Major League Baseball is a kid's game, played by adults, who, (like or not), often tend to act more like six year olds than many six year olds. The honest truth is that it should not surprise us that these manchildren routinely behave with petulance and puerility. Most begin dreaming of playing in the Bigs when they are still quite small. One of my teachers happened to teach English to Gaylord Perry many years before I was in her class, and noted that every creative writing effort Gaylord ever penned involved a small town boy making it in the Majors.

For those kids drafted straight out of high school, their livelihood immediately becomes baseball. They get to continue their childhood, continue to hang out with the guys, (just like in school), and generally have what amounts to an extended stay in summer camp. The only real push into reality might occur during the baseball offseason. But, they are likely rooming with some other kid on their minor league team, or maybe they fly home to the parents in the off-season, so any movement into the "real world" is almost certainly stunted.

College doesn't make that much difference, as the frat-boy/jock lifestyle is hardly conducive to the concept of growing up or being responsible. Some of the trappings of adulthood are thrust upon these guys, checking accounts, credit cards, needing to pay rent, utilities, buy groceries. It's not that they don't get some of the push into adulthood that normal 9-to-5ers ultimately endure, just that they get less of it. The ones most likely to make the majors often get massive signing bonuses, which change the landscape of what is affordable. There's a wonderful combination -- a fully grown adolescent with lots of money and a bunch of equally immature friends to suggest ways to blow it.

Recent knowledge gains have shown us that the human brain doesn't finish developing until age 25, and the last part to fully form is that associated with maturity and higher reasoning. So, the vast majority of teen prospects not only are likely to be less mature due to environment, the physical capacity to behave maturely is not yet fully developed. It's not accident that MLB is described as "The Boys of Summer".

If one wanted to try and describe maturity mathematically, I think it would be a simple equation of Intellect divided by Emotion.

M = I/E -- where the M is Maturity, I is Intellect, and E is emotion.

The more rationally you act and/or the less emotionally you act, the more mature you are perceived. Spock would have a sky-high M -- Kirk would be near 1, and McCoy would be zero point something. Immaturity is driven by an unwillingness (or inability) to listen to reason. It often manifests in Hedonism, wanting to fulfil immediate emotional desires, even if the consequences of those actions may be detrimental.

So, is it any wonder that when we see quotes in the newspapers or on ESPN that these ballplayers often seem disconnected from reality? They've never been connected to reality, so why should they know about it?

Felix LIKES throwing fastballs. The rush of throwing the FBs - (and the lack of humility) - overwhelm the good sense of mixing in the curves. Getting yelled at is an emotional downer, so to avoid getting yelled at, the immature may behave. But, there are cases where getting yelled at has the opposite effect - where the negative emotions lead to even worse actions. Every human has a base personality, influenced by many factors, but still there. If you're born a type A personality, needing to be in charge, getting told by the coaches or catcher what you SHOULD be throwing would naturally grate against your basic nature.

With Felix, I have a sneaky suspicion that what he needs is a battery mate that feeds the positive emotions, rather than inducing rebellion with negative ones. "Dude, let's set this guy up with some curves so he'll look like a doofus when we strike him out with your heat -- and then we can (what's the current vernacular for "split" these days?) - and play some HALO." It's not just what you're asking, it's also about how you ask it, and who is doing the talking.

Morrow (24) and Felix (23) can come across in the press as spoiled brat teenagers. This is no shock, they effectively are spoiled brat teens. But, I believe both are beginning to *SEE* the value of the cerebral aspects of pitching. When Washburn is having results as good as Felix. When Olson and Vargas come up and have great results with stuff that is clearly inferior. When it ceases to be just talk, and actual in-the-face real-world results that they are faced with -- then it becomes easier to remove the Ipod earplugs and actually listen to what is being said.

During the Bavasi era, Batista was the only "shrewd" pitcher to come in and have some success. But, even at that, there were comments here and there where some respect for him was granted by the young pheenoms. But, the success was fleeting. Recently, Morrow has reversed course again, and appears finally willing to accept that he DOES have something to learn about pitching. The success of guys with much less raw talent has to play a part in that change of heart. Only time will tell if Morrow can effectively harnass his talent. But, at the very least, he seems finally willing to listen and work at it.

I wonder ... how much of Felix' recent spark of life in his dealing is related to the same observations. Maybe it's having a young kid as his catcher. Maybe it's getting to watch Vargas and Olson continue to dodge bullets and succeed at levels that on the surface are far beyond their raw talent. Whatever the case, there are growing signs that Morrow and Felix are both maturing.

In point of fact, I would say that the Mariner clubhouse for the past 4 years was a zoo of spoiled brats, which created an atmosphere of laziness and acceptance of failure. The school has a new principal in Captain Jack, and a new teacher in Wak. The worst of the unruly students have been expelled. There's still work to be done with the remaining spoiled brats. But, the indications seem to be clear that it is not just a few players that are maturing ... but the entire organization. If things continue to progress along this front, and the fans can be patient, I believe that in the not so distant future, everyone is going to have something to REALLY get emotional about.