The Rally Cap- Baseball Superstition

Although I myself am I participant in this tradition as well I felt by interviewing Mark, a NCAA Division 1 athlete, the collection would benefit more thoroughly. Mark has been playing baseball for nearly 14 years. I myself have been on many teams with him throughout that period, including little league when he learned of the practice of the rally cap when he was 9 years old while playing baseball in our hometown of San Jose, CA. Mark recalls the coach explaining to him the rally cap is used late in the game when your team is down and you need some support. While batting and trying to score the winning runs, those not playing in the game will turn their hats inside out and flip the bill (as displayed above). Marks states that this is the most popular form of the rally cap.

Mark sees the rally cap as a way to inspire your team and provide a little motivation to overcome the deficit and win the game. Why the rally cap is used for this is simple according to Mark. In order to succeed at the game you have to relax and let things happen. If you try too hard, you will fail. The best thing to do when you get up to the plate is be loose and let your body do what comes natural. Baseball is such a head case game that if you get down on yourself too much you will pay the price. When Mark is on the bench and his team is down he is always very vocal and supportive of the team making sure everyone has their rally caps on.

In my own personal experience with the rally cap I have come across several different styles in which to wear it. One other form of the rally cap is to fold it to one side and where it only on one top half of your head. By demonstrating different versions of the rally cap this tradition follows in proper form of folklore by having multiplicity and variation. The rally cap is seen in use from little league all the way to the big leagues where both fans and players will don the rally cap to provide their team with a little extra motivation.

I feel the rally cap is a very humorous and light hearted thing, the notion and appearance of the rally cap is a fairly comical one and therefore gets the players feeling a little bit looser and relaxed, ready to play the game. Although the rally cap does not have any true power, it adds a little energy to the players and it does nothing but create positive feelings amongst the players. Baseball is meant to be a fun game and the rally cap reminds us of that fact.