My informant talked about pitchers and their no-hitters. A no-hitter is the instance when a pitcher throws a complete game without letting one opposing hitter get on base by getting a hit. Most players will recognize if a pitcher has a no hitter going at around the middle of the game, about the sixth or seventh inning. According to my informant, it is bad luck, or a jinx on the pitcher to talk in the dugout about the pitcher’s prospective no-hitter. For example, for someone to look up at the scoreboard and notice the chance of a no-hitter and say something to someone like, “Hey, look at that he’s got a no-hitter going. You think he’ll do it?”, is believed that almost always the no-hitter will end right at that point. In fact, at the first sound of any no-hitter talk in the dugout, you can be sure that someone is going to strike it down very quickly.
Tag Archives: baseball
“Twos”
My informant and I talked about a superstition that has been prevalent in college baseball for at least twenty-one years (since I’ve been alive). This superstition is called “Twos”. My informant explained that the actions that encompass Twos occur in a game when there are two balls, two strikes, and two outs, all at once. When this occurs, all the players in the dugout, usually both on the side of the offense and the defense, will in unison do something like rub the bill of their cap with their right hand until the pitch is thrown, or kneel down and pick up a but of dirt and throw it in the direction of the field as soon as the pitcher lets go of the ball. There is even a ritual called “The Radar” where all the players in the dugout hold out their hats toward the pitcher, as if it was a radar gun, while the pitcher throws the ball.
Since both sides of a ball game carry out these acts, there are two objectives. For the offense, the idea is to get the batter to a full count (which is three balls and two strikes instead of two balls and two strikes), or get him to get a hit. The defense’s objective then is just the opposite, and that’s to will the pitcher to a strikeout, ground out or pop up. This superstitious ritual is carried out by teams nationwide. See for yourself the next time the College World Series is on.
Folk Jokes
Justin Hargrove/Jeff Newman Box of Curve Balls?
Justin is a year younger than I am, but we have still gone through the same trials and tribulations of the baseball program at Fallbrook High School. While there were plenty of bad times that we endured there, it was not all horrible. We actually had some fun sometimes. The best inside joke that we played was when we sent the newly admitted freshman running around in circles trying to find objects that did not exist. This only worked because of the fear that our head coach Matt Parker instilled in anyone who walked on the field. The young freshman would get on their hands and knees if Parker asked them too. This played perfectly into our little game.
As upperclassmen, Justin, myself, and our other friends had already gone through our initiation. Parker had already played this game on us when we were freshman. So we knew what was going on when Parker decided to start the game.
It all began when Parker would call an unknowing freshman and very firmly ask him to find any one of these four things. It was random, but each item worked just the same. Parker would yell at the freshman and tell him to Go bring him the key to the batters box. He also would ask for a box of curve balls, the key to the flagpole, or a left-handed bat. Now, a freshman, terrified by the mere gaze of Matt Parker would run to the assistant coach and ask for help in locating the fake item. While the rest of the team knew that there was no such thing as a box of curve balls, the freshman did not take the time to acknowledge exactly what he was searching for. He would be sent on a wild goose chase going from person to person asking where the box of curve balls was. If he ever went back to Parker, he would get an earful from him and then be threatened with laps if he did not continue searching.
This game would go on anywhere between 20-30 minutes. The upperclassmen would snicker anytime the freshman would come to them. But because of the fear for Parker, the freshman would continue the endless search. Eventually, the entire team would break out in laughter and the joke would end. The freshman running around had now been initiated onto the baseball team. He had joined our ring of folklore jokes. He could finally be called a part of the baseball team. And the next time that this joke was played on another freshman, he would be part of our group that knew what was going on.
Justin never was a victim of this joke, but I can vividly remember searching for a key to the flagpole my freshman year. I was embarrassed for awhile, but the experience was well worth it to become a member of the team. Feeling like I was a part of a special group of friends was one of the best feelings I had ever felt. Looking back, running around aimlessly for half an hour was well worth the reward of four years on the baseball program.
Traditions
Keenan McCollom/Jeff Newman Coach Maddens Crazy Heroics
Keenan and I have been friends for many years. We met back when we were eight years old playing little league baseball at Fallbrook. We played on all the all-star teams and summer league teams and we became good friends. We still are to this day. During high school, we were always on the same team as well. We reminisce all the time about the good ole days we had playing high school baseball and how much we miss it now that we are in college. The same stories always erupt in our conversations. The most common of which are our Junior Varsity head coaches crazy antics. I know we will both remember these times for the rest of our lives.
