Mariners achieve flow state, defeat Rangers 8-0

Today is the birthday of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (cheek-sen-me-hi), a Hungarian psychologist best-known for his work with “flow theory.” “Flow” is Csikszentmihalyi’s term for a highly focused mental state in which people are thoroughly engaged and absorbed in their task, and therefore highly productive. In a flow state, the doer is engaged by activities that are challenging yet achievable, and each activity flows seamlessly into the next, and the person, experiencing a feeling of well-deserved success and accomplishment, derives great joy and fulfillment from the task at hand. The Mariners, in the month of August, were in a flow state. Every win flowed seamlessly into the next; opponents were vanquished, but not always easily so; and players stacked good at-bats up and down the lineup, as multiple players achieved season-high bests. Everything was good, everything was happy, everything felt connected.

But in September, the Mariners have been in the opposite of a flow state. While mindfulness is an admirable pursuit, over-thinking is the enemy of being in flow. In September, the Mariners have scuffled and struggled at the plate, failing to string together good at-bats and put pressure on opponents. The offense and pitching have failed to get on the same page at times, with one showing up and the other not. Their at-bats have been more scattered than Waffle House hash browns, more shaken than Bond martinis, and less connected than trying to make a phone call from the bottom of the ocean.

But through the vicissitudes of September, one player has remained constant: J.P. Crawford. And it’s not just September, either: J.P. hasn’t had a single month this season where he’s been below-average, posting a wRC+ of 115, 102, 107, 180, 157, and 139. As the power in the lineup has slumped and scuffled, as the bad at-bats have piled up, J.P. has been the North Star, a dependable force at the top of the lineup regardless of what his teammates are doing. It’s the kind of leading by example that characterizes J.P.’s leadership: he is not the kind of leader to give inspirational pre-game speeches or get in other players’ faces; rather, he shows up every day, puts his work in, and lets his actions speak louder than the relatively soft-spoken Crawford’s words might.

J.P. has more often been the caretaker of the vibes, shooing negative energy away from the clubhouse, DJing the clubhouse music, instigating the home run trident the team uses as a celebration. After J.P. delivered last night’s walk-off winning hit, Scott Servais said, “we’ve often talked about how our team flows through J.P. – not just the music – but our team.” J.P. Crawford is a living example of what it means to be in a flow state, and tonight he followed up his game-winning hit last night with an equally huge hit.

Prior to tonight’s game, Scott Servais was asked whose at-bats have…