Justin Morneau's wild stories confirmed just how far players will go to bust out of a slump
It's not hard to imagine how difficult it must be to try to get out of a slump in baseball. Once you're in it, it can easily turn into a vicious cycle as each successive out gets in your head. You start pressing, you lose confidence and it soon seems like the next hit will never come.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and, according to former MVP Justin Morneau, players have plenty of desperate measures at the ready.
Of course, throwing out an "unlucky" uniform won't have a direct effect on a player's ability at the plate. And it doesn't even need to be said that a bat won't be scared by another bat getting doused in lighter fluid and burned in its vicinity. These things will not increase a player's ability to hit a ball.
But, as Morneau alludes to, these rituals do offer a sense of closure -- a turning of the page -- that can help a player feel there's a way out of the slump. What works for one player might not work for another.
Would any of these techniques work for you? What strategy would you employ to get out of a slump?
Eric Chesterton is a writer for MLB.com. He is an appreciator of the stolen base, the bunt against the shift and nearly every unconventional uniform design. He eagerly awaits Jamie Moyer's inevitable comeback.
