Ninety Percent Mental

By: Bob Tewksbury, Scott Miller

Narrated by: Bob Tewksbury

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Former Major League pitcher and mental skills coach for two of baseball's legendary franchises (the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants) Bob Tewksbury takes fans inside the psychology of baseball. In Ninety Percent Mental, Bob Tewksbury shows readers a side of the game only he can provide, given his singular background as both a longtime MLB pitcher and a mental skills coach for two of the sport's most fabled franchises, the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. Fans watching the game on television or even at the stadium don't have access to the mind games a pitcher must play in order to get through an at-bat, an inning, a game. 

Tewksbury explores the fascinating psychology behind baseball, such as how players use techniques of imagery, self-awareness, and strategic thinking to maximize performance, and how a pitcher's strategy changes throughout a game. He also offers an in-depth look into some of baseball's most monumental moments and intimate anecdotes from a "who's who" of the game, including legendary players who Tewksbury played with and against (such as Mark McGwire, Craig Biggio, and Greg Maddux), game-changing managers and executives (Joe Torre, Bruce Bochy, Brian Sabean), and current star players (Jon Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Miller, Rich Hill). 

With Tewksbury's esoteric knowledge as a thinking-fan's player and his expertise as a "baseball whisperer", this entertaining book is perfect for any fan who wants to see the game in a way he or she has never seen it before. 

Ninety Percent Mental will deliver an unprecedented look at the mound games and mind games of Major League Baseball. 

©2018 Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Cutting edge stuff in the new frontier of baseball readiness. Forget WAR and heartless analytics, former All-Star pitcher Bob Tewksbury and veteran scribe Scott Miller explain that baseball success and failure is 'Ninety Percent Mental.' This book should be required reading for all ballplayers, coaches, and parents." (Dan Shaughnessy, New York Times best-selling author and 2016 Spink Award recipient at Baseball Hall of Fame)

"Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller combined to produce a must-read book for anyone fascinated by the mental side of baseball. This is about so much more than the journey of a veteran pitcher. It's about the journey of one of baseball's most inquisitive minds." (Jayson Stark, former senior columnist, ESPN.com)

"Tewks and I were teammates when Tewks was ending his career with the Twins. I saw him use his mind to be successful on the mound. Years later, we were once again on the same team with the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox, and I again saw him use his mind - this time to help others. I know he helped us win, and I know this book can help anyone who reads it." (David Ortiz, 10-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion, and New York Times best-selling author of Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits; called "the most important player in Boston Red Sox history")

Unique and fascinating perspective

What made the experience of listening to Ninety Percent Mental the most enjoyable?

A compelling book that takes you behind the scene and into the minds of professional baseball players and coaches. Any athlete at any level will relate to and benefit from Tewksbury's mental coaching approach.

Didn't need the F word. Great otherwise

I would love to recommend this book to my entire 12U fastpitch team but I am not going to because of some of the language. It takes away from the message of this book. Great content otherwise.

Fantastic for Sports & Life

Great listen for you, your kids, your job, whatever. Loved all of the subtle baseball references too. Loved to watch BT work as a pitcher. Now I know why! Thanks!!!

Sports Psychology Gem

Thoroughly enjoyed this book on Audible.
Great stories and techniques to keep your mind sharp and improve the mental game. Recommend this to coaches, athletes and parents with athletes!
I’m always looking for books that have specific examples of imagery and visualization techniques and this one delivered.

Repetitive

The book would be good if it was one quarter as long. It gets very repetitive. Someone who is more of a baseball fan might like it more.

Insightful

I struggled a bit to get into the book due to Bob's narration. He doesn't have a lot of excitement in his voice. The content was fantastic and Tewk's should be commended for that! I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for an edge in baseball!

Humorless Self Promotion

I went into this with few expectations. Some of Tewksbury’s original stories about his perspective as a contact pitcher in the 90s are interesting. However.. the rest of this book is filled with name dropping self promotion. The parts with Andre Miller are particularly ripe. Tewksbury practically single handedly takes credit for both Andrew Miller’s and Jon Lester’s success in the MLB. He does this all while completely ignoring statistical analysis in his approach in lieu of pseudo-science. Worst of all, every single attempt at humor is unbearably grating; this guy truly has the personality of a wet moth. Definitely avoid this one.

Mental skills abound

Fascinating look at the amazingly difficult task of being a major leaguer. Most enjoyable to listen to.

Great insight into baseball psychology

Great story. I wish the book had a companion book to apply to other sports or life skills. ThT would be really cool- and useful.

Baseball and good life advice

It provides great tips to get out of mental hurdles for any challenge in life, but it also has great baseball stories and insight.