The Missouri State baseball Bears are the number one team in the Valley this year in on-base percentage and rank in the top two in most of the league’s offensive categories. Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman are the top home run-hitting duo in the nation. And while talent certainly has a lot to do with it, would you believe part of the reason is candy?
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Yep. Think of it like Pavlov’s dog. A conditioned response where rewarding behavior leads to the motivation to repeat that behavior. It not only works for dogs, but for your kids and your spouse.
In the case of the Bears, it involves first base coach Matt Fultz, a student assistant and former catcher who majors in psychology.
“We had a game where we had some opportunities to score some runs and had some guys who didn’t have their best at-bat,” Fultz recalls. “It was more like a mental thing where they weren’t swinging at the pitches they were supposed to with two strikes. So I wanted to give some incentive and motivation for good at-bats.”
So the first base coach became the “candy man”, filling his pockets with enticements for players to reach base.
“It was kind of a big hit the first weekend,” Fultz said. “And I kinda joke around and say my pocket’s a little full of candy so we need some more guys at first base. Usually the first at-bat I’ll give ’em a flavored Tic-Tac, then it’s a Sweet Tart and then Skittles or something extra-special.”
While players who reach first base receive immediate rewards, those who hit doubles, triples, or homers get their candy either during time-outs or back in the dug-out. And if you think it doesn’t make a difference to the players, you’re wrong.
“Yeah, it’s positive reinforcement.” Missouri Valley Conference MVP Jake Burger said with a smile. “A simple psychology term right there. I think it helps.”
So laugh if you want to. But maybe just a little reason for the Bears having their best conference record-ever and setting Valley records for most consecutive-league wins and most-wins in a season is…..those rainbow colors waiting at the end of that path to first base.