There is no better coach to play under than Coach Madden. We were both lucky enough to play for him for two awesome years and not have to play on varsity while we were underclassmen. These two years with Madden allowed us to form a close bond with our coach which then resulted in unforgettable memories. Outsiders only get to hear about all the fun that goes on while playing JV baseball. We got to live through it: Twice.
Madden was notorious for giving everyone on his team nicknames. While these nicknames were sometimes crude and inappropriate, this made saying them that much more fun. Only members of the JV team were allowed to have nicknames, so anyone out of the loop would only get to watch from the outside and not get in on the fun. The reason Madden came up with these names is because he has been a coach for over twenty years. And after that long of a time, there is no way he can remember all of his players names.So to counteract this, he just gave everyone a nickname that he could easily remember. For example, I was a bigger kid in high school, so to easily remember my name; he would call me Big Bird. As for Keenan, he was named Chief Greypants. Why you might ask? The coach told us for our first game that we were supposed to bring white pants. Now being a teenager with limited memory, or just selective hearing, Keenan brought grey pants. He was the only one to make this mistake, and consequently was given the name Chief Greypants. Keenans license plate also reads Grypnts to commemorate his nickname. Madden had dozens of other nicknames as well. Helmet, Milton, La Verne, Marshmallow, Pistol Pete, and Dewey, were only a few of the names he gave to his other players. Nicknames were only the beginning of the special things that we did on the JV baseball team.
After every away game, if we won, Madden would stand up in the bus and sing crude and funny songs to us. This is something that we looked forward to every time we would play a game at another high school. These songs motivated us to play as hard as we could to win the game so that we could have a entertaining time singing with our coach. No other team I have ever been on or heard about did this which made it that much more special.
Every year with Madden, at our year-end banquet, we would have an event known as the beefcake contest. Now, the normal thing in todays society is to have beautiful women posing in their bathing suits. Because frankly, who wants to look at men, right? Anyway, Madden had every JV player come up in front of the stat girls and the parents and do a little dance in their swimming trunks. The stat girls would then rate their performance between 1 and 5 and the winner would be the person with the most points at the end. Some of the more outgoing players would get really into the competition and do things that they normally would not do. For example, some of the acts included fake six packs, strawberries, and whip cream. We got pretty into it.
Keenan and I will never forget our years playing JV baseball for coach Madden. They really were the best years of our baseball career. We made many friends and had the best times of our lives. I dont think we would trade those years of being a part of that tight-knit group of guys for anything in the world.
Junior Varsity baseball traditions and rituals have been around since Madden began coaching. They have been passed on to every new team that he coaches. This is how the stories live on and are told over and over again. The legendary fake plays Madden created are now over 15 years old. He always tells us the stories of how effective his plays were back in the old days. Everything Madden does with his teams is now considered traditional because most of it is out dated. We do it because Madden says they work. Even though in the 21st century, they really are not that effective anymore. Nevertheless, our love for our coach and his wacky traditions far outweigh any embarrassment that we might endure. And I am sure that for as long as he is coaching, he will continue to pass on his customs to his players. No doubt about it.
Riddle
A man leaves from home and goes right. Then her turns left, then left again. He makes one final left and returns home. What is his profession?
-Hes a Baseball Player
The informant, Ilana, learned this riddle from a homeless man in Oakland, CA in early January 2008. Ilana says that she makes it a habit to talk with homeless people. The man that told her the riddle was one of the friendliest homeless people she has ever met. The riddle was one of three the man told her, but it stuck out in her mind because she thought it was very clever. Ilana explained that the answer is a baseball player because the riddle describes a person running the bases. Ilana said she would tell the riddle if a group of her friends were telling riddles. After hearing the homeless mans three riddle Ilana gave him a few dollars.
The riddle makes use of a vague description of an action. A person must interpret the action described in the riddle in order to solve it. If one were to solve the riddle, it would demonstrate that persons ability to think creatively outside of the box. The homeless many was obviously using his riddle telling ability to panhandle people in an attempt to get them to give him money. His begging tactic is very shrewd and inventive.