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Baseball Superstition
Baseball is a sport with a long history of superstition. From the Curse of the Bambino to some players' refusal to wash their clothes or bodies after a win, superstition is present in all parts of baseball. Many baseball players — batters, pitchers, and fielders alike — perform elaborate, repetitive routines prior to pitches and at bats due to superstition. The desire to keep a number they have been successful with is strong in baseball. In fact, anything that happens prior to something good or bad in baseball can give birth to a new superstition. Some of the more common superstitions include purposely stepping on or avoiding stepping on the foul line when taking the field, and not talking about a no-hitter or perfect game while it is in progress — a superstition that also holds for fans and announcers. Others include routines such as eating only chicken before a game like Wade Boggs, pitcher Justin Verlander eating three crunchy taco supremes (no tomato), a cheesy go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, spirits, and certain paranormal entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific (apparently) unrelated prior events. Also, the word ''superstition'' is often used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions or to all religions by the antireligious. Contemporary use Definitions of the term vary, but commonly describe superstitions as irrational beliefs at odds with scientific knowledge of the world. Stuart Vyse proposes that a superstition's "presumed mechanism of action is inconsistent with our understanding of the physical world", wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slurpee
Slurpee is the brand name for carbonated slushies sold by 7-Eleven and its subsidiaries A-Plus and Speedway. The brand first originated in 1966 when 7-Eleven made a licensing deal with The Icee Company to sell slushies in 7-Eleven stores. History Omar Knedlik invented machines to make frozen beverages in the late 1950s. The idea for a slushed ice drink came when Knedlik's soda fountain broke down, forcing him to put his sodas in a freezer to stay cool, which caused them to become slushy. The result was popular with customers, which gave him the idea to make a machine to help make a "slushy" from carbonated beverages. When it became popular, Knedlik hired an artist named Ruth E. Taylor to create a name and a logo for his invention. She created the Icee name and designed the original logo, which is still used today. Early prototypes for the machine made use of an automobile air conditioning unit. After a successful trial of Icee machines in 100 stores, 7-Eleven made a licensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sports-related Curses
A sports-related curse is a superstitious belief in the effective action of some power or evil, that is used to explain the failures or misfortunes of specific sports teams, players, or even cities. Teams, players, and cities often cite a "curse" for many negative things, such as their inability to win a sports championship, or unexpected injuries. American football Detroit Lions In 1958, the Detroit Lions traded Bobby Layne to the Pittsburgh Steelers, with Layne responding to the trade by supposedly saying that the Lions would "not win for 50 years". The veracity of this story has been disputed, particularly because the quote was never published at the time. Despite this, in the 50 years after the trade, the Lions accumulated the worst winning percentage of the 12 teams in the National Football League (NFL) at the time, and are still one of only two franchises that were in the NFL prior to 1966 that have not yet played in the Super Bowl. The Lions' lone playoff win came again ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ex-Cubs Factor
The Ex-Cubs Factor (or Ex-Cub Factor) is a seemingly spurious correlation that was seen as essentially a corollary to the Curse of the Billy Goat. Widely published in the 1990s, the hypothesis asserted that since the appearance by the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series, any baseball team headed into the World Series with three or more former Cubs on its roster has "a critical mass of Cubness" and a strong likelihood of failure. Ex-Cubs Factor hypothesis The theory was developed in October 15, 1981 by Ron Berler, a freelance journalist and Cubs fan. Berler posited in an article that "it is utterly impossible for a team with three or more ex-Cubs to win the series." Berler based this on a pattern that he observed in the post-1945 era; 1945 being the last time the Chicago Cubs made it to a World Series until 2016. Berler cited many examples of teams with three or more ex-Cubs on their teams that reached the World Series and lost: including the 1958 Milwaukee Braves, the 1966 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curse Of Coogan's Bluff
The Curse of Coogan's Bluff (also known as the Curse of Eddie Grant) (1958–2010) was a baseball-related superstition that allegedly prevented the San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball franchise from winning the World Series following the club's move from New York City to San Francisco after the conclusion of the 1957 season. The curse began when upset Giants fans in the New York metropolitan area placed a hex on the relocated franchise. The curse proved true in the World Series of 1962, 1989, and 2002. It ended when the Giants won the 2010 World Series in their fourth World Series appearance since the move to San Francisco. Background and origin of the curse Although the actual curse began in 1958, the story goes back to 1918 when Eddie Grant was killed while fighting in World War I. The team honored him with a commemorative plaque on the center field wall at the Polo Grounds. While the franchise was based in New York, the Giants won five World Series titles, with the long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curse Of The Colonel
The Curse of the Colonel ( ja, カーネルサンダースの呪い, ) refers to a 1985 Japanese urban legend regarding a reputed curse placed on the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team by the ghost of deceased KFC founder and mascot Colonel Sanders. The curse was said to be placed on the team because of the Colonel's anger over treatment of one of his store-front statues, which was thrown into the Dōtonbori River by celebrating Hanshin fans before their team's victory in the 1985 Japan Championship Series. As is common with sports-related curses, the Curse of the Colonel was used to explain the team's subsequent 18-year losing streak. Some fans believed the team would never win another Japan Series until the statue had been recovered. They have appeared in the Japan Series three times since then, losing in 2003, 2005 and 2014. Comparisons are often made between the Hanshin Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, who were said to be under the Curse of the Bambino until t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curse Of Rocky Colavito
