579. A Biological Blessing

Tarik Skubal, a two-time Cy Young winner with Detroit, was traded to the Dodgers and asked before his first LA start whether he was nervous. His answer was essentially yes, of course, and if he weren't he'd be more worried about that. Nerves and adrenaline are a neutral biological response, and the mind is what appraises them. Stevie Nicks calls that fear magic, John Mayer calls it beautiful, and most athletes read the identical signal as disqualification. The appraisal is trainable, but the nerves never go away, so you either live with them or get out of the kitchen.