Weird Baseball Rituals

I found an article online that discusses different rituals and superstitions in baseball today. It lists the top 5 superstitions which are; 1. The kissing of religious necklaces, making the sign of the cross or point skyward after a home run. 2. Tugging the sleeves, tap of the bat and patting the helmet in the batter box. 3. Some players eat a particular meal before a game. 4. Not grooming on game day. 5. The rally cap would be worn by players and fans help the team win a baseball game.

Many of these players developed these rituals because of success they had in the past with these. I find it interesting the variety of rituals players come up with. The website lists a few of the player specific rituals which are; 1. Joe DiMaggio would always run from the outfield and touch second base before going into the dugout. 2. New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is hits barehanded. Posada believes in the superstition that urinating on your hands help avoid calluses and hardening of your skin and regularly does it throughout the season. 3. Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs would take exactly 150 ground balls during practice. Boggs would eat a chicken before every game. When the former Red Sox great would enter the batter’s box, he would draw the Hebrew word “chai” meaning life in the dirt before taking pitches. 4. David Ortiz rests his bat against his leg, spits on his right hand, and claps when preparing for the batter box.

These are just a few of the thousands of rituals players come up with. When something is going wrong, players usually switch up their ritual to bring better luck.

When I first read this article I just laughed because of all the crazy things people will do but the more I thought about it, I realized I did the same thing in football. Wear the same clothes on game day, eat the same pre-game meal, do the same pre-game warm up, the list goes on and on.