Editorial: Pirates boost mental game

The Pittsburgh Pirates just received a new addition to their lineup, who is destined to resolve… The Pittsburgh Pirates just received a new addition to their lineup, who is destined to resolve the team’s perpetual losing woes and ensure they win the next World Series.

Well, not quite.

Bernie Holliday was hired as the team’s mental-conditioning coordinator last week. Holiday previously worked as a psychologist with cadets and athletes at West Point and then worked with soldiers in the Army, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Pirates face a routine that Holliday says instills more composure, concentration and confidence in players. Holliday’s esoteric training also seeks to improve energy management and even self-awareness and self-regulation. Holliday will work with minor-leaguers as well. Even if the new hire has the Pirates spending time on the couch compared to the gym, after 17 straight losing seasons, it’s time to start getting innovative.

It’s no secret. The Pirates abysmal performance has prompted their status as the butt of baseball league jokes team next to the esteemed Pittsburgh Penguins and Steelers. Sure, they have the distinction of being one of the teams to play in the first ever World Series, but it’s been a dark era lately. Holliday knows baseball can be a tough game on a player’s psyche. “Baseball is a game designed to make you fail, and people play this game even though it makes you look foolish. That, to me, is what mental toughness is all about,” Holliday said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Last year, the Pirates’ players’ salary figures added up to a total of $25,197,000. Bobby Crosby — their highest paid player — received a salary of $5,300,000, according to ESPN. Somehow we don’t think Holliday costs that much to have around, so let’s give him the chance to step up to bat.

Perhaps Holliday’s role as a sports psychologist reflects on a greater theme: We care more about our athletes beyond their almost showbiz-like role as athletic entertainers. At the end of last year, the NFL asked willing current and former NFL players to donate their brains — upon death, of course — in order to research head trauma and brain damage potentially improving safety standards in the NFL. Steroids in the MLB were made illegal in 2005 not only because of their unfair edge, but also because of the detrimental health effects they have on users. Holliday is there to help the Pirates win, but he’ll have to deal with players perhaps demoralized by their losses.

Mental skills coaches aren’t unheard of. The Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers have mental-skills coaches, and the Pirates recently had a mental-skills coach, Geoff Miller, before Holliday. We don’t expect Holliday’s technique to accomplish miracles, but we’ll take anything that can help resurface the shipwrecked team.