Mind Gym

GAME DAY

I’m a totally different person on the mound than I am on the street.

—NOLAN RYAN

I won’t even call a friend the day of a match. I’m scared of disrupting my concentration.

—CHRIS EVERT

Five hours before game time on a bright, late-spring afternoon, a solitary figure sat alone in the stands behind first base in Anaheim Stadium. Walking toward him, crossing the manicured grass in right field, I thought how strangely quiet and wonderfully peaceful it seemed, so different from the last time I was in the stadium, when the Arizona Cardinals played the then Los Angeles Rams. That memorable Sunday afternoon the raw roar of the crowd filled the arena. Standing on the sideline, I could hear the grunts, the violent slap of pads, and the voice of ...