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njo884
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29 Jul 2008, 11:23 pm

Im pretty sure that he has aspergers. He missed the 2005 season battling personal issues and later it was revealed that he was struggling with social anxiety. The sports media in kansas city mocked and criticized him for being wierd and "out there" before 2005 (and they still do to some extent) and I believe that in 2005 he had an autistic "breakdown" as a result.
Anyways hes back and pitching very well...

I guess its possible that he could just have social anxiety, but the "oddballedness" and extreme talent he possesses seems to point to aspergers. Most of you probably have no idea who I'm talking about (maybe I'm making an assumption there) he is a highly regarded talent in major league baseball, but also known as a bit of a "headcase".
However you dont often hear of sports talent associated with autistic spectrum. well never. so I'm talking in circles here. But I think hes one of this very few, but increasing, kind.



srriv345
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30 Jul 2008, 1:11 am

I follow MLB, and I think so too. The only strong counter-evidence I have is the fact that he is very well-coordinated, while most aspies are not, but that doesn't entirely preclude being on the spectrum. I hope he continues pitching well and making ignorant people eat their words. Criticisms from Kansas City fans and newspapers are pretty ridiculous. If I were in their position, I'd be gunning for the owner of the team first and formost.

Being a professional athlete, especially in MLB, I think, is not at all autistic-friendly, and I feel for him--and any other talented player who doesn't quite fit into the mold, really. There are a few players who I relate to in a certain way, though they may or may not be on the spectrum in any kind of discernible fashion. I think there are spectrum people in places you wouldn't expect, and I certainly hope Greinke does well. In a way it's pretty sad that the environment has been so difficult for him, because by all accounts he may have Hall of Fame-type talent.



chocoholic
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30 Jul 2008, 4:35 pm

I watch MLB all the time as well, and it's not something I've really thought about. I think it would be cool if he was, though. Kind of like the "pioneer" autistic athlete.

There's a player who I definitely think has strong aspie qualities, and that's New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. He's very intelligent (has an economics degree from Stanford), very quiet demeanor, keeps to himself (he prefers doing crossword puzzles to socializing with teammates), very analytical (esp. about his pitching, and seems to have rigidly set plans for how he's going to pitch to a certain team on a given night), there's often a few second pause between a reporter's question and his answer (not sure if he's analyzing what to say before saying it, or maybe needing time to process the question), and he has a very dry sense of humor that seems to be oddly delivered at times. Also has a big obsession with different tractors.

What do you guys think? I think it would be so awesome to have an aspie pitching for my favorite team.



srriv345
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30 Jul 2008, 5:50 pm

chocoholic wrote:
I watch MLB all the time as well, and it's not something I've really thought about. I think it would be cool if he was, though. Kind of like the "pioneer" autistic athlete.

There's a player who I definitely think has strong aspie qualities, and that's New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. He's very intelligent (has an economics degree from Stanford), very quiet demeanor, keeps to himself (he prefers doing crossword puzzles to socializing with teammates), very analytical (esp. about his pitching, and seems to have rigidly set plans for how he's going to pitch to a certain team on a given night), there's often a few second pause between a reporter's question and his answer (not sure if he's analyzing what to say before saying it, or maybe needing time to process the question), and he has a very dry sense of humor that seems to be oddly delivered at times. Also has a big obsession with different tractors.

What do you guys think? I think it would be so awesome to have an aspie pitching for my favorite team.


Big Yankee fan, and Mussina fan, and I absolutely agree. I was thinking of him while writing my first post, actually. I've also noticed he doesn't seem to make much eye contact with reporters. He's finicky about his pitching routine, and was criticized because on a team trip to Japan, he stayed in his hotel room eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches rather than explore the city (Tokyo, I think). Definitely a great pitcher for aspies to relate to whether he is or isn't, though.



chocoholic
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30 Jul 2008, 6:26 pm

srriv345 wrote:
chocoholic wrote:
I watch MLB all the time as well, and it's not something I've really thought about. I think it would be cool if he was, though. Kind of like the "pioneer" autistic athlete.

