Baseball Players With The All Time Weirdest Superstitions

Moises Alou was one of the last hitters to skip batting gloves at the plate. To avoid bad calluses, Alou used his own method: Moisés Alou urinated. on his hands to "toughen them up."

Science backs Alou's logic. Urine holds urea, which moisturizers use to soften skin.Alou.played 17 seasons. In 1,942 career games, Alou hit .303 with 2,134 hits, 421 doubles, 332 home runs, and 1,287 runs batted in. His method worked, but they won't test it.

A player in a slump finds a way back on track. Jason Giambi possibly went further than any other player in history; at least they won't admit it.

A former Yankee and Athletic player, Giambi admitted he will wear aJason Giambi wore a gold thong.beneath his uniform during a slump. He kept the thing in his locker while with the Athletics and brought it to New York. Teammates tried wearing it too. How does that work with a cup? Many questions remain.

Curmudgeonly manager Jim Leyland won over 1,700 games. While managing the Detroit Tigers, he picked up some bad superstitions. First, during a winning streak in 2011, he smoked a cigar and decided to smoke one daily until they lost.

He also started wearing the same baseball socks and underwear every day during the streak. Leyland said, "I will wear these underwear until we lose."he said. "I can tell you that right now. And they will not be washed. And I don't give a (expletive) who knows it."

Babe Ruth, "The Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat," started his 22-year MLB career as a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He gained his biggest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees, reaching 714 career home runs.

Ruth had a few superstitions.Babe Ruth had superstitions.up his sleeve, or rather, up his pants. First, Ruth made sure to step on second base when he jogged from right field. He would run from the dugout and kick it before the next half-inning began if he forgot. He refused teammates from borrowing a bat, claiming every bat had a set number of hits and he would not give one away. He also oftenBabe Ruth wore women’s silken stockings.during time off from the game, believing they stopped batting slumps.

If there were an award for the most superstitions, it would go to pitcherTurk Wendell., who played from 1999 to 2004. Wendell always had four pieces of black licorice in his mouth while pitching. After an inning ended, he jumped kangaroo-style over the foul line into the dugout. There, he spat out the licorice and immediately started brushing his teeth. Then the cycle began again.

Wendell used animal claws and teeth he killed for good luck as charms. He made the umpire roll the ball to the mound instead of throwing it to him. At the start of each inning, Wendell turned, waved to the center fielder, and waited for a wave back before continuing. Wendell would crouch down whenever his catcher stood. Wendell wore number 99 to honor Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Charlie Sheen’s character in the 1989 comedy.Major League.

Wendell signed a three-year, $9,999,999.99 contract with the Mets after.Turk Wendell tells his agent."If I could ever get all nines, let's do it."

Richie Ashburn did not keep old haggard women; he kept actual wooden bats. Center fielder Richie Ashburn joined the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, but everyone knew his secret first. He kept successful baseball bats in bed to stop clubhouse attendants from losing them. Ashburn said he slept with the bats in his bed and joked, “I’ve slept with a lot of old bats.”

Satchel Paige is known as one of the greatest.major league pitchersin history—and one of the oldest. In 1948, at age 42, he was the oldest major league rookie playing for the Cleveland Indians. He played with the St. Louis Browns until age 47 and played in the All-Star Game in 1952 and 1953. In 1971, he became the first Negro leagues player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

His secret? A little elbow grease.grease—literally.

Paige pitched nine innings each time he took the mound. He attributed this to rubbing his pitching arm with axle grease before every game.

Maybe baseball includes three strikes and three outs in an inning. Or maybe retired Expo.Larry WalkerLarry Walker was a weirdo. For some reason, Walker focused on the number three. He set his alarm for 33 minutes past the hour, wore the number 33, and took batting practice swings in multiples of three. That was not all.

While with the Expos—a team that signed him for $3 in 1993—Walker bought 33 tickets for 33 disadvantaged kids and seated them in section 333. Walker married on November third at 3:33 p.m., which did not work out. He divorced three years later, and his ex-wife received a three million dollar settlement. Luckily, his lucky number was not 100.

Professional athletes treat their bodies like temples, putting in quality things. Pitcher Derek Holland did not do this; he ate fast food before starting.

His typicalTaco BellDerek Holland mentioned his pregame meal was four cheesy gordita crunches with cool ranch taco shells, a spicy volcano burrito, a chicken quesadilla, and a caramel apple empanada. He said he would crush Taco Bell or Wendy’s guaranteed. Holland threw a fastball hitting 95 mph, so his gas pitch made sense.

Hall of Fame third baseman.Wade Boggs.Wade Boggs enjoyed an 18-year career. He played in 12 All-Star Games and won the 1996 World Series with the Yankees. When he retired after the ’99 season, Boggs had a .328 career batting average and over 3,000 hits.

Boggs owes it all to chicken.

Boggs.Boggs ate chicken before every game, earning him the nickname “Chicken Man.” He insisted on batting practice at 5:17, running sprints at 7:17, and taking 150 grounders during warmups. Boggs drew the word “Chai” (Hebrew for “life”) in the dirt before batting. In 1984, Boggs published a cookbook with his wife, Debbie, titled: “Fowl Tips: My Favorite Chicken Recipes."

Pitcher Max Scherzer.Max Scherzer has an impressive resume. He was only the tenth pitcher in history to win three Cy Young Awards, and he is the sixth pitcher to record two no-hitters in the same season.

Scherzer does a couple of odd things. He eats a huge roast beef sandwich before each start or wears his shorts backward. His biggest superstition? “He has this superstition on top of everything else that you don’t talk about your superstitions,” his wifeMax Scherzer said. “There’s a few I know, a few others that I only think I know.”

Mark McGwire became a household name during the 1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase while with theCardinals.McGwire set the major league single-season home run record with 70. Barry Bonds broke that record three years later with 73. An alleged steroid scandal might not even be the most questionable thing McGwire did.

McGwire isMark McGwire saidto have worn the same protective cup he wore in high school during every game of his 16 major league seasons. An athlete who signed a$30 million dollar dealwith the Cardinals used the same cup for 16 years. People would think he needed a smaller one, despite the steroid use.