Sophomore shortstop Drew Stankiewicz finishes his swing and looks to see if his hit went fair against Valparaiso on April 21. Stankiewicz said he has to put his clothes on the same way before every game. (Photo by Molly J. Smith)Baseball players are as superstitious as any other type of professional athlete out there.
Jason Giambi wears a thong. Moises Alou peed on his hands before games. Wade Boggs always had the same pregame meal.
Not every player on the ASU baseball team has their own unusual ritual, but some have superstitions that help them get the advantage that will take them all the way to the top.
Freshman first baseman Tony DiMartino says most of his teammates aren’t very superstitious, but he admits he is.
“I have to put my right shoe on before my left one, and I have to put my right batting glove on before my left one,” DiMartino said.
DiMartino hasn’t seen the field much this year. He has four hits in seven at-bats, including a home run he hit in the second weekend of the season at Tennessee.
He still keeps up his superstitions, even if he’s not in the lineup.
"It’s just for repetition and routine,” DiMartino said. “Baseball players are really into routine and not changing stuff that works for them.”
Like with any fad, there will be doubters, but DiMartino says he rarely receives flak from anyone.
With the exception being his ex-girlfriend.
“She’s like, ‘Why do you do that?’ and I was like, ‘You just don’t understand,'" DiMartino said. "Some people just don’t understand unless you’re a baseball player.”
DiMartino understands the doubt behind superstition, but he knows when times get rough, he knows where to fall back on.
"It just depends on how you’re playing,” DiMartino said. “If you’re playing well, I don’t think anything affects it. If you’re not playing well, you’re going to reflect on what you did differently.”
Junior second baseman James McDonald has his own game day ritual.
“Every time I step in the box, I tap home plate twice,” McDonald said.
He also touches third base every time he goes out to field, something he said he’s done dating all the way back to little league.
“It’s just habit and whatever feels good,” McDonald said. “Once I got serious about baseball, it got me ready and comfortable.”
Unlike DiMartino, McDonald said he hasn’t had anybody lecture him about the falsity of superstitions, especially in the baseball community.
“Baseball players understand that each guy has their own thing that he does, and it’s just the way things are,” McDonald said.
McDonald’s double-play partner, sophomore shortstop Drew Stankiewicz, doesn't get involved with in-game superstitions, but pregame ones are his specialty.
“I always wear headphones before the game and have to put my clothes on the same way,” Stankiewicz said.
Stankiewicz, McDonald and DiMartino are set in their ways, but they all said they aren’t too infatuated with superstitious ways outside baseball.
When asked if they had any favorite superstitions, like NHL players sporting playoff beards playoffs, all three responded with a quick no.
Regardless, the three are religious in their own ways, even if they are as abnormal nowadays as Giambi wearing his gold thong to break out of a hitting slump.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
