|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
| Dr. Richard Lustberg, Ph.D. | ||||||
|
Alex Rodriguez, just one of us Print Media Appearances
Newsday
The Daily Sundial
The Phoenix
Equinox
The Orion
seattlepi.com
reviewjournal.com
Newsday.com
STL Today
Athens News
InfoSports
KansasCity.com
FresnoBee.com
SignOnSanDiego.com
BerkshireEagle.com:
Daily Herald:
Courier News:
Examiner:
PajamasMedia:
ESPN.com:
VC2:
Kane County Chronicle:
Christian Science Monitor:
smh.com.au:
NewsReview.com:
Philadelphia Daily News:
Winston-Salem
Journal:
The Boston
Globe:
USA Today:
Journal Gazette:
The Associated Press:
Newsday.com:
ReviewJournal.com:
PJM News:
Unabated Sports:
Sports Central:
PE
Canoe
Coloradoan
Orlando Sentinel
Star Telegram
Jacksonville
Belleville News Democrat
Star Telegram
Des Moines Register DenverPost.com dailypress.com SignOnSanDiego.com latimes.com PE.com OCRegister.com Mets
Inside Pitch post-gazette.com Hartford
Courant
Mercury
News phillyBurbs.com York
Daily Record Denver
Post The
Duquesne Duke Chicago
Tribune Sunday
Herald New
York Daily News
The San Diego Union-Tribune
International Network on Personal Meaning
The Plain Dealer
|
Superstitions help players deal with frequent
failure
By Ryan ClarkSentinel Staff Writer
March 30, 2003
Hey! Yeah, you -- Mr. Rookie Baseball Player over there. It's Opening Day, for crying out loud. Don't you know the rules?
Here are the basics, the simple do's and don'ts of the league, from a wise veteran. Ready? Listen up.
Do not step on the foul line -- ever. Do not talk to the pitcher when he's throwing a good game. Do not change your workout routine or meals when on a hitting streak.
Got it? Good. Here are a few more.
Do talk to your bat. Do sleep with your bat. Do spit in your hand before picking up said bat. But do not loan said bat to a teammate. Do step on a base before running off the field. Do turn your cap around if losing in the later innings of a game.
Make sense? If you're a baseball player, it should.
Since the game was invented, baseball players have developed their own unique superstitions to handle the ups and downs of the season. Maybe their habits help them cope with the pressure to succeed, help them overcome their intense fear of failure. Or maybe these beliefs give players added confidence on the field. Whatever the reasons, the legends of baseball have legendary routines.
Former Red Sox, Yankees and Devil Rays player Wade Boggs was called "Chicken Man," because he ate chicken before every game. He also started his wind sprints exactly 16 minutes before game time.
Dick Stuart, who spent the majority of his 10-year career with the Pirates and Red Sox, used to take chewing gum out of his mouth, then throw it across home plate -- right before every at-bat.
And it's just not players. Managers can get into the act, too.
Former Phillies, Expos, Twins and Angels manager Gene Mauch wouldn't clean his uniform if his team won. After winning streaks, he became known as the smelliest man in the league. Former Reds and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson wouldn't step on the foul line on his way to the mound, or on his way back.
"It's sick, just sick," said Frank Viola, a three-time all-star and former Cy Young Award winner. "People are really weird about this stuff."
Don't think Viola is any different. He had his own superstitions -- he just calls them his "routines."
Viola said that during his successful run with the Mets and Twins, as well as later in his career, he always would clean the mound before each inning, kicking up dirt exactly four times.
"But of course, if something bad should happen, I couldn't do it four times anymore," Viola said. "I'd have to kick up dirt three times, or five times, because four wasn't working."
Viola said baseball produces superstitious players because the game is cerebral, with so few chances to redeem oneself after a mistake.
"You have nothing to do but think," he said. "So you have your routine."
Richard Lustberg, a sports psychologist based in New York, said the reason for developing superstitions is simple: It's a "coping mechanism" to deal with the pressure to succeed.
"Athletes begin to believe, and want to believe, that their particular routine is enhancing their performance," Lustberg said. "In reality, it's probably just practice and confidence that's making them perform better."
Lustberg said superstitions are circular. If a player has success in sports, it's more than likely because of practice and skill. But if the player attributes his or her success to some type of different act, such as wearing a certain article of clothing or repeating some kind of routine (like what to eat or where to walk), the player will repeat the act.
The player now believes success will occur, causing confidence to rise. That increased confidence allows the player to perform at a higher level.
"All of a sudden, you're successful," Lustberg said. "It's not what batting glove you're wearing, or what you are or aren't eating; it's the belief that you will succeed. And different beliefs help different players."
Like Ted Williams, who once a year would go to Louisville, Ky., and spend hours searching for the perfect piece of wood that would be made into his bat. Or former Cubs and Mets reliever Turk Wendell, who would brush his teeth and chew licorice between every inning.
Or even like Tony Pena, now manager of the Kansas City Royals and once a teammate of Viola's in Boston.
Pena, only a .229 hitter in four seasons in Boston, wouldn't wash his undershirt if he were on a hitting streak.
"You got some bad stink in the clubhouse," Viola said. "It was just disgusting."
But Viola understands.
"Whatever works, whatever helps you out, that's fine," he said. "We're definitely a superstitious group."
Copyright © 2003, Orlando Sentinel