While most athletes are superstitious to some degree, baseball has a long history of it among its players, owners, athletes, and fans.
Players are taught to develop a routine for themselves, both for practice and games, from a young age. Some superstitions are bound to manifest themselves within these individual routines.
Hitters are taught to enter the box, stretch their bat across the plate, and tap it on the plate to ensure that they are close enough to cover the plate with their bat.
Players often like to kiss their bat for good luck, but why would they smell it?
We’ll explain why in this article, as well as provide some additional information about MLB players’ odd routines.
Why Do Major League Baseball Players Smell Their Bats?
The TV announcer said yesterday that after hitting a foul ball, some players smell the bat because it smells like burning wood. That sounded plausible enough.
However, in today’s game, I witnessed a batter smell his bat while still on the field.
To be among the game’s best batters, the bat must become an extension of your body; you must be able to locate it without looking at it, know everything about it, and control it to precise action. It’s best if you use all of your senses and concentrate.
Friction is created when a batter swings a bat at a momentary speed of around 100 mph and grazes (not hits) a pitch approaching him at 90+ mph. Although there isn’t enough heat to leave a burn mark on the bat, there is enough to give off a wood-burning smell.
Pro baseball players could be smelling the bat as a form of superstition. However, some players may enjoy the smell of the wood used to make the bat. Furthermore, the wood on the bat may have developed a different smell due to on-field play, which some players may prefer even more.
Have you ever tried your hand at baseball with a wooden bat? I’ve done it, and it’s a fairly common occurrence.
When you’ve grown up with aluminum bats (as most American kids have), switching to wooden bats is a shock. The smell can be strange at first, so you smell it and marvel — and then keep doing it.
Nick Swisher is featured in one article I found using a Google search.
MLB.com: What was up with you smelling your bat after that second-inning foul ball?
Swisher: When you foul a ball off your bat, it burns the bat and gives off a burnt-wood smell. So I took a whiff of it.
Here’s a gif of Carlos Gomez sniffing a bat:
Over the weekend, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt posed the question this article’s trying to answer.
Gomez noticed that all of the best hitters had some ritual as they approached the plate or in between pitches as a kid.
He wanted to create his own ritual to emulate them, one that no one before or after him had done. So he rotates his bat in front of his face while smelling it as he approaches the plate.
Why often they don’t actually smell the bat?
Sometimes it may look like MLB players smell the bat, but they’re just checking to see where it made contact or if the bat is cracked because if they make contact again, the bat will break, greatly reducing the distance the ball will travel.
They’re looking for cracks in the bat. That’s also why they’ll occasionally tap the bat against the ground.
If the ball doesn’t bang square in the middle of the bat’s width, the pressure isn’t evenly distributed, and the bat may crack (or even shatter) as a result.
The players simply inspect their bats to ensure they were not damaged when they fouled off.
Concentrating on a specific point on the bat also serves as a reminder to rebalance their emotional state.
Each batter has a specific level of intensity, adrenaline, and internal stress that allows them to perform at their best. This is referred to as the “Peak Performance Zone.”
Before each pitch, the athlete can move into this zone by focusing the mind on a specific spot on the bat and taking a deep centering breath. This improves efficiency.
The mind will center on what not to do if the hitter thinks pressure-producing thoughts. Negative thoughts such as “don’t strike out,” “don’t make an out,” and “I need to get a hit” increase stress and pressure.
Thoughts that create pressure can also cause emotional outbursts that are counterproductive to hitting. The body follows where the hitter’s mind goes.
You’ll also notice hitters taking a deep breath after closely staring at the bat for a while.
This deep breath is beneficial to the batter in a number of ways.
It strengthens the mind’s ability to concentrate on the present. It aids the batter in calming any heightened emotions that may arise during the at-bat.
It allows oxygen to reach the brain. When the brain detects an increase in oxygen, it sends a signal to the body to relax.
Hitters who are relaxed in mind and body are more productive.
Why are MLB players superstitious?
At all levels of the game, there are as many superstitions as there are athletes. The order in which they dress, whether or not they change their socks. The list goes on and on.
They may be related to how high, low, or in between, they wear their pants.
I once knew a player who kept his favorite player’s baseball card at the top of his locker. On game days, after getting dressed, he’d prop the card up, take a step back, and stare at it intently.
He never skipped this routine, and the card always made it through the trip, so the routine was safe. It was significant to him. Was he a better player as a result of it? It did if he believed it did!
Many of the better baseball films have included segments dealing with baseball superstition. Major League, Major League 2, Bull Durham, Sandlot, and the Natural are a few of my favorites. They all use the game to poke fun at superstition, both as a team and individually.
Things that players do to and with their equipment can be superstitious or information-seeking.
Hitters frequently tap the knob end of their bat on the ground. They’re examining their bat to see if it’s cracked. It’s all about the data.
Superstition is a fascinating aspect of the game that has existed since its inception. It shows no signs of going away anytime soon.
People develop strange little habits after playing the game for a long time. “Last time, I didn’t undo and retighten my gloves properly, which is why I didn’t get a hit.”
Baseball is strangely superstitious in this regard, and it is heavily reliant on repetition and routine. Out there, they’ll do whatever it takes to get them moving in the direction they prefer.
