High School vs. MLB

High school sports might cause a lot of stress, anxiety, or even depression, but imagine that on a much larger scale. A scale where you eat, sleep, and breath that sport. Major League Baseball is a perfect example as is it a full-time job. For high schoolers, practice takes place every day for around two hours, 5-6 days a week. These student athletes wake up, go to school, go to practice, do more schoolwork, then shower, and go to bed. Only to wake up the next day and do the same thing. However, it is a safe space for some players. Timmy Mastrogiovanni, a senior on the baseball team at Pennridge says, “I enjoy seeing my friends every day about six times a week. If I have a bad day, I can always count on practice to put me in a good mood.” He describes baseball as an escape from the world and a way to draw away from his home life and school life. Being that this is the only social interaction that he gets during baseball season, he takes it as it is. Another player on the Pennridge team, Matt Dubyk, says “I love being able to spend time outside with a bunch of the kids I have grown up with.” Matt has been playing baseball his whole life, so it is definitely a major social factor in his life. However, he talks about how he doesn’t like this picture-perfect mold that has been set. “I hate the standard that student athletes are always held to. We are expected to have these good grades and maintain a social life even though the sport takes up almost all my time.” He talks about how stressed he gets over school because he is always out and about at practice or games.

Major League Baseball players play 162 games starting in early April lasting potentially until October. Over the course of the long and exhausting season, players have few days off to see friends and family, and later in the season, the game becomes more mental than anything. Mental health in professional sports is rarely talked about even though many players and personnel suffer from some sort of depression or anxiety. In the last month, Phillies player, Adam Hasely, took a month off from baseball for personal reasons. Much of this time was spent trying to regroup himself and clear his head around his poor performance and the disheartening hate mail he received. In an article written in Baseball America, multiple doctors explained how sports have taught people an unhealthy habit of “sucking up” their emotions and not letting them show. We see this on the diamond all the time. Players strike out on bad pitches and either complain to the umpire or smack their bat and get upset. Players are programmed to be quiet about their feelings and move on while still coping with the realities they face. Brandon Wood is another example of how mental health affected his baseball career. During his tenure with the Angels, Wood suffered from Anxiety. Wood never talked to his manager about the problem and as his numbers began to slip away, so did his career. Considering the number of players across the major and minor leagues, it is inevitable that there are more players suffering than just Adam Haseley.  

Mental health is a topic not talked about enough across all levels of sports. From the Majors to tee-ball, mental health effects are relevant. Baseball is a tough sport especially as coaches teach to not hide emotions as it translates to play. Long seasons limit time for players like Matt Dubyk as well as MLB players to see friends and family as well as socialize. People in this day and age need to continue the conversation about mental health. Our youth look up to players in the big leagues and it is important for those players to talk about what is going on. High school players also need to speak up as well. We all can support one another if we speak up about mental health.