Baseball superstition

2025-10-10T11:29:23Z

2A02:C7C:C1F2:3800:BD47:50D3:2E65:72BD: /* Further reading */ updated formatting

{{Short description|Collection of superstitious beliefs regarding baseball}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2012}}
{{Refimprove|date=October 2008}}
[[File:Bobby Witt Jr. 2023.png|thumb|Bobby Witt Jr. jumps over the line, 2023.]]
'''Baseball''' is a sport with a long history of '''[[superstition]]'''. From the [[Curse of the Bambino]] to some players' refusal to wash their clothes or bodies after a win, superstition is present in all parts of baseball. Many baseball players — [[batting (baseball)|batters]], [[pitcher]]s, and fielders alike — perform elaborate, repetitive routines prior to pitches and [[at bat]]s due to superstition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gmelch |first1=George |title=Baseball Magic |journal=Human Nature |date=1978 |volume=1 |issue=8 |page=32-40}}</ref> The desire to keep a number they have been successful with is strong in baseball. In fact, anything that happens prior to something good or bad in baseball can give birth to a new superstition.

Some of the more common superstitions include purposely stepping on or avoiding stepping on the foul line when taking the field, and not talking about a [[no-hitter]] or [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] while it is in progress — a superstition that also holds for fans and announcers. Others include routines such as eating only chicken before a game like [[Wade Boggs]], pitcher [[Justin Verlander]] eating three crunchy taco supremes (no tomato), a cheesy gordita crunch and a [[Mexican Pizza]] (no tomato) from [[Taco Bell]], before every start,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/justin-verlander-proves-not-liar-downs-taco-bell-171811206.html | title = Revised version of "Justin Verlander proves he's not a liar, downs famous Taco Bell order before opening day start"| last = Kaduk | first = Kevin |date=April 2012 | publisher= Yahoo! Sports }}</ref> and drawing in the dirt in the batter's box before an at bat. [[Justin Morneau]], the 2006 [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|American League Most Valuable Player]] winner, wears [[Uniform number (Major League Baseball)|number]] 33 to honour his idol, ex-NHL goaltender [[Patrick Roy]].<ref name="change">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=olney_buster&id=2718457|title=After changing lifestyle, Morneau rose to prominence|first=Buster|last=Olney|date=January 3, 2007|work=ESPN The Magazine|publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures|access-date=October 15, 2012|authorlink=Buster Olney}}</ref> His ritual before every Twins' home game entails stopping by the same [[Jimmy John's]] Gourmet Subs — located on Grand Avenue in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]] — and ordering the same sandwich from the menu: Turkey Tom with no sprouts. Afterwards, he drinks a [[Slurpee]] from a Slurpee machine in the Twins' clubhouse made of one-half [[Mountain Dew]], one-half red or orange flavor.<ref name="change"/> In 2013, [[Bryce Harper]] said on ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!|Jimmy Kimmel Live]]'' that he eats waffles and takes seven showers before games.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Boeck|first=Scott|title=Leggo my Eggo! Bryce Harper showers seven times a day |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2013/01/16/bryce-harper-appears-on-jimmy-kimmel-live-showers-eggos/1839249/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |newspaper=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Certain players go as far as observing superstitions off the field. This includes early 20th-century second baseman [[Amby McConnell]]; whenever he was in the middle of a batting [[Slump (sports)|slump]], he would scavenge the streets and pick up any pin he found, believing this was a sign he would break out of the slump.<ref>{{cite news|title=Amby McConnell's Hobby|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dAIdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4o4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6000,848381&dq=amby+mcconnell&hl=en|date=August 5, 1911|page=8|access-date=October 13, 2012|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Curse of the Bambino]]
* [[Curse of the Billy Goat]]
* [[Curse of Billy Penn]]
* [[Curse of the Black Sox]]
* [[Curse of Rocky Colavito]]
* [[Curse of the Colonel]]
* [[Curse of Coogan's Bluff]]
* [[Ex-Cubs Factor]]
* [[Koufax Curse]]
* [[Milwaukee Brewers Reverse World Series curse]]
* [[Sports-related curses]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
{{Cite journal |last1=Schippers |first1=Michaéla C. |last2=Van Lange |first2=Paul A. M. |date=2006-09-15 |title=The Psychological Benefits of Superstitious Rituals in Top Sport: A Study Among Top Sportspersons<sup>1</sup> |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00116.x |journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |volume=36 |issue=10 |pages=2532–2553 |doi=10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00116.x |issn=0021-9029|hdl=1871/16521 |hdl-access=free }}

{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=B. |last2=Thornton |first2=C. |last3=Neave |first3=N. |last4=Allen |first4=G. |year=2025 |title=Understanding the Use of Superstitious Rituals in Sports People |journal=Journal of Sports Sciences |volume=43 |issue=18 |pages=2046–2057 |doi=10.1080/02640414.2025.2532994 |pmid=40665537 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.thejoyofsoxmovie.com/ ''The Joy of Sox Movie'', a documentary about Red Sox Nation, Red Sox Fans, Red Sox ballplayers, spirituality and superstition]

{{Sports-related curses}}
{{Superstitions}}

[[Category:Baseball culture|Superstition]]
[[Category:Superstitions]]

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Baseball superstition