Andrés Muñoz, the Mexican pitcher who transforms fear into anger

The ninth inning arrives, and it’s time to close the curtain. The closer is one of the most important pitchers in baseball, the one who carries the responsibility of securing victory for his team, with the three most important outs, but also those that paralyze because of what they represent.

In Andrés Muñoz, the Seattle Mariners have one of the best closers in the Major Leagues—for many, the best currently playing. The Los Mochis native recognizes that fear can paralyze him, but he transforms that fear into intimidation toward his opponents, into faith and confidence.

“When I’m warming up, I’m nervous. I’m even scared a lot of times. It may sound strange, but you get scared before you go in, but since you’re running out there, you have to go in with 100 percent confidence in what you have, and obviously you have the mentality,

‘I’m better than them and I’m going to win.’ There will be times when that won’t be the case, but as long as I’m consistent, giving it my all and knowing that I’m giving 100 percent to get through my inning, what happens after that is a different story,” he acknowledged a few days ago in an interview with Mexican media.

“Many think it’s the same, that it’s just another inning, but the pressure is different. You have to be careful with the hitters when the game is really close,” he added.