But..but..Bill James and Ray say psychology and personal stories don't have an affect on performance.

Well they wouldn't for *Ray*, obviously, since Ray hasn't installed his emotion chip. (He did once, but it didn't go well, especially for Geordi.)

1) Yikes, I didn't know about this.
2) The author's style is hard to read.
3) "His power package has been buffed and polished."

Something this close to home and horrible may not actually hurt a player's performance on the field. Being at the park with teammates acts as a shiva-like environment - and getting on the mound and dealing with the mental and physical requirements of pitching helps to keep the pain at bay until you leave the ballpark and go home.

i feel for the young man. an incredibly difficult and traumatic event (stating the obvious i know)

I recently had to help the family of a good friend of mine. My friend desperately needed treatment for serious mental health issues. It's been a very difficult time for our friends and I can't imagine what it's been like for his family. There seems to be a lingering stigma attached to mental health problems in our society despite how many people they affect either directly or indirectly. It's unfortunate that we know so much about them and yet there is so much about psychology that we do not, and may never, understand.

I agree with Bob. I had something similar happen very early this year, and spending time involved in physical activity (mostly jogging or bicycling) has been pretty dang therapeutic for me, time spent with a clear head that isn't just stewing over the #### life handed out. Since Scherzer is way more of a competitor than I ever have been or will be, I'd be somewhat surprised if such an effect weren't magnified for him.

Wow, I had no idea about his brother. How horrible.

#1, not sure why you need to make that dumb and obviously false remark about Bill James. He's never said any such thing. He has, in fact, said the opposite. I forget which player it was but in the write up of one of the guys on the 1933 Senators he notes that the poor guy saw a terrible traffic accident death on his way to the park for one of the World Series games against the Giants that year and was so shook up he had a very bad game.