There's a player who I definitely think has strong aspie qualities, and that's New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. He's very intelligent (has an economics degree from Stanford), very quiet demeanor, keeps to himself (he prefers doing crossword puzzles to socializing with teammates), very analytical (esp. about his pitching, and seems to have rigidly set plans for how he's going to pitch to a certain team on a given night), there's often a few second pause between a reporter's question and his answer (not sure if he's analyzing what to say before saying it, or maybe needing time to process the question), and he has a very dry sense of humor that seems to be oddly delivered at times. Also has a big obsession with different tractors.

What do you guys think? I think it would be so awesome to have an aspie pitching for my favorite team.


Big Yankee fan, and Mussina fan, and I absolutely agree. I was thinking of him while writing my first post, actually. I've also noticed he doesn't seem to make much eye contact with reporters. He's finicky about his pitching routine, and was criticized because on a team trip to Japan, he stayed in his hotel room eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches rather than explore the city (Tokyo, I think). Definitely a great pitcher for aspies to relate to whether he is or isn't, though.


Also, he has a very rigid plan as to how to pitch to certain hitters, with pinpoint location. If the plan doesn't work or the umpire has a very tight strike zone, he'll get really pissy at the umpire. He's stubborn about his pitching style, and hasn't been known for pitching inside to hitters, until Girardi basically told him that he has to mix in occasional inside pitches, or else he wasn't guaranteed a rotation spot. You're right, he's a great pitcher for us to look up to, especially because, since implementing his pitching style change, he's been great this year and has a chance to possibly win 20 games. That wouldn't have been possible for him without changing his pitching style, and kudos to him that he did it. 8)



Norah_W
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09 May 2009, 1:49 pm

njo884 wrote:
Im pretty sure that he has aspergers. He missed the 2005 season battling personal issues and later it was revealed that he was struggling with social anxiety. The sports media in kansas city mocked and criticized him for being wierd and "out there" before 2005 (and they still do to some extent) and I believe that in 2005 he had an autistic "breakdown" as a result.
Anyways hes back and pitching very well...

I guess its possible that he could just have social anxiety, but the "oddballedness" and extreme talent he possesses seems to point to aspergers. Most of you probably have no idea who I'm talking about (maybe I'm making an assumption there) he is a highly regarded talent in major league baseball, but also known as a bit of a "headcase".
However you dont often hear of sports talent associated with autistic spectrum. well never. so I'm talking in circles here. But I think hes one of this very few, but increasing, kind.


http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30591235//

I honestly think he has/had social anxiety disorder, not AS. It seems like with all the attention to AS now, if he had AS h e would have been diagnosed with it. He probably had the best doctors. It sounds like the social anxiety therapy received helped him with the worst of it. He's probably also an introvert, which you don't see too much of in sports, so it makes him seem so different from most of the others who love to get any kind of attention or publicity.

Honestly, no wonder people like me and other people who think they have AS when they maybe don't, think stuff like that. Then some people who definitely do have AS complain (and probably rightly so ) about some self-diagnosed people who may not really have AS. If everyone who is an introvert with social anxiety is thought to have AS by someone here, then no wonder people who are introverts with social anxiety think they have AS, whether or not they really do.

Why do we have to keep finding celebrities who might have AS?



richardbenson
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09 May 2009, 3:11 pm

never heard of him, but my favorite pitcher is comming up on 300 wins. randy johnson 8)



InTheLight
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13 Jun 2012, 1:38 pm

Ethics of self-diagnosis aside, I've been told that several doctors seriously think he has it. It would make sense to me - he rarely, if ever, makes eye contact in interviews, and gives very literal, blunt answers to questions.

He was my favorite athlete before he whined his way out of Kansas City.



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13 Jun 2012, 5:22 pm

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Random Discussion]


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