Yankees: Player superstitions from the past and present

Many past and present Yankees have participated in superstitious behaviors and rituals. Which players? Why do they act this way? Are such behaviors and rituals helpful to them?

A superstition is any belief, behavior, or practice that is considered irrational, illusory, or supernatural. It is usually attributed to beliefs, behaviors, and practices involving luck, prophecy, and certain spiritual beings. A number of Yankees throughout the years have had some of their own.

Those who engage in superstitious activities believe that superstitions influence events by changing the likelihood of currently possible outcomes rather than by creating new possible outcomes. Baseball players whose primary goal is to perform well are more likely to rely on “supernatural help,” such as from lucky items and rituals, than are ballplayers whose goal is to improve their skills, abilities, and knowledge.

Superstitions of previous Yankees

A number of past Yanks have engaged in superstitious behavior of one kind or another. Perhaps the best-known superstition in baseball is the Curse of the Bambino that the Boston Red Sox had for the failure of the Sox not winning the World Series from 1918 until 2004. The curse was supposed to have begun after the Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yanks.

Babe Ruth had several superstitions himself. The Sultan of Swat refused to allow teammates to borrow a bat from him, claiming that every bat had a certain number of hits in it. Curiously, he wore women’s silken stockings between games, believing that they prevented hitting slumps. And the Babe always made sure to step on second base whenever he jogged in from right field.

Interestingly, Joe DiMaggio did the opposite of Ruth. Every time he ran from the dugout to his position in center field, he would make certain that he touched second base along the way.

Roger Clemens always visited Monument Park to touch the head of Ruth’s statue before he pitched in Yankee Stadium. He also gave each of his children names that began with the letter K (for strikeout).

Jason Giambi once wore a golden thong when he was in the middle of a terrible slump. The thong was given to him by a company as a joke, but it seemed to work and he wore it beginning in 1996 when he was with the Oakland Athletics. Giambi said it worked every time, and he shared a golden thong with other players on the Bombers after he joined them. Both Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon also wore golden thongs given to them by Giambi to improve their hitting.

Wade Boggs was well-known for eating chicken before every game. Few Yankees fans are aware, however, that he also kept a very precise routine. Boggs woke up and took batting practice at the same time every day (5:17), he took exactly 150 ground balls during warm-ups, and he drew the Hebrew word “Chai” (meaning life) in the batter’s box before each at-bat even though he was not Jewish.

Mark Teixeira once wore two different socks when one of C.C. Sabathia’s socks ended up in his locker by mistake. He unknowingly put on one sock with his number on it, 25, and another sock with the number 52 on it, Sabathia’s number, before the game. He only noticed it after the game had started, and he had one of the best games of his career (two home runs and six RBIs). He continued to wear two different socks throughout his career.

Upon joining the Yankees, Carlos Beltran admitted that he kept one of his bats at the side of his bed in order to ward off bad thoughts before falling asleep that could cause a slump.

Reggie Jackson felt that he had a magic batting helmet. He refused to wear any other helmet other than his lucky helmet the entire time he played for New York. In fact, when he became a free agent and signed with the then California Angels, he brought his favorite batting helmet with him to Anaheim and had it repainted with the Angels logo.

Superstitions of present Yankees

A few present Yanks participate in superstitious activities. Take young superstar Aaron Judge, for instance. Just before the first pitch, he will start chewing two pieces of Dubble Bubble sugar-free bubblegum. He will not spit the gum out until he makes an out. By the end of the game, he hopes that he has an old, unflavored piece of gum in his mouth.

C.C. Sabathia keeps a portrait of his children in his jersey for support and good luck.

During the Minnesota Twins series last month, Gleybor Torres began growing a light mustache. However, he wasn’t hitting consistently. He decided between at-bats in one game to shave off his mustache. He then hit a long double, turned to the Yanks dugout, and, with a big smile on his face, he was caught on camera faking shaving off his mustache while standing on second base to show that this worked for him.

Are superstitions good or bad?

There is a debate between psychologists as to whether superstitions are good or bad in terms of influencing level of performance and feeling happy with oneself. Up until about 2010, most psychologists argued that superstitions were entirely irrational and focused their research on discovering why people were superstitious.

Research over the last ten years, however, indicates that superstitious practices and rituals reduce tension and stress and thereby improve performance. This is not because people are superstitious but because they engage in rituals. In many cases, rituals can also increase self-confidence, leading to more hits and home runs.

While there is no real magic, there is some calming magic in performing a ritualistic sequence before attempting a stressful activity, like coming up to bat against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of a one-run game. This means that Judge should continue his chewing gum practice and Torres should remain clean-shaven.

Personally, I am not superstitious. I believe that humans are in total control of what they do and what they don’t do, both good and bad.

However, I must admit that when my wife Lisa, who also is a big Yankees fan, sits on our couch in the living room and watches the game with me, the club nearly always scores runs and nearly always squashes an opposing team’s rally. (Yes, bathroom breaks are permitted, but only during commercials.)

Listen Yankees fans, the Bombers do not need another couple of excellent starting pitchers. They only need Lisa to remain on the couch and stay there throughout the game, especially during the playoffs. With Lisa on the couch, we all should be confident that the Yanks will power through the playoffs and win the World Series this year, which will make all of us feel very happy.

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In my research for this piece, I found that baseball players have a wide variety of superstitions and rituals. Some players brush their teeth between innings, chew black licorice, draw three crosses in the dirt, wave at the center fielder before pitches, and kiss a gold cross necklace for good luck.

Other behaviors include tapping one’s bat on home plate before an at-bat (a common one), drawing something in the batter’s box before each at-bat, holding on to a lucky bat or glove no matter how old, chipped, or worn out it is, not stepping on the foul line when taking the field, and not talking about a no-hitter or perfect game in progress in the dugout.

Do you have any superstitions when you watch Yankees games? If yes, what are they?