Superstitions

Baseball is a sport with a long history of superstition. It's a game of rituals, routines, secrets, and superstitions. A timeless game played by grown men who get paid to be boys. Superstitious boys. From the very famous Curse of the Great Bambino to some players' refusal to wash their clothes or shave after a win. No major sport has more rituals or superstitions than baseball.

The desire to keep a number a player has been successful with is strong in baseball. In fact anything that happens prior to something good or bad in baseball, can give birth to a new superstition. Players avoid touching the foul lines as if they are the third rail. They never talk to the pitcher during the late stages of a no-hitter. Some behave as if the baseball gods will strike them dead if they don't follow the same rituals.

First baseman Dick Stuart -- known as "Dr. Strangeglove" -- used to get comfortable in the batter's box and then take his used gum out and toss it across the plate. Third baseman Wade Boggs made it into the Hall of Fame with a routine of eating chicken before every game, taking batting practice at exactly 5:17, and running wind sprints at exactly 7:17. He also took exactly 150 ground balls in practice and carved the Hebrew "chai" symbol in the dirt each time he stepped to the plate, even though he is not Jewish. Shortstop Nomar Garciaparra taught a whole generation of New England kids to tap their toes and adjust their batting gloves before they stepped in.

Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn used to sleep with his bat. Tony La Russa wore a bulletproof vest covered by a warm-up jacket after receiving a death threat while managing the Chicago White Sox. But when his team went on a winning streak, he kept wearing the jacket. Mike Hargrove of the Orioles used to do so much fiddling and diddling at home plate that he was dubbed "The Human Rain Delay."

Tiger Mark Fidrych conversed with baseballs and wanted them thrown out of the game after he gave up a hit. Steve Finley and Darin Erstad wore mineral pouches to ward off injuries. Roger Clemens used to pat Babe Ruth's plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium on the way to the mound. Larry Walker of the Cardinals had an obsession with the No. 3. He wore No. 33. He got married at 3:33, and reportedly paid a $3 million settlement to his ex-wife, according to the book "Jinxed:

Superstitions. Many people have some kind of superstition, but baseball players and managers seem to have more than most.......and most will never give them up!!!! Rally caps anyone?