Washington Nationals using New England Patriots ExxP Strategy?

In Management Secrets of the New England Patriots, it was revealed that the Patriots like ExxP players because they're outgoing teammates who energize others, practice to get better, not just for next week's game, play unselfishly, and generally create a good clubhouse environment. I see a similar dynamic developing with the Washington Nationals.

While incoming pitcher Stephen Strasburg is an ISFP, the Nats clubhouse took a turn for the better with the arrival last year of ENTP Adam Dunn and ENFP Nyjer Morgan. This has been advanced further with rookie ESTP shortstop Ian Desmond and ENTP first round pick Drew Storen. This has been an important part of turning the team around, which features offensive stars like ISTP Ryan Zimmerman and ISFP Josh Willingham. Good character guys, but quiet players who keep to themselves.

Nyjer Morgan in particular energized the place when he arrived last year from Pittsburgh, and helped the team avoid a historically bad finish. This year, he initiated a "Silver Elvis" wig ritual, where the player of the game walks around the clubhouse, and conducts post-game interviews wearing a Silver Elvis Wig. In addition to his own made up stage name of Tony Plush, he creates names for teammates - calling OFer Justin Maxwell "Maxi Priest", 3B Ryan Zimmerman "Peter Franchise, and pitcher Stephen Strasburg "Jesus", because every time he pitches, people say "Jeeesus".

Patriots owner Robert Kraft once said "Great Players Go to Pro Bowls, Great Teams win Super Bowls", referring to the possibly Red Auerbach-inspired team strategy his team used during its championship run in the 2000s. This stands in stark contrast to the Washington Redskins, who have spent the Snyder years signing big name free agents and struggling to break .500 each season. With big mouth Bryce Harper their likely draft pick, hopefully the Nats will continue to stress the team concept of the Pats, and not the me-first attitude expressed a few miles away by their local football team.

Can't Spell Sports without the SPs

Watching youth sports, one of the things I've noticed is how parents of non-SP children get frustrated when their kids struggle. As an ENTP who was good at baseball, I have to say it doesn't come naturally, but we can get there with a lot of repetition and practice.

The problem for non-SP kids is that when things get rough, rather than practice more, coaches and parents start overloading them with mechanical instructions - move your feet, lift your elbow, hold the bat here, etc. None of this helps, especially with the intuitives like me, because we'll forget half of what's being said anyway. Additionally, we often develop crazy stances and motions - Tim Lincecum's lucky he wasn't forced to alter his motion so that it looked more like Roger Clemens'.

The Best Pitcher in Baseball is an ENTP

As an ENTP, I take some pride in claiming the best pitcher in baseball - Tim Lincecum. Described as a "math geek", "having a little rain main in him", and being a "goofy" voice impersonator, he's looks and talks like any other ENTP. And he's unorthodox, from his delivery to the way he only ices when hurt.

Baseball ENTPs are about results, not looking smooth. Rob Dibble, Dennis Eckersely, Johnny Damon, Kevin Youkilis, and Lincecum have all brought goofy stances and pitching motions. Curt Schilling's motion was reasonably subdued for an ENTP, but he made up for it with his hyper-opinionated ENTP mouth.

This 2008 Seattle Times article is filled with ENTPisms about Lincecum. Some of my favorites "It's one of my little mannerisms I do, outside of what other people do" (referring to eating while squatting), "I don't know, maybe I'm just a little weird".

Jason Campbell - a "J" Quaterback

One of the points Jonathan Niednagel has often made is that players with a "J" preference make poor quarterbacks because of their limited spatial awareness, and reduced ability to make spontaneous adjustments. Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell has always struck me as such, fairly rigid in his delivery, and often missing open men downfield.

Mike Shanahan clearly recognized Campbell was not going to bring him another. And even though ESFP Donovan McNabb is one letter off from Niednagel's ESTP ideal, he has often succeeded without a superstar group of receivers.

SPs Dominate Hitting?

Jonathan Neidnagel claims that many of the best hitters in baseball history, like George Brett and Ted Williams, were ISTPs, while an ESFP like Frank Thomas is a great power hitter because the SFs have the best gross motor skills. Additionally, he claims many of the best players across the board are "P"s, because "J"s endurance skills lead them to sports like long distance running, and that you need split second decision making to complete a pass in football, or make a decision about swinging at a baseball heading towards you at 90 mph.

By this reasoning, someone like Casey Kotchman should be xSTP, even though he's not an all-star player. He walks nearly as much as he strikes out, but doesn't have the power or speed to be an elite hitter. He survives with his ability to make contact. Jacoby Ellsbury I'd guess by this reasoning is an ISFP, quiet but with great motor skills, while Niednagel types power hitting David Ortiz as an ESFP.

This all suggest that a disproportionate amount of hitters are xSPs. There are plenty of "J" pitchers, where decision making happens over the 10-20 seconds before the pitch, not the 1/10th of a second after its thrown. There are also plenty of "N" pitchers, where you don't have to be tuned in to each split second to make the right pitch selection.

Something I'll be looking to as I watch the new season. As valuable as Niednagel's insights are, I often find that he can clearly mistype non-athletes. Nonetheless, having reliable ways to identify type could be of great use in coaching younger baseball players, who get flooded with mechanical recommendations from parents and coaches, many of which are probably unhelpful.