So Kyle Schwarber is having a pretty good World Series. That’s an astounding sentence given Schwarber didn’t have a very promising postseason up till now — or regular season either. Actually before the World Series Schwarber hadn’t played a MLB game since April 7, when he blew out his knee. (He’s only played 71 games total in the bigs.) But no worries for the 23-year-old wunderkind, who was ready when his number was called — in late October. (Schwarber gives new meaning to the name Mr. October — it’s the only month he plays!)
Schwarber has gone 3-for-7 in nine at-bats over the first two Series games, with two critical RBIs in the Cubs series-evening Game 2. How does he do it? “Visualization,” Schwarber says, “is a very powerful tool.” Sports psychologists everywhere applaud Schwarber’s technique. High achievement in successful people in all fields is often attributed to “visualization” techniques. (Check out Shakti Gawain’s book on the subject, Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life.) Visualization allows its proponents to envision success before they achieve it — exactly what Schwarber spent a long, hard, rehabbing summer doing. It is paying off big for the Chicago Cubs, whose fans have been envisioning a World Series title for a century.
