Padres Must Block Out Doubt, Move Past Losing Skid

Oh no! The Padres' losing streak is up to 10 games and counting. What a brutal turn of events for the young team that still sits atop the NL West.

On August 25 they had just won three straight and improved their record to 76-49. That's 27 games over .500, for those that are mathematically challenged. Since then, Murphy's Law (not Dale Murphy) has applied: what could go wrong has gone wrong.

The pitching that was so good has failed them and the timely hitting that supported the pitching has disappeared. To make matters even worse, their defense is starting to get sloppy as well. They had a four-error game during the streak and have committed errors in their last four games.

They are playing with tension instead of intensity. They look like they are afraid to make mistakes. That tends to lead to mistakes.

It seems that Americans like car wrecks. Hence all of the rubbernecking when there is an accident. Right now, we are all rubbernecking the car wreck that is occurring in San Diego. As they collapse, they are receiving more and more media attention, which reinforces the poor performance that is leading to the losing. They get asked over and over, "What's wrong with you?" This generates an image of failure in the minds of the players and those thoughts of doubt creep into their heads.

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As an example, it's like when you tell your kids not to spill their milk. What happens? It creates an image in their mind of spilling milk and then they do it.

Because of the Padres' struggles, the San Francisco Giants smell blood and are within a game of the division lead. The Colorado Rockies are getting that feeling back that they may be a miracle in progress like they were in 2007 when they won 21 of their final 22 regular season games to make the playoffs.

I can relate on a firsthand basis to the collapse in San Diego. My Mets team in 1998 lost its final five games and didn't qualify for the playoffs. In 1999 we faded again, only to win the final three games of the season to force a one-game playoff with the Reds to win the wild card.

Here is what I learned from those collapses: they are as much mental as they are physical. The voices of doubt that creep in can be overwhelming. You tend to forget all of the good things you did as a team to gain an advantage in the playoff race. As the games are played, you find yourself waiting for what will go wrong today. And when it does you feel like there is no way to overcome it.

Not losing becomes an obsessive thought.

The insecurity and doubt is contagious. It passes from player to player and from one season to the next. It feels like a snowball rolling down the mountainside. As the losing continues the snowball grows in size, until it is so big and moving so fast, it feels impossible to stop.

There is a way to stop it, though. But the focus can't be on the losing or on winning for that matter. Dwelling on winning overlooks what needs to be done to deliver a win.

The message from the manager and coaches and player leaders has to be more focused. The attention has the be about each singular pitch in the game. This pitch in this inning in this game is the most important of the season.

If the focus is on winning each individual pitch, then it will be, appropriately, on those actions needed to win games. If you win each pitch then at the end of the game the result will be in your favor.

When a manager finds himself in this predicament, he needs to make things happen: put runners in motion, hit and run, bunt and run, steal a base, suicide squeeze. When teams are in the throes of a losing streak, they tend to become passive, waiting for something to go wrong. To counteract this tendency the manager needs to be proactive and aggressive, even to the point of forcing it. Better to be too aggressive than too passive.

The other way to get out of a losing streak is to have an individual pick up the team and put it on his shoulders. Certainly a club can't wait for this to happen, but it sure is nice when it does.

Ultimately, the Padres won't be out of the tailspin until they win a couple of games and then lose and then win again. They need to stop the bleeding and then show that the next loss is just a loss -- not the start of another losing streak.

Padres manager Bud Black has never been through this before. He is certainly doing what he thinks is right for his team. Even though it doesn't feel like it, the Padres will win again at some point. Believe it or not. The real question is whether they will be able to recover and maintain their position as the division leader.

I have my doubts.