This post was updated June 8 at 12:00 a.m.
Each time Kyle Karros takes the field to start a game, he writes something in the dirt.
The junior third baseman crouches at the edge of the infield before his first warmup throw at the hot corner.
“I write a little word,” Karros said. “The word changes every day. It’s kind of what I’m feeling. I keep that word just so I can check in with it throughout the game.”
Karros’ word of the day is just one of many rituals and superstitions that help him keep his head through the long and grueling baseball season. Described by teammates as UCLA’s most superstitious player, Karros likes to keep everything the same when he’s hitting well: the same finger tape, the same wristbands, even the same flavor of his customary pregame acai bowl.
“When I’m hot, I like to ride out the hot streaks and kind of keep everything the same,” Karros said. “Then if I start to go into a scuffle, I change it all up.”
Karros is far from the only player on his team to believe that seemingly unrelated changes to food and uniform will impact his play on the field.
Junior infielder Daylen Reyes has a similar routine to his lockermate.
“If I’m wearing a specific pair of socks, I’ll keep that going,” Reyes said. “If it has treated me well, keep it going well. But I think everyone in the club is a little bit superstitious.”
Baseball players have been superstitious creatures of habit for as long as the sport has existed. Both hitters and pitchers are constantly looking for the slightest edge they can have over their opponents, even if they have to invent those advantages in their minds.
Like Karros’ and Reyes’ rituals, many superstitions are built around continuing hot streaks. For instance, at the start of freshman outfielder Jarrod Hocking’s 10-game hitting streak, he made one simple change to his pregame routine that he hasn’t changed since.
“Use Chuck Harrison’s (senior right-hander Charles Harrison’s) J-bands,” Hocking said.
For other Bruins, superstitions are mandatory steps in a player’s preparation. Of the three warmup mounds in UCLA’s bullpen at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Harrison said he only likes to warm up on the middle mound. His preference is so strong that he will ask teammates already warming up on the middle mound to move to one of the other rubbers so that he can use it.
Of all the position groups, relief pitchers – especially southpaws – are known for being particularly eccentric. Harrison’s fellow senior Jake Saum said he embraces this distinction.
“As a lefty, I think I get the reputation of being a little bit of a weirdo about stuff,” Saum said. “But I think coming out of the pen, you have to be a little bit weird to come out and get the job done consistently. So I’d say everybody’s unique in their own way on that front.”
Junior right-hander Caedon Kottinger has a coffee – preferably black – before each game. On the other hand, his roommate, redshirt sophomore outfielder AJ Salgado, pops in a new piece of gum every time he arrives at the field.
Meanwhile, senior outfielder/left-hander Josh Hahn takes his dugout snacks very seriously.
“Goldfish are my snacks that I have to have every day,” Hahn said. “I’ll have them every day in the dugout. The guys get on me for that, but I mean, that’s my thing.”
Would Harrison’s fastball be more hittable if he warmed up on the right mound? Would Hahn forget how to hit if he was given Cheetos instead of Goldfish?
Coach John Savage – who wouldn’t quite admit to being a superstitious man himself – believes that routine is part of baseball and stressed the necessity of letting players express themselves.
“We let them be who they are,” Savage said. “I think it’s important that we let them be themselves.”
However, not everyone on the team embraces quirky routines and superstitions. Some, like senior catcher Darius Perry and right-hander Kelly Austin, actively try to avoid superstitious behavior.
“If you’re trapped in your routine, it becomes a hindrance,” Austin said, reciting a lesson he learned from watching interviews with MLB veteran Adam Wainwright. “All the good players have a routine, but if you can’t make adjustments to it, it’s going to make you worse. … I’ve still got some in my daily life, but in terms of the baseball field, I try to stay away from it.”
Baseball players are told not to step on the foul line or talk about a perfect game from the time they’re in little league, while fans will turn their hats inside out or wear them incorrectly in an attempt to coax a two-out rally. In a sport that wears down its players and viewers over the course of the season, players, coaches and fans alike cling to whatever perceived edge they can find in hopes of a fruitful tomorrow.
Reyes put it best.
“That’s kind of just a baseball thing.”
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