, in the dugout and even in McDonald's after hours becomes a front page story if the reporter who witnesses it finds something newsworthy.  That experience is a whole lot different that fielding batted balls, hitting wildly moving pitches nor throwing with great accuracy.  

So consider what Brett Baty has gone through during his mostly full rookie campaign and now try better to understand why the OPS machine Vientos is hitting below the Mendoza line.  There is a time when being a major leaguer will be second nature to both of them, but for now the new stresses of being center stage may push players away from what got them to the top in the first place.  Patience is needed to allow them to make the necessary adjustments before writing them off completely as failures.  

After all, didn't Hall of Famer Willie Mays start off going 0-12 and then after his first hit, another 0-13 before his second?  He was worried he was going to be demoted back to the minors until Leo Durocher declared he was his center fielder no matter what.  Mays obviously got past the difficulties and while no one expects the next Willie Mays to evolve out of Baty or Vientos, it's likely they will grow into professional major leaguers if given sufficient time to do so.