The Curse of Rocky Colavito (1960-present) is a phenomenon that supposedly prevents the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB) from winning, be it the World Series, the American League (AL) pennant, reaching postseason play, or even getting into a pennant race. Its origin is traced back to the unpopular trade of right fielder Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. It was not claimed that Colavito placed the curse, and he has denied doing so. It is one of several curses believed to have stricken the city of Cleveland's major sports franchises for decades. The Guardians, then known as the Cleveland Indians, played in the World Series in 1995, 1997, and 2016, but lost all three to the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, and Chicago Cubs, respectively. Cleveland has not won a World Series since 1948. Origins On April 17, 1960, the then-Cleveland Indians, traded Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. This trade was unique because Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curse Of The Black Sox
The Curse of the Black Sox (also known as the Curse of Shoeless Joe) (1919–2005) was a superstition or " scapegoat" cited as one reason for the failure of the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series from until . As with other supposed baseball curses, such as the crosstown Chicago Cubs' Curse of the Billy Goat (1945–2016), or the Boston Red Sox' Curse of the Bambino (1918–2004), these "curses" have been publicized by the popular media over the course of time. The curse: 1920–1958 The White Sox were dealt a severe blow in 1919 by the Black Sox scandal, with several star players being suspended at a crucial time late in the 1920 season. Conventional wisdom has it that the Sox were headed for another pennant and championship and that the suspensions knocked them out of the race. In reality, the last game for the "Eight Men Out" was September 27, just three games from the end of their season. At that point the Sox had won 3 in a row and were sitting at 95–56 with 3 ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curse Of The Billy Goat
The Curse of the Billy Goat was a sports curse that was supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in 1945, by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis. The curse lasted 71 years, from 1945 to 2016. During game 4 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field, Sianis's pet goat, named Murphy, was bothering other fans, and so the pair were asked to leave the stadium. Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more", which had been interpreted to mean that the Cubs would never win another National League (NL) pennant, at least for the remainder of Sianis's life. The Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers, and did not win a World Series championship again until 2016. The Cubs had last won the World Series in 1908. After the incident with Sianis and Murphy, the Cubs did not play in the World Series for the next 71 years until, on the 46th anniversary of William Sianis's death, the "curse" was broken when they def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slump (sports)
In sports, a slump is a period when player or team is not performing well or up to expectations. It is essentially a dry spell or drought (e.g. a losing streak), though it is often misused to define a player's decline that is natural during their career. There are various theories behind the cause of a slump. Some attribute it simply to the reasons behind a gambler's bad luck. While a player's or team's ''average'' collective statistics over a career or season may be quite respectable, there may be peak times when performance is really spectacular, while there are also expected low points with an inevitable drought. Others believe there are psychological issues behind a slump. At times, a player, or all the key players on a team, may feel less motivated or may not be adept to handling clutch situations. Baseball In baseball, a batter can be defined as "slumping" when he has gotten few or no hits over a period, and his batting average during that time is far below that of his expe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amby McConnell
Ambrose Moses McConnell (April 29, 1883 – May 20, 1942) was an American baseball second baseman who played four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Midget" due to his stature, he played for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox from 1908 to 1911. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed. McConnell played minor league baseball for three different teams until August 1907, when he signed for the Boston Red Sox. After making his debut the following season and spending three seasons with the Red Sox, McConnell was traded in the middle of the 1910 season to the Chicago White Sox, where he spent the next two years of his career before playing his last game on October 8, 1911. He died on May 20, 1942, in Utica, New York. McConnell is most famous for hitting into the first unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball history on July 19, 1909. Personal life McConnell was born on April 29, 1883. He grew up in North Pownal, Vermont, and began his baseball career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's List of Super Bowl lead-out programs, lead-out programming for Super Bowl XXXVII. ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is produced by Kimmelot in association with ABC Signature. It holds the title as the longest running late-night talk show on the network, having aired for more than three times as long as either ''The Dick Cavett Show'' (1969–1975) or ''Politically Incorrect'' (1997–2002). Overview For its first 10 years, the show aired at either the midnight or 12:05 a.m. timeslots before moving to 11:35 p.m. ET beginning on January 8, 2013, to more directly compete with ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman'' while bumping the ABC nightly news program ''N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
