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We didn’t see much of a difference comparing the superstitious beliefs and practices of baseball players 100 years apart. Deep down, people are the same, even when their worlds are vastly different. Maybe you think red socks are taboo, as some 1890s players did, or maybe you are like Turk Wendell in the 1990s and eschew socks of any kind. Same energy. We love history that reveals what people have in common, even centuries apart.
We did note that baseball superstitions have become more bespoke in recent years; Nomar Garciaparra’s handcrafted batting routine might have worked for him, but it didn’t inspire anyone to follow in his precisely plotted footsteps. In the 19th century, there was a broader openness to the supernatural, and more players engaged in various strange activities or beliefs as a group. Maybe, we thought, the trend toward solo superstitions meant that modern athletes were becoming more sophisticated.
And then we found out what Jason Giambi and his teammates were sharing…in the early 2000s:
