Wednesday, November 2, 2016. A momentous occasion in baseball history. We were tied in the tenth inning, waiting, pleading that with every run scored we would be able to hold the lead for just another half inning. Somehow, either by enormous determination or simply God's pity, the Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years.
As I sat there with fists clenched and a constant string of quiet obscenities pouring out of my mouth, I was reminded of my first baseball game fourteen years ago and the onset of superstitions which manifested themselves sooner after.
At the tender age of six, I was bailed out of first grade prison by my dad to go to a Seattle Mariners game. Ichiro Suzuki, my soon-to-be baseball hero, was in the outfield and my tender heart lurched in excitement. As I sat there simultaneously watching the game and stuffing my face with cracker jacks, an older gentleman behind us continued to buy me food, souvenirs, and memorabilia for the Mariners, deciding to commemorate my first baseball game right. Although I cannot remember who won or lost the game against the Angels, I do remember knowing after that night that baseball had gained a forever fan in me.
One of the most important things I learned in baseball is that you can never be too superstitious. If you had the best game of your career wearing the wrong underwear or week-old socks, you kept those on for the rest of the season, believing that whatever magic had come from them would continue to give you the best season of your career. As a fan, I wore the four-sizes-too-big jersey the man had bought me every game for years. I wore it until only threads and a hint of ketchup stain were left, and even then tried to unsuccessfully salvage it as a scarf. Yet, my superstitions don't even touch the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful of the country's most serious players and fans.
5. For Love of the Game, a baseball pop culture staple, centers Kevin Costner as a pitcher throwing the perfect game of his career as he reflects on a failed relationship. According to an article by ESPN on Derek Holland, a pitcher for the Rangers, watches the same few scenes from the movie every night before he pitches. Despite the numerous amount of times he's pitched, Holland still refuses to see the entire movie before he retires for fear of ruining his career.
4. The New York Daily News ran a rather revealing story about Jason Giambi's superstition. During every hitting slump Giambi finds himself in, his secret trick for success is slipping on a little golden thong before he bats again. Although this sounds more like John Tucker Must Die to me, according to teammates and friends, the trick works. Some put the thong over other their undershorts, while others tried it Giambi's way, but no matter the use, it seems as though Jeter found it worked, too.
3. One of my all-time favorites comes from a Chicago Tribune article on Kevin Rhomberg. Although it is debatable whether it is a compulsion or an actual superstition, Rhomberg was known to need to reciprocate any touch he received. His teammates would deliver anonymous touches, and if he didn't have the opportunity to touch them back before they left, he would send letters which stated the delivery constituted as a touch.He even spent hours searching for a ball he was touched with after it was thrown out of the stadium. The shear dedication to his superstition marks the need for routine in baseball players, a routine which they believed if broken, would doom their career.
2. Although Wednesday's game at Cleveland put an end to this legend, the 108 year dry spell the Chicago Cubs blamed on a curse, according to The Atlantic. In 1945, a man kicked out of a World Series game at Wrigley for bringing, you guessed it, a goat into the stadium, was said to have put a curse on the team as he was dragged out.
1. Perhaps the most important, and most memorable, superstition was the Curse of the Great Bambino. Much like Chicago's curse this curse, as The St. Petersburg Times states is believed to be what prevented the Red Sox of a World Series title for 86 years. In the year 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series with Babe Ruth at the forefront. All was well among fans, their dream team finally securing them a win. However, after that season the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to their rivals, the New York Yankees, and brought upon themselves a curse for trading talent for money. For 86 years, fans continued to talk about how the team was cursed, spending years just barely missing out on the win they most wanted. Finally, in 2004, after years of many close attempts to secure their title, the Red Sox the World Series, and coincidentally free themselves of the curse at Yankee Stadium.
It's superstitions like these that breathe life and death into the game of baseball. We have a shared history and a shared love of the game. Yet, every great catch or mortifying loss can be chalked up to a superstition in one way or another. Whether you believe in them or not, there's something about screaming at the top of your lungs when your team finally breaks a "curse" and you stand there in wide-eyed amazement, feeling a tremendous amount of love for a team that fought so hard to get there. Being a baseball fan, whether superstitious or not, is like being in a family of millions of people. No matter your background, ethnicity, or religion, if you share a team, you're welcomed there to chant and taunt together. There's really nothing as beautiful as baseball.
