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Someone wake up Green Day – it's officially October. If you need a break from football five nights a week, make some space on the couch for Playoff Baseball. In honor of the MLB leading Atlanta Braves, we’re rolling-up some of the most unique, unorthodox, and downright strange superstitions and rituals practiced over the years by teams and players. Sure, everyone knows about the rally cap, but what about the rally thong? Keep reading to find out:
Mark McGuire’s Lucky Object - Mark McGuire religiously used the same cup his entire baseball career from high school through the pros. And no, we’re not talking about a drinking cup. That's a total of 1,874 games, 7,660 plate appearances, and 583 homers. Mark's 1998 70th home-run ball sold for $3mm, so this lucky charm and some PEDs led him to a pot of gold.
Jason Giambi & The Golden Thong – Speaking of gold, hold onto your shorts cause this is a weird one! In order to get out of a hitting slump, Yankees slugger, Jason Giambi, would wear a golden thong during games in order to break a streak of bad hitting. The thong was found to be so effective that even teammates Johnny Damon & Derek Jeter wore it during their own slumps in the mid-2000s. The Captain recounts his experience with it - “I was 0 for 32 and I hit a homer on the first pitch. That’s the only time I’ve worn them.” Allegedly the trio was set to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, but there were too many strings attached.
Aubrey Huff & The Rally Thong – The 2010 San Francisco Giants won 20 of their last 30 games in a historic rally to make the playoffs. The MVP of this rally was Barbara Heaton, the wife of first-baseman Aubrey Huff, who lent her undergarments to her hubby to wear the entire rally, hence the “Rally Thong”. The result? The Giants went on to make the playoffs, win the World Series, and Huff likely gave up his compression shorts for good. Wow, two thong rituals, you can’t make this stuff up.
Wade Boggs, The Chicken Man – We’re breaking the undergarments trend here and turning to Wade Boggs, considered to be the most superstitious baseball player of all time. He woke up exactly at 5:17am every morning, took exactly 150 grounders in practice, ran sprints each day at exactly 7:17pm, would write the Hebrew word “Chai” in the batter’s box before each at-bat (he’s not Jewish), and would eat an entire chicken before every game, which is why he is called, “The Chicken Man”.
Honorable Mentions – Hall of Famer Satchel Page rubbed his pitching arm down with axle grease before each start, Turk Wendell was known for chewing black licorice during games and brushing his teeth between innings, and Bryce Harper's pre-game routine consists of eating Eggo Waffles and taking seven showers between noon and gametime.
Go Braves!
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