Silly superstitions

We had a lively discussion about sports superstitions the other day over at my friend Sionna's new blog Don't Mention the War.

So it seemed eerily appropriate that I stumbled upon this article. Apparently a couple of construction workers buried a Red Sox T-shirt under the new Yankee Stadium. It's in a slab of concrete beneath the visitors clubhouse. Now the fear is that this will somehow hex the Bronx Bombers by providing a good luck charm to the Sox and any other visiting team.

I have my own little sports superstition story. My father had two Yankee hats. One was in nice shape. That was his going out on the town hat. But the other was the hat. It was a little grubbier. But whenever dad wore it while watching a game the Yanks had a much better chance of winning (or so we liked to believe). There were times when the Yanks were in need of a rally and I'd call dad and make sure he had the hat on.

We had the hat buried with him. Although the Yankees haven't won a World Series since. So sometimes I wonder if I should have held on to the hat.

Now before Aaron flames on, of course I realize that the superstitions are silly. But that doesn't mean that they're not fun. It's just a way for fans to feel more drawn into the game -- to pretend they have some influence and ability to help their team. It's harmless (most of the time at least).

The Yankees are in Boston this weekend. Maybe I'll break out my own grubby hat for the games.

UPDATE: As Aaron reports, the offending Big Papi jersey was removed during a glorified photo op.