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I had a thought today regarding Smoak and his current mental approach to his development. It may have finally dawned on him that his raw talent is not going to be enough to cut it.
Not trying to boast here, but to illustrate my point: Growing up I was always intellectually superior to most of my peers. Not genius, or even VERY intelligent, by in high school I got 4.0's and 1400 SAT scores without any significant effort. This created a sense in my mind that I was the smartest person I knew, and if I applied myself I could easily be the top of any class I was in, regardless of subject.
This continued while I was in the military, getting promoted quickly and winning awards even though I had no intention of staying in. It was easy.
When I got out to pursue engineering, I thought that it was gonna be more of the same. "You're crazy", people would say, "people drop out at a huge rate because it's so hard". These people didn't realize they were talking to ME. Don't worry guys, I'm different. I'm talented.
First semester Calculus. B minus? Oh that was just an aberration. I was sick for a couple weeks. Won't happen again.
Second semester Calculus. B. First semester Physics. C+. What is going on? Guess I gotta work a little harder.
Third semester Calculus. B. Linear Algebra. B-. I worked my hardest! What is going on?!?!
What was going on is I had overestimated my own raw talent and underestimated the intellect and drive of both my classmates and the genius of our scientific forefathers. Newly humbled, I knelt before the reality of my fallibility and viscerally realized that I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was. Not nearly.
But with that realization I rebuilt my study regimen from the ground up, and that gave rise to a genuine humility that was necessary for my development. Being smart just wasn’t going to be enough at this level. I had to be smart and humble and driven and sacrifice many things that were very dear to me.
Based on the quotes I’ve heard over the past couple years from Smoak, I think he’s arrived at the same crossroads. Before we heard “I’ve hit in the MOTO all my life” etc. His whole life he’s been the biggest, strongest, person he knows. He’s worked reasonably hard, very hard in fact, but perhaps he hasn’t truly, VISCERALLY, realized his fallibility in the face of the genetic freaks he’s been tasked to compete against.
He didn’t analyze pitchers before? Really? While at first that may seem like ego, it’s more likely just naivete to the truly fantastic abilities of the pitchers he’s facing.
There are a miniscule number of Newtons, Einteins, Feynmans, and Eulers. Men born with brains that can invent branches of Physics and Mathematics. I thought I was at their level. I just laughed out loud at the thought. Absolutely ridiculous.
There are a miniscule number of Ken Griffey Jr’s. Men genetically engineered to be good at hitting and catching baseballs. Perhaps Smoak thought he was one of these men. With his experiences all his life, it could be difficult to think otherwise. He’s always been the best baseball player he knows. Why would that stop now?
I think this news bodes very well for Smoak. He may never put it all together, but coming at the game from a very humbled perspective is going to be his best shot at it. I’m excited to see what he’s gonna do this season.