Three-time World Series champion and former Major League Baseball pitcher Jeremy Affeldt is gearing up for the release of his highly anticipated new book, "Built for the Storm: Weathering the Storms of Life with Grit, Faith, and Determination." The book is now available to order, including exclusive personally signed copies HERE. The audiobook, narrated by Affeldt himself, will be available soon.
In "Built for the Storm," Affeldt delivers a candid and deeply personal reflection on the battles he has faced beyond the baseball field -- divorce, personal failure, and emotional exhaustion. Though celebrated for his composure under pressure as a San Francisco Giant, Affeldt reveals that his toughest challenges were the unseen ones.
The book offers behind-the-scenes moments such as pitching with double vision in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, but its message reaches far beyond baseball. At its heart, "Built for the Storm" is a story of hope, resilience and faith for anyone navigating life's hardest seasons.
Q: You've faced some of the highest-pressure moments in baseball - Game 7 of the World Series among them. How did those experiences prepare you, or maybe fail to prepare you, for the personal storms you later faced off the field?
On the mound, everything had a rhythm... even the chaos. The game gave you signals, a plan, and a job to do. And honestly, when the pressure hit, I liked it. I could slow the game down, breathe through the noise, and attack the moment head-on.
But life's storms? They don't send you a scouting report. They don't announce themselves on the jumbotron. They just hit - and they hit in the places your defense can't protect.
Baseball built a resilience in me, the instinct to charge the moment instead of shrinking from it. What it didn't teach me was emotional courage - the willingness to stop hiding, stop stuffing things down, and confront the storms inside my own mind and heart.
So, in some ways, the game prepared me. And in other ways, it exposed me. On the field, I could charge. Off the field, I had to learn that charging the storm meant facing my personal truth and pain... not just the hitter and situation at hand.
Q: In the book you talk about the 'buffalo mentality' - running toward storms, not away from them. How did that mindset transform the way you deal with pain and adversity now?
In baseball things were fight or flight. You either could come in, take the mound, and deal with the problem or be scared and crumble. Buffalo don't play the "fight or flight game." They fight only. They see the storm, put their heads down, and run straight into it because the only way through is through. No hiding. No detours. No pretending it's sunny.
When I finally stopped avoiding pain and started charging it, everything shifted. The storms didn't get smaller... I just stopped giving them the power to chase me. Instead of numbing out or trying to outrun what hurt, I learned to face it, name it, and let it shape me instead of destroying me. That mindset didn't just change how I handle adversity - it changed how I see myself. I'm not someone who hides anymore. I'm someone who runs into the storm on purpose because I know what's on the other side: clarity, strength, and freedom.
Q: You write candidly about failure, faith, and emotional exhaustion. What gave you the courage to be so vulnerable in a world - and a sport - that rewards toughness and control?
Honestly? I got tired of pretending. Toughness without truth is just a costume, and I wore that uniform long after I retired. What pushed me to open up was realizing that all my "strength" was actually isolating me. Faith taught me that hiding my wounds didn't make them go away - it just kept them infected.
Vulnerability didn't feel courageous at first. It felt like I was on the mound tipping my pitches. But what I discovered is that honesty builds connection, and connection builds healing. Once I saw the impact of telling the truth about my struggles, the fear of being judged didn't stand a chance.
Q: You say this book couldn't have been written earlier because you hadn't yet found healing or clarity. What changed that made this the right time to tell your story?
The short answer? I finally stopped trying to outrun myself. Healing didn't happen overnight - it happened inch by inch, conversation by conversation, prayer by prayer. Over time, the chaos inside me settled enough for me to look back and see the path instead of just the pain.
My faith matured, my relationships deepened, and I started to understand the "why" behind the storms I'd survived. For years I had pieces of the story; now I finally had the perspective to connect them. That's when I knew it was time. Not because I had all the answers, but because I finally understood the purpose of the journey.
Q: Community plays a big role in Built for the Storm. For those who feel isolated, how can they start to build that trusted circle - their "herd"?
You don't need a dozen people to start with, you just need one honest one. The herd forms when you dare to show up as you are, not as who you think you're supposed to be. Find people who don't flinch at your truth, who don't disappear when your life gets messy, and who don't compete with your healing.
Start small: a conversation, a confession, a beer with someone you trust. The right people reveal themselves when you stop performing and start being real. And remember - buffalo travel in herds for a reason. Storms feel different when someone is running beside you.
Q: As a husband, father, leader, and man of faith, what do you hope readers take away from Built for the Storm?
I hope they close the book and realize they're stronger than the storm they're in. Not because they're perfect - but because storms shape strength, not destroy it. I want readers to feel permission to be honest, the courage to face what hurts, and the hope that redemption is never out of reach.
If they walk away believing that pain has purpose, that vulnerability is a superpower, and that their story isn't over... then the storms I went through weren't wasted.
"Built for the Storm" is published by Tatanka Publishing and is available HERE, Amazon, and at Free Roam Brewery in Boerne, Texas.
