New York Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton and the Yogi-ism that describes him right now

The New York Yankees are known for all their 27 rings and the legends who brought them to the Bronx. Yogi Berra is one of those legends. With all of his Yogi-isms, one describes Giancarlo Stanton perfectly right now.

The New York Yankees have almost everything going well for them right now. There seems to be nothing that can stop them from their first World Series in nine years.

However, one of the very few things that are not going well for the Bombers is Giancarlo Stanton failing to meet his expectations.

Don’t get me wrong, Stanton has 17 home runs at the time of writing this and is quietly coming around again. It’s just that he is not hitting home runs at an alarming rate and is not nearly looking like the MVP caliber player he has shown he can be.

With all the drama of him changing or not changing his swing does not matter here. That is a whole different issue. There is one thing that I think is a bigger issue. His mindset.

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That brings us to the main point here. Of all the famous quotes Yogi Berra has been on record saying, and they are all iconic, there is one that perfectly describes the Yanks’ expensive slugger.

“Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical. — Yogi Berra

That quote has been around forever. It essentially means that your mind and a proper mental approach is more important than whatever fundamental and physical ability one has.

That is how it is perfect for Stanton. He is strong, fit, in shape, has a fast bat, and just raw power. The kind of raw power that can carry him if nearly all else fails.

However, it seems as if he is in his own head. In Miami, he faced little to no pressure on a daily basis. He never had a massive stadium filled to the max. Fans in Miami are rarely as passionate as Yankee fans are.

As a Marlin, he played a style that none of those fans ever saw before. The Marlins never had anything like him before. It was a privilege and an honor for their fans.

Now that he is in New York, he plays in full stadiums almost nightly. Those 50 home run seasons? That is the expectation here. It is not new for Yankees fans to see something like that.

We also cannot forget his albatross contract is finally a discussion point. Since he signed that thing in 2014, he has not had a bad year up to this point.

He has never had to worry about not meeting the expectation of that contract. In Miami, it always felt they were paying him correctly.

It has to be in his head that people are finally seeing how overpaid he is. This is in his head and it’s probably affecting him.

Another thing is the boos. If you remember correctly, the Yankees faithful were booing Stanton earlier this year. Still occasionally do. He was never booed in Miami.

All the pressure of being in New York is getting to him. The struggle to meet expectations, getting booed, proving he is worth his $300, all of it.

That is why Yogi Berra is right. Baseball is 90% mental. It does not seem to matter that Stanton has all the ability and physical tools to be great. He can’t get all this noise out his head. He is not learning how to deal with all these new things he has never dealt with before this year.

I have no doubt Stanton will turn it around. It is not even July yet. Will he ever be worth over $300 million like he was back then? No. Absolutely not.

However, as long as he learns how to deal with all the pressure of being a Yankee, the booing, the media interrogation, the slumping, he will be just fine.

Even just 40 home runs will do. If Stanton never does turn it around then its a shame. But the Yankees are pretty darn good anyway. It will be hard to trade him but he can be along for the ride. It’s not like he is a liability.

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For now, Stanton should be read this Yogi quote. Baseball is a tough game. But, it is a mentally tough game. I feel that is something Stanton needs to learn and adjust to.

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