Chad Bohling, the Yankees’ director of mental conditioning, asked the full squad to think of a word they hoped would describe the 2019 team and bring it to work with them the next day to share with the others.
This was during a pre-workout meeting early in spring training. The hope was that a slogan would be a touchstone, that throughout a long season or in the heat of a contested game, something as simple as a word could break through fatigue and stress as a rallying symbol, a shared ethos.
The players took the assignment seriously and so did their manager.