Imagine you’re leading by a mile. Victory seems certain—then, bit by bit, your advantage slips away. A six-run lead vanishes, and suddenly, you’re locked in a desperate battle. This kind of turnaround isn’t just a quirk of baseball; it’s a fascinating window into human psychology.

Why do great leads evaporate? Is it pressure? Overconfidence? Neuroscientists have found that our brains react to sudden changes in fortune with powerful emotional responses—stress, self-doubt, even panic. In sports, teams leading by a wide margin may relax, shifting from active play to a defensive posture. Meanwhile, the underdog feels they have nothing to lose, freeing them to play with abandon.

These dramatic reversals echo situations outside of sports: the student who coasts through exams only to stumble just before the finish line; the startup that rockets ahead but falters when success seems assured. In each case, the tension between momentum and complacency comes into play.

It makes you wonder: How often do we, in our own lives, stop pushing just a little too soon? Or, perhaps, seize unexpected chances when they finally appear? Next time you see a ‘collapse’ headline, consider—maybe, underneath the statistics and scores, it’s really a story of human nature in all its unpredictable glory.

This article was inspired by the headline: '‘6점차 역전 대참사 막다’ 7:1→7:7→9:7, KIA 31안타 난타전, LG에 승리…LG, 2위 추락 [잠실 리뷰]'.