This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak’s newsletter here.Bronson Arroyo pitched for 16 years in Major League Baseball with four teams. These are the three best leaders he played with.Jason Varitek, catcher for the Boston Red SoxJason embodied everything you look for in a leader.He was always one of the hardest workers and crushed leg workouts. That’s why he had those massive thighs.He was organized. He was like a half-coach, half-player. He ran the pitching meetings. On most teams, the pitching coach does that. But Jason was the guy we leaned on. He was also the only guy I ever played with who wore the captain’s C on his jersey. He was the only guy I was ever around who pulled that much of the load.When you’re looking for somebody to lead the charge, you want the guy who you think can go to the top of the mountain and fight a grizzly with a knife. That was Jason.We played the Yankees one day, and Alex Rodriguez was a guy we were trying to beat on the inner half of the plate. I wound up hitting him with an 87 mph sinker on his elbow pad, and he just started yelling at me: “Throw that s— over the f—ing plate.” He yelled that out twice.Jason just wasn’t having it. Alex was big and strong and a huge superstar, so it took somebody with some balls to stand up to him in a meaningful way. Jason didn’t even hesitate. He was just right there to protect myself and the whole pitching staff.Jason would have done that 15 times in a row if he had to.Dusty Baker, manager of the Cincinnati RedsDusty was a very unique manager. He felt like the principal of the high school, and at the same time, he felt like one of the cooler kids in class.