'Take Each Game As It Comes': Rockies Ready For The 162 Game Marathon
DENVER (CBS4)- With 162 games, not counting the 30-something Spring Training games and the playoffs, baseball season is the ultimate marathon. That means all the highs and lows that come with it.
"I think regardless if you start out winning every game or losing every game, you got to take each game as it comes," Rockies manager Bud Black said.
The key to surviving is staying as even keel as possible – a foreign concept for most fans.
"People love sports because of the emotion and adrenaline it provides," catcher Chris Ianetta explains. "You live the emotional roller coaster, that's what's fun about being a fan, and everyone has a right to their own feelings. But for us that's not good. We have to keep a level head. This is our job, our profession. We have to put ourselves in the best position to win. In order to be in our best place to win, we have to be level headed and calm. We can't get too down. We can't get too high."
Easier said than done. These guys spend as much time training their minds as they do their bodies. Because no matter how talented someone might be, if the mental strength isn't there, it's all for naught.
"That's the hardest part about baseball," Charlie Blackmon says, "being able to fail and then have your next repetition be as good or better after failure. You can't be a good baseball player until you figure that out."