TORONTO – Following the Toronto Blue Jays sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, catcher Russell Martin admitted he tried something different at the plate over the weekend and it may have worked out in his favour.
Several people took notice on Saturday that Martin made plate appearances without his batting gloves.
The catcher homered on his first at-bat and followed it up with a second home run.
Speaking with Sportsnet’s Barry Davis on Sunday, the Canadian catcher said he will continue to hit gloveless.
“Batting gloves are done for a little while,” Martin said. “I had to change something up. I’m not very superstitious but if something works, why change it?”
Baseball is known to be a very superstitious sport while some players would rather call them “routines.”
In fact, superstitions can even affect a team’s front office.
As Ian Hunter, an intrepid Blue Jays blogger, points out, the Blue Jays have dropped their grey road uniform since sometime before the All-Star break.
Hunter points out that a tweet from the Jays’ front office seemed to confirm the drop of the away jerseys.
“Superstition. They like the blues. And if we win, let’s keep wearing them,” Stephen R. Brooks, Senior Vice President of Business Operations, tweeted.
Turns out this isn’t the first time the Jays have stopped wearing certain colours midseason.
During the middle of the 1993 season (the last season Toronto won a World Series title), the Jays reportedly stopped wearing their white panel ball cap after a five-game skid.
The team switched to the all-road hats and snapped the losing streak. The team didn’t go back to the white caps for the rest of the season.
Some players deny having any specific routines or superstitions.
Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t have any pre-game routines and is not superstitious.
Some routines are pretty obvious. Take Roberto Osuna for instance: the rookie flame-thrower always removes his hat, makes the sign of the cross and then points to the sky after a save.
Apparently Blue Jays ace David Price always taps his chest and adjusts his uniform after each inning.
In a 2013 interview with MLB Fan Cave, then-rookie Ryan Goins admitted to chewing a specific type of Trident gum.
“I don’t know why. I started it last year and it worked out. I kept hitting, so I wanted to keep doing it,” Goins said.
Superstitious or not, whatever the Blue Jays are doing in the clubhouse and on the field, it seems to be working.
After sweeping the Tigers, the team is 21-5 in August and leads the American League East by 1.5 games over the New York Yankees.
The Jays go for the team’s 22nd win this month as Toronto hosts the Cleveland Indians Monday night.
As a Blue Jays fan, do you have any superstitions or pregame rituals? Share with us and your comment may be used for a story.
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