"Just put down, 'Papi stinks,' " said Ortiz after he went 0 for 7 and left 12 men on base during a 12-inning loss to the Los Angeles Angels last month.
Those words raised red flags with sports psychologists and professional athletes whose careers were sidetracked by performance blocks. Simple, repetitive motions become impossible to execute properly. By the time negative self-referencing creeps into the equation, a return to normal performance seems unlikely.
"He's hating himself," said former major league second baseman Steve Sax. "I went through that, too. I hated myself. I would curse myself. I would say, 'I'm not worth anything. I'm lousy.' Then, you start really doubting yourself."
Sax, who won National League Rookie of the Year honors for the Dodgers in 1982, then lost his ability to make routine throws to first base the next season, found his self-doubt compounded by the attention placed on his problem. Sax received mailbags full of well-meaning suggestions and death threats. Fan opinions aside, Sax had to find a reserve of self-confidence and stop pressing.
"Top-level guys know what they're doing," said sports psychologist Dana Sinclair, who treats MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL players, but has not worked with Ortiz. "When you get down to it, they know how to hit, they just start to think about too many things and try to do too much and try too hard. It's a process of getting them from distracted thinking to normal performance characteristics."
According to the experts, the longer Ortiz goes without a consistent string of hits, the less likely he will emerge from his slump in any meaningful fashion. Without consistency, big hits - a homer on May 20, a bases-loaded double against the Tigers last week - become statistical blips, not slump busters.
"What's going to happen to Ortiz is, one of these days, he's going to go 4 for 4 or 5 for 5 and then he'll never think about it again," said former catcher Mackey Sasser, who struggled with throwing problems during his nine-year major league career. "You hope, if you're from Boston. He's probably trying to make it happen instead of letting it happen."
