Sports superstition
[projekktor id=’21467′]
As the Toronto Blue Jays enter game one of the American League Championship Series, the superstition associated with baseball becomes even more apparent. Because there’s so much downtime between plays, there’s plenty of opportunity for fidgeting and pacing on both sides of the fence. Dr. Carla Edwards, a sports psychiatrist with McMaster University’s David Braley Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre, says rituals are born when actions are associated with a good outcome, “The rituals usually develop because they’ve done them once or twice and they get a positive outcome. So that’s sort of a positive feedback loop and they tend to do it all the time no matter what.”
Nomar Garciaparra is the king of baseball ritual. The former Red Sox shortstop was known for his tics at bat, spitting and pulling on his gloves and tapping his toes. Edwards says most batters have a routine they follow and some are just more noticeable than others. She says the amount of emotional investment players place on their rituals also varies greatly.
He says it’s not superstitious, but every time Edwin Encarnacion hits a home run, he rounds the bases with his “wing” sticking out. Many players routinely thank God after a successful play, as Roberto Osuna did after throwing the pitch that cinched the American League Division Series for the Jays. Some players believe changing their behaviour patterns could upset the outcome of a game. In an interview with TSN Radio, Chris Colabello says he has a number of pre and in-game rituals, “especially if we won, I’ll try to repeat everything the same as I did the day before. Whether it’s the way I bring my bat out, how I put my clothes on before the game.”
Sometimes, when their team is losing, players and fans will flip their hats inside out and wear what’s known as a rally cap in an effort to turn their fortune around. Edwards says fans are often as, if not more, ritualistic than players, “with the hope that even if they’re doing just something just silly or little that it might impact the outcome of their team. So they’re going to do whatever they can to do that.”
Whether that’s donning a special jersey, or leaving your favourite hat at home because your team lost the last time you wore it, rituals are part of being a sports fan. Mini Bautista, now famous for his painted on beard and the perfectly timed swing that may or may not have helped Jose Bautista hit his electric home run, has said he plans to continue swinging alongside his hero for the rest of the series. An action, a positive outcome…and a ritual is born.
