Sonnanstine Uses His Impeccable Mind To Win

By JOE HENDERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 24, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA - Andy Sonnanstine loves to play pingpong.

Not the friendly kind of patty-cake game you might play with your kids or friends on Sunday afternoon, but the lethal kind of game that eventually saps the opponents' will to live. He almost always wins.

"It's a passion," he said.

Out of 400 or so games last year against his teammates in the Rays' clubhouse, he figures he won "all but three games." There's even a video of his game on YouTube. That's great, but - really now - what does all this have to do with his day job of pitching for the Rays? At least a little bit.

"We talk about how much this game is mental and how important it is to have a clear mind and to be free of baggage, free of corruption. At the very least, let's have an impeccable mind out there," teammate and confidante Carlos Pena said.

"When you play pingpong, you're in a little bit of a trance - back and forth, back and forth. You keep your focus. That's an impeccable mind. That's what athletes call being in the zone. Not only can you pitch better, you can also allow your talents to express themselves."

Sonnanstine's talents were quite expressive in his last outing, a complete-game, three-hit shutout of the White Sox. It was the first one of his brief career and about as close to impeccable as it gets on the pitching mound, which is where he'll be tonight as the Rays and Toronto conclude their goings-on here at Happy Land.

Had To Earn It

This is one competitive son of a gun.

Scouts like to look for the "plus" side of any pitcher - as in, plus-fastball, plus-curve, and so on. They had to look a little deeper for Sonnanstine's best traits, though. His fastball won't blow the digits off any radar gun, but he is fearless and never, ever believes he should lose.

"In my mind, I need to think I'm better than the best hitter out there, even if I'm not. If I'm facing Alex Rodriguez, I need to think I'm better than him," he said.

For the roots of that, go back to Wadsworth, Ohio, where Sonnanstine grew up. There wasn't much to do there in the winter, so he would go down to the basement with his dad for some pingpong. Dad told his son that if he wanted to win, he'd have to earn it. This wasn't about family bonding. It was about winning.

"That's kind of the base for the competitive fire I have now. I had to make good shots to get better," Sonnanstine said. "I had to learn. It took me until I was 17 before I could beat him, but then he never beat me again."

Fast-forward to this season. Against the Yankees on April 14, Sonnanstine was routed. He gave up 7 runs in 3

1/3

innings. His next start was the shutout against the White Sox.

"The thing Sonny has done best this year is that he has been a very good self-evaluator," Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "He knows if he got away with a pitch as opposed to the outcome.

"He might be happy he got a 1-2-3 inning but he'll know if he made three bad pitches along the way. He also needs what he needs to do to fix it. That's an important step for any young pitcher."

Clarity, Focus Important

There's one other thing. Remember what Pena said: an impeccable mind. Sonnanstine is his star student.

"We talk about it all the time. You can either focus on the right thing or focus on the wrong thing, focus on what feels good or focus on what feels bad. How would you rather be? I'd rather focus on what feels good," Pena said.

Sonnanstine listened and applied.

"Last year, I'd throw a pitch I thought was a strike and the umpire would call it a ball. I'd get so frustrated. That was a big problem for me. Carlos tells me, though, 'Instead of getting fired up and letting that pitch be counterproductive, think to yourself what a great pitch that was and make it again.'

"That completely changed the way I think, from 'Wow, I'm getting screwed' to 'let's make that pitch again.'"

It took a while to get the hang of it there, but once he did, there was no looking back. And with the Rays, he is 6-3 in his last 12 outings since starting his career last year 1-8.

"Anything I do, I want to be the best, whether it's driving or whatever," he said. "There's one most efficient way to do anything. I feel like I took that to heart - trying to do things the right way, do them the best, to try and defeat your opponent."

No matter the game.