Intelligent people are not superstitious.
Like they don't care if they step on the foul line or on a bag on the way into the dugout.
And they don't worry about mama's back if they step on a crack.
And they change their underwear every day, no matter how many games in a row they have won.
As a first baseman, I always try to rotate who gets the first practice grounder between innings. 3rd baseman before the first inning, shortstop before the second, and so on. I do this so it evens up the number of throws they all get between innings to stay warm. This is what I tell myself. Then I tell myself that it is not a superstition. But I hate it when the damned 3rd baseman is not there before the first inning, or the shortstop the second etc. Don't they know what is at stake here?
I also take three practice swings before every at bat. One as if to pull the ball, one hitting it up the middle, and one going to the opposite field. No more, no less. I tell myself it is to remind myself to go with the pitch. But NO MORE, NO LESS.
And jinxes, there ain't no such thing. Mere coincidence.
Well yesterday, on the way to my night game, I heard on sports talk that Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals had a no-hitter going through 5 1/3 innings. Now I was born and raised in St. Louis, and I am still a die-hard Cardinal fan (who BTW are defending yet another World Series win, Albert or no Albert). I immediately started texting a good friend about it. I typed "Lohse no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings", and was about to add "No Jinx" when I received an incoming text. It was from my best friend growing up Scott, who was watching the game in Albany, NY, and he said simply, "No hits, No Jinx". Now Scott and I often have the same thought at the same time across thousands of miles - this was not that extraordinary. And of course Lohse lost the no-hitter the next inning. Mere coincidence.
There there is the matter of the post I wrote on Monday March 5th. About bad base running, and in particular getting hit with a batted ball. I wrote, "I vowed to never let that happen to me again after that streak, and to date it has not. And that is over something like 1000 games ago." Kiss of death. Today I was standing on first after hitting a single, and Tom, who bats behind me and is a righty who loves to hit to the opposite (right) field to get me to third or beyond, hits a screamer at my feet. Deer in the headlights, and it was bright morning sun. I took it smack on the leg between my tibia and fibula, about two inches from where I broke my leg in a motorcycle accident almost exactly 18 years ago. I thought it might be serious but it appears not, now, so the main thing that was hurt was my ego for being so slow to react and apparently because I did jump to get out of the way, so I was off the bag and out to end the inning. JINX!
But as I said, I am not superstitious. Much. I am just worried - they say things happen in threes....WHAT'S NEXT????
Like they don't care if they step on the foul line or on a bag on the way into the dugout.
And they don't worry about mama's back if they step on a crack.
And they change their underwear every day, no matter how many games in a row they have won.
As a first baseman, I always try to rotate who gets the first practice grounder between innings. 3rd baseman before the first inning, shortstop before the second, and so on. I do this so it evens up the number of throws they all get between innings to stay warm. This is what I tell myself. Then I tell myself that it is not a superstition. But I hate it when the damned 3rd baseman is not there before the first inning, or the shortstop the second etc. Don't they know what is at stake here?
I also take three practice swings before every at bat. One as if to pull the ball, one hitting it up the middle, and one going to the opposite field. No more, no less. I tell myself it is to remind myself to go with the pitch. But NO MORE, NO LESS.
And jinxes, there ain't no such thing. Mere coincidence.
Well yesterday, on the way to my night game, I heard on sports talk that Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals had a no-hitter going through 5 1/3 innings. Now I was born and raised in St. Louis, and I am still a die-hard Cardinal fan (who BTW are defending yet another World Series win, Albert or no Albert). I immediately started texting a good friend about it. I typed "Lohse no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings", and was about to add "No Jinx" when I received an incoming text. It was from my best friend growing up Scott, who was watching the game in Albany, NY, and he said simply, "No hits, No Jinx". Now Scott and I often have the same thought at the same time across thousands of miles - this was not that extraordinary. And of course Lohse lost the no-hitter the next inning. Mere coincidence.
There there is the matter of the post I wrote on Monday March 5th. About bad base running, and in particular getting hit with a batted ball. I wrote, "I vowed to never let that happen to me again after that streak, and to date it has not. And that is over something like 1000 games ago." Kiss of death. Today I was standing on first after hitting a single, and Tom, who bats behind me and is a righty who loves to hit to the opposite (right) field to get me to third or beyond, hits a screamer at my feet. Deer in the headlights, and it was bright morning sun. I took it smack on the leg between my tibia and fibula, about two inches from where I broke my leg in a motorcycle accident almost exactly 18 years ago. I thought it might be serious but it appears not, now, so the main thing that was hurt was my ego for being so slow to react and apparently because I did jump to get out of the way, so I was off the bag and out to end the inning. JINX!
But as I said, I am not superstitious. Much. I am just worried - they say things happen in threes....WHAT'S NEXT????
Now THIS post, therapeutic for me in its own right, has actually done the reverse (if there was any intent on your part to do the opposite (if that right there makes any sense), (wow, a paren within paren within a paren!!), and I will sink further into the depths of ritual and superstition. In my experience, no peoples are more superstitious than baseball players. There's too much time to think out there, ha. So, I aim to return, all things being equal, Lord willing, etcs on the disclaimers, to my old on deck circle ritual (I won't bore you with it). I think I tried, but everything was so new and reborn, I wasn't able to accomplish it, mainly because ninety percent of the batters swing at the first pitch! I'm never ready, I mean that's what that circle's for, isn't it? to get ready?! So, I'm workin'-on-some-workarounds, and I feel more comfortable at the dish, though 'game pitches' are still much more difficult. See? Here's the therpeutic part: this whole time I figured my inconsistent to mistimed hitting was mainly due to rust, but now I think you've shown me the path to the root of the problem. Thank you, Jeff.
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