“By the time Rivera reached the mound, he had shed all of the elements of humanity inconvenient to his job. Rivera tuned out the fans, as if switching off a light, and mentally muted Yankee Stadium’s thumping sound system; Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” had been used as the accompanying music for his entrance for four years [...]
“Humans think around 60,000 thoughts a day, and the quality of these thoughts is becoming increasingly important in a sport where a hundredth of a second is an eternity.”
From an article on About.com by Craig Townsend. Here’s the full article.
Here’s another quote:
“One of the best ways to overcome negative thoughts before a race is to [...]
“The game is more mental than it is physical…if you can’t handle it mentally, you’re not going to be here very long.”
- Chipper Jones
In this MSN video, Joe Simpson interviews Chipper Jones who talks about the mental toughness needed to succeed in baseball and the excitement of facing big league aces.