Wakefield's Identity Crisis

Greetings all and welcome to the Mental World of Sports!

First a little bit about me...I am a Englishman living in the greatest sports city in the world - Boston, Massachusetts. Sorry New York, but the numbers do not lie. I am a passionate soccer and baseball fan, but will of course blog about all sports. The Sports Are Mental blog will cover stories in sports that carry a psychological theme. I am also a former Professional Wrestler in the UK, so will also cover some pro-wrestling stories as well.

To start with, I will offer a picture that really spoke to me:

AP Photo/David Goldman

Tim Wakefield announced his retirement from Professional Baseball yesterday, and in doing so ended his 19 years as one of the most revered knuckleball pitchers in history, and as the 3rd most winningest pitcher in Boston Red Sox history behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young.

I won't be celebrating Wakefield in this blog - there will be plenty of accolades coming his way, instead i offer you an insight into his mid, and specifically what Wakefield might be struggling with as he enters retirement. Wakefield, like many other professional sports athletes who either are forced into retirement or make the decision to do so are then faced with an identity crisis of sorts. They no longer have to stick to the old routine of training, preparing and performing on a regular basis.

Professional athletes are said to have 2 self-identities, the private and the public. A private identity refers to those aspects of an individual that are not seen in the public domain or are intangible, such as emotions and inner beliefs; Whereas a public identity is often how the athlete would describe themselves if asked to do so in one statement, or conversely how they think the public would describe them if faced with the same task. Tim Wakefield's public identity up until now has been that of being of pitcher. Now he enters a new phase of his life and both his private and public identities will be evolving.

I am sure that Wakefield will move on to his new phase of life in a similar way that he faced his entire career, with dignity and commitment. I mean, these days not many men stay in a steady relationship for 19 years!

Sports Are Mental!