Only a handful of major league teams employ psychiatrists. In addition to his spring training duties, Harding attends most home games at Dodger Stadium and visits minor league teams when the Dodgers are on the road. Players can call his 800 number anytime. That's a good position for the team to be in. Harding follows traditional psychiatric practices, but working with players in stadiums has forced him to modify his interviewing techniques.
Meetings often occur in public view.
No one assumes there's a major, serious issue being discussed. A player occasionally asks him to break a strict confidentiality rule to intercede with management. In a recent staff meeting, for example, a coach complained that a player wasn't hustling and was performing poorly The psychiatrist knew that the player's separation from his wife had affected his concentration, so he asked the player if he wanted him to talk with the coaches. The player did. I said that right now the player's going through some personal things, and that it wouldn't take more than a couple of weeks until he was back in form.