The Positive Mentality

Name: Jacob Mui 

Grade: Junior 

Position: Center Field

Hand Dominance: Righty 

Height: 5’11 with shoes on

Hair Color: Black 

Eye Color: Brown

Date of Birth: June 28, 2009

When and why did you start playing baseball? How long have you been on the Peglegs and what motivated you to join it?

I started playing T-ball when I was around four or five years old; my dad signed me up. I started playing baseball seriously at around 12 years old when a travel baseball coach wanted me to join.

I’m a junior and I’ve been on the Peglegs for all three years. When I was an incoming freshman, I heard the Stuyvesant baseball team was really good, and because I love playing baseball, it only made sense for me to play for my high school baseball team. 

Have you played travel ball or baseball outside of the PSAL, and what differences do you see in practices and games?

As aforementioned, I played travel ball a lot as a kid. In travel ball, you play for yourself. A lot of people try to get to the next level playing travel ball, so you’re playing less for the team and more for yourself. I feel like the camaraderie in high school [baseball] is better than in travel ball just because the end goals are different: you’re playing for your team in high school ball. 

I feel like practices for both are structured similarly, but there’s more of an emphasis on defense in high school because in travel ball, the coach assumes you know all the fundamentals. In high school, it’s the coach's job to build you up and teach the game because some kids have never played before, or haven’t played in the same capacity as others. 

Batting is nearly as much of a mental battle as a physical one. Explain your thought process or mentality as you step into the batter’s box.

Hitting is the most mental part of the sport. I think it’s really important to have a positive mindset in the box, [and] to not let your last at-bat affect you. You’ve gotta always be focusing on the next pitch. How I do it is visualization. When I have a free minute, like when I’m about to fall asleep, I just visualize myself hitting the ball. 

Also, batting is kind of like taking a test. You’re not learning on the fly. You’ve gotta trust the preparation you did in practice, just like [you have to] trust the studying done before a test. All you can do is focus on the moment when you’re in the box.

What does it mean to be a captain to you? What is it like collaborating with your fellow captains?

It means a lot. Communication is a really important skill to have because it’s something that you’d need in the real world... I think it’s great that we have many captains because we all have different opinions. I feel like we work well together as a team to try to come up with the best decisions, whether it be in games or practices. 

Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?

I had this pre-game ritual for the playoffs, only. When Terry’s was still open, I would go there to buy a Tropical Mango Vitamin Water and a pizza bagel. I ended up doing pretty well in the playoffs, so I guess it worked.

Before I step into the batter’s box, I like to take a really big, exaggerated, deep breath and focus on a small point on the bat. It helps me lock in. I do it in between every pitch. Another thing I do is I rotate my hips before stepping into the box. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a mental reminder to myself to get to the ball as quickly as possible, and to be prepared.

What is your jersey number and the significance behind it?

16. It was my jersey number for travel ball, and I was lucky enough to get it for my Stuy jersey. There wasn’t any significance at first. It’s funny—I wanted 26 because of infielder D.J. LeMahieu, my favorite player at the time, but my dad misread the text and thought it was 16. I had a good season that year, so I’ve kept 16 ever since. 

What do you think about in games (in the field or dugout)?

I kind of black out in games. I don’t really think about things, but I try to be a good teammate, [and] cheer my teammates on. I try to never be a negative presence in the sense that I’m bringing others down. Generally I’m too locked in, or thinking of nothing. 

What is your favorite Peglegs memory?

We played against Beacon, our rivals in baseball. They had an Indiana [University] commit, [and] we had a Dartmouth commit. The game starts and we shelled their #1 pitcher. We’re winning 4-0, but they start to come back, to the point that we’re actually down. I come up to bat in the top of the sixth, and I get hit in the head. I was dazed, and the benches were going wild. 

I get to first [base], and Coach Carlesi comes over and asks me, “Who was Peter Stuyvesant?” I said, “The mayor of New York.” He was surprised because nobody gets that correct. He helped to ground me in the moment that my head was spinning. The game kept going back and forth. It was an emotional game because our seniors put everything out there. It was intense, but we lost in the end. It was definitely the craziest baseball game I’ve ever played.

Fun Questions:

Funniest Teammate: Millan Bisegna

Favorite Baseball Player(s): Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger

Favorite Team: Yankees

Favorite Sports Drink: Bodyarmor

Favorite Post-Game Meal/Snack: Shake Shack after the Pier. It’s nostalgic. It’s a time where the team can get together, talk, and decompress. It’s not even great food, but it’s the experience you have with the team.

Playing on Full or Light Stomach: Light stomach, definitely.

Hobbies: I dabble in fishing. During Covid, my family rented a house in Carmel and I fished every day. I also like snow sports, like skiing and snowboarding, when it’s not baseball season. 

Favorite Bat: Baum or DeMarini The Goods.

Favorite Glove: Rawlings Pro Preferred Mike Trout, or Andrew Choi’s infielder’s glove—it was the nicest shaped glove I’ve ever felt.

Baseball Pet Peeve: Stepping on the foul line when running out, or talking trash before a game, but getting destroyed.

If You Could Play Any Other Sport: Volleyball, soccer, or golf

Motto to Live By: “Always be positive. Life is too short to sulk over small things.”