WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL PIECE!

"I told you -- never think you're not good enough" – words Ed Harvey always told his son, Matt, at an early age playing the game of baseball

Like me, I am sure you have been following the early exploits of New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey. At the age of 24, he has already infused the Mets franchise with a confidence that seems contagious, particularly when he is on the mound.  Many fans have already labeled him "The Real Deal!"  

He has compiled a 5-0 record during his first ten outings this year and is among the National League leaders in ERA (1.93) and strikeouts (74) for a team that has posted a 17-27 record after 44 games. Since his arrival in New York last summer, Harvey has shown a maturity and poise on the mound beyond his youthful years and is someone that seems to never accept less than perfection from himself.

But it wasn’t always that way. What intrigued me to tell you this story about Matt Harvey is that much of his motivation to succeed today was born out of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Then, he was arguably considered the best high school pitching prospect in the country but a drop down in his velocity and fear of a high asking price to sign prior to the draft forced teams to pass on him early on. It angered Harvey deeply that he was skipped over 117 times and to see 23 other high school pitchers taken over him that year before the Los Angeles Angels called out his name in the third round.

Harvey felt personally insulted. A chip on his shoulder was developed no doubt. He would turn down the Angels’ contract offer and accept a scholarship opportunity to play for the University of North Carolina. As he would soon adjust to the Division I demands of class and athletics, Harvey’s mindset was still occupied and somewhat clouded over the fact that he really was hoping to sign and play pro ball right away. “It was really bad,” Harvey says about his attitude he took to school with him as a freshman. “I’m surprised they didn’t give me the boot. I turned down a million dollars and had no money and a crappy Jeep when I could have been driving anything I wanted.”

After a period of time at UNC, Harvey admitted that he messed up his mechanics and began to overthrow and got himself out of kilter. He would throw one pitch at 94 mph, and the next at 85 and with inconsistent stuff. Some pro scouts said he began to look more like a “fringe player” than a first-round prospect into his sophomore year. The Tar Heels even sent Harvey to the bullpen for a few games that season and pitch in relief situations. "It's a little tough to explain," Harvey said of that 2009 season when he walked 42 batters in 75 innings and posted a 5.40 ERA. "Everything just got completely out of whack."

Some say that Harvey had changed his workouts over the winter break prior to his sophomore year, becoming bulky and tight when he needed flexibility and fluidity. It altered his delivery, his fastball and his command. "He was trying to throw with his muscles instead of his delivery," recalled UNC pitching coach Scott Forbes. "He was mechanical and didn't have that good loose arm swing."

The adjustments took time, and Harvey recommitted with Forbes, working through repetition-after-repetition back at UNC rediscovering his natural mechanics and rhythm. He tweaked his workouts and regained his flexibility. By mid-fall, the fastball popped again in the mid-90s. Harvey’s Dad even told his son to "pitch like you forgot what happened!"

The one game during Harvey’s career that transformed him and changed his mindset to believe that he was a player who could pitch in the Big Leagues took place in the spring of his junior year when he struck out 15 Clemson hitters in an unheard of 157-pitch complete game. Harvey says now that this one game helped him find himself. He was locked back into his motion, more confident in himself than ever. It was a breakthrough. "That night I realized I could do this for a long time. I threw a lot of pitches but got stronger. I felt pure power at the end. Looking back on it, that’s when the confidence started coming. I knew at that moment I was ready to move on." He closed out that Clemson game with his fastball still buzzing to the plate into the mid-90s!

Following the 2010 season, the Mets chose him seventh overall in the first round, signing him for just over $2.6 million. After a year-and-a half in the minors, Harvey got called up to the big club on July 26, 2012 and proceeded to strike out 11 Arizona Diamondback hitters in his debut. The Mets won and Harvey’s stature seemingly has grown with each start although he is trying not to be swept up into the recent grassroots campaign of “Harvey-mania!”

“Major League Baseball has always been on my mind,” he says. “Not just being here, but playing here a long time and being the best. Even at a young age, I wasn’t going to accept mediocrity. I feel like I belonged here. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

Says Mets’ teammate David Wright of Harvey: “He’s embraced the spotlight and embraced the stage. He welcomes it! It’s important for a young starting pitcher to have that mentality, ‘I’m better than you.’ It’s not so much cockiness as an extreme confidence. He has that mentality where he believes he can go out there and dominate you. And more often than not, he does.”

No matter how much talent you may possess, it truly is all about an athlete’s personal mindset that determines who succeeds or not! Never forget that fellas!

MY BEST ALWAYS!

Jim Loria

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MICHAEL YOUNG OF THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ON HARVEY AFTER GOING HITLESS IN THREE AT-BATS: “He’s the real deal. His stuff is firm. But what really impressed me was his command. A major league hitter can time a jet engine. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw it if you can’t command it. He throws four pitches he commands – just pinpoint accuracy.”

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“The person who masters himself through self-control and discipline is truly undefeatable. Conditioning your Mindset is the Key to your Success” – stated by an unknown author

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"Confidence is only born out of one thing – demonstrated ability. It is not born of anything else. You cannot dream up confidence. You cannot fabricate it. You cannot wish it. You have to accompany it” – stated by Bill Parcells, legendary NFL Coach and ESPN commentator

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PLAYERS NEVER FORGET: “Our greatest battles are that with our own minds” – stated by Jameson Frank, self-help author

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