Traditions and Superstitions

When my son went on a hitting streak he wore the same socks until it ended

never,never, step on the lines....that's where the baseball Gods live

Cant speak for my sons, but - in the field - I crossed the dirt three times each foot - before every single pitch when I played.

I started doing it when I was about 13 years old - and continued until I stopped playing.

I think it helped me relax.
Either that - or i was a psycho. LOL

(No comments please)

1- Same routine in between each 1/2 inning: 2 FB, 1 deuce, 1 change, send the FB down...then step behind the mound and draw a "K" with the cleat before getting it back from the 3B.

2- Wore sleeves every time I pitched....even in Florida during spring training. Superstition that about killed me some days, although the 3/4 sleeves help.

3- Said the same prayer before my locker before every start.

**I like to call these "rituals", not "superstitions"....maybe it just helps me think it isn't so strange!!!

being superstitious is bad luck

My son taps the plate with the tip of his bat before every pitch (I actually am annoyed by this, but as long as it isn't a wallop on the plate I guess it's OK.)

He takes 3 practice swings between each pitch (I don't know if he is counting them or it just comes natural)

When I played the field, I always stepped over the foul lines on the way out and in. When I pitched I always stepped on them with my right foot.

When I played infield I would spit between every pitch and cover it up with some dirt with a sweeping motion with my right foot.

When I caught I would touch my knee guard followed by my chest protector before giving the signs and then my face mask after the signs.

When I hit, I would never take any practice swing once I got in the box. Sted fast and steady......

My 11 year old hasn't developed any, yet. Now, my high school junior is another story. Not only does he not step on the foul line when crossing but jumps over it. Also really feels like he must have a roasted chicken sub from Subway for pregame meal. His football season just ended Saturday when his team won the state championship with a 15-0 record. He wore the same pair of blue jeans every game day of the season and panicked the night before the championship game when he couldn't find them. Fortunately they turned up in his brother's room or no doubt they would have gone 14-1 and been the runner-up.

quote:

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Originally posted by catamount36:
being superstitious is bad luck

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LMAO

My son pushes his socks up when he pitches and pushes them down when hit bats.

When I make a trip to the mound, I always step directly on the foul line....on the way out and the way back.

As the team, none of them step on a foul line.

At bat & between every pitch, our son wets his batting gloves (spits on them) and "grooms the batters box. Parents call him the "Gardener" or "Raycker". Every at bat longball or K, it's the same.

On our club team we parents have a superstition ... when our team is in a game critical situation, either protecting a lead or fighting to re-gain the lead, a collection of parents will stand together in precisely the same spot behind the backstop. You can't move until the "Mojo" has played out, i.e., we've either put the game away or it's hopelessly gone.

One of the funniest baseball pictures I've ever seen was a photo in the newspaper about eight years ago ... I forgot the name of the MLB pitcher, but he was throwing a perfect game, and the picture was of the team in the dugout during their offensive at-bats ... the pitcher was sitting by himself at the far end of the dugout, and the entire rest of the team was pushed up together at the opposite end of the dugout, staying as far away as possible from him.

My son will not allow me to wash his baseball cap until the season is over. Says it's not lucky. YUK, you don't want to sit too close to him when he's wearing it. It stinks and it's crusty!!!

Taps his toes twice with each foot while stepping into the batter's box and then taps the bat on the far side of the plate.

Spits between pitches while pitching. Spits between pitches while playing shortstop and then covers it with dirt. (Not sure if this is a disgusting habit or superstition)

Hubby has to wear the same lucky underpants to each game so needless to say, doing lots of laundry during the season.

Mine is to wear by baseball bracelet.

So I guess you can say that we are a superstitious family.

This was high school- my son had eaten at a fast food restaurant with one of his teammates before a particularily good game. So after that, they continued the custom. If is was a school day, they got the same food from the same restaurant and ate it before the game wherever they could!

Got the same hat thing going as DB2BMom - except that hat doesn't get washed - PERIOD - he used it freshman year on JV's and used the same hat again last year - used the new one he was issued for practice only [getting it game ready in case he needs a backup]. It's a black hat, so the "sweat marks" really stand out [got a picture of him pitching one day in the newspaper - you can see the white lines on it]. He wants to use it the whole 4 years..gets upset when it rains, b/c it washes out the "good stuff". NASTY!! We talked about getting a nicer hat for the team this year - naturally he is NOT for that idea - he'd have to start his hat over!!

Last year our boys were on an 8 game wining streak and their Coach was adamant about their routines…..He kept stressing to the boys not to change anything they were doing. He said if you ate chicken for lunch on Tuesday, eat it again on Friday! What he didn’t realize was that all during this winning streak the team had been sneaking through the woods to Kentucky Fried Chicken at lunch for their all you can eat buffet. At our school students are not allowed to leave the school property for any reason. According to the coach he was walking from one building to another with the principal one day and they were deep in conversation about how great the team was doing etc. when all of a sudden the principal stopped walking and pointed towards the woods behind the school. Coach said he just about fell over when he saw almost all of his team hightailing it into the woods! My son said the next game day they were sitting at KFC and had just finished piling their plates full of food when they looked up and guess who was standing about 3 feet from their table but Coach and the principal. My son said they almost died. Some of the boys wanted to leave and some of them just sat there shoving food in their mouths. Coach and the principal sat at a table across the room from them and didn’t say a word. It was time for them to get back to school and none of them wanted to be the first to get up from the table because they would have to walk right by Coach and the principal to get out the door. They were walking towards the exit when the principal stood and walked towards the boys and one by one he handed each one of them a detention slip. They won their game that night, went to detention the following day and the next game day did not go to KFC but settled for chicken nuggets at the school cafeteria. That night we lost by one run and our boys swear it was because they didn’t eat at KFC!

My son cuts his hair before the season starts and will not cut it again until the season is over. He also will not let anyone wash his hat.

My son has done this for years ... high school, college, and now in the minors ... after his 8 warm-up pitches, he steps behind the mound and re-ties both his shoes, always starting with the right one.

When he was on the LL all star team that won their district, section, division, and regional, the boys developed a breakfast tradition ... they ate chocolate chip pancakes. This started after one of the boys starting to hit more home runs than he had hit all season ... if it worked for him, must work for everybody. The pitchers reserved the tradition for the days they would start a game ...

Yes my son is a little strange when it comes to all of the funny baseball superstitions, lol he just does not buy into it.
During his very first game on the varsity in HS he threw a no no, during the 6th inning when all the other players had moved down to the other end of the bench. John went down and told the guys that he knew he was throwing a no hitter and that that was no reason to stop talking to him. He still finshed it up so I guess it only works if you belive in it.
I got upset during the 5th when a father from the other team yelled for the other team to break up the no hitter lol guess dad does buy into it.