A superstitious club? Perhaps 'a little stitious'

From chicken noodle soup to a silver necklace, Indians boast unique traditions

March 10th, 2020

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Whether there's a line of people waiting behind him at an airport bathroom or in the clubhouse, will patiently wait as the automatic paper towel dispenser slowly spits out one at a time. He rips it off and waves his hand in front of it again and again and again. No matter how rushed or uncomfortable he feels with people hovering over his shoulder, he can't leave until he's grabbed four.

"I think it started when I was in the Minor Leagues sometime," Luplow said. "I was having a really good game and I went in there and I was like, 'I'm gonna grab four of these.' I don't know. Ever since then I just kept going."

Baseball players are known to be the most superstitious of any athlete. They know not to step on the foul line and they never talk to a pitcher when he's in the middle of a no-hitter. But sometimes players can create their own.

In the words of Michael Scott, the Indians clubhouse isn't "superstitious, but [they are] a little stitious." Half of the room claims to have rituals that they follow while the other half does not. But surely Luplow is not alone in his antics. Let's take a look at some of his teammates' superstitions that make his paper towel ritual seem a little less quirky:

: "I always get a haircut the day before I pitch. Not even a full haircut, just lined up, cleaned up, something. [It started] two years ago. I want to say Fernando Tatis. He was always getting lined up when he didn't need a haircut. He's like, 'Hey, you look good, you feel good.' I was like, 'You know what? Let's try it.' I had like six or seven scoreless starts in a row and I was like, 'All right, let's keep doing this.'"

: "I need to eat well. I eat beef before each game."

: "There's times where I'm like, 'I had a good couple of games. These cleats, let me keep wearing them,' or 'I wore short sleeves instead of three-quarter sleeves. Let me keep doing that.' Small stuff here and there."

: "It's about my socks. I got long socks and then short socks. Sometimes I want to wear long and I go 0-fer. I try to change my socks every time."

: "Whether it's in the morning or before the game, I have to read. Reading calms my mind. Just everything. I read a lot of biographies or athlete-based books, mind stuff."

: "For us in the bullpen, I always try to get a snack the first three innings, my energy drink, my coffee. … If we lose, I change my cleats."

: "Before I go out, I fold my towel the same way. As soon as there's two outs or there's a runner on first and it gets into a count where I'm worried about it, I'll fold my towel the same way, rub the three stripes on my hat the same way, put it on, then put my hair behind my ears. Then I'll grab my glove, tighten my laces, then I'll kiss [my fingers] and do three stripes at the top for my buddy Ryan who passed away a long time ago. Then I hop over the line, I draw my daughters' initials in the back of the mound after I throw my warmup pitches and then I'll do three swipes on the back of the mound [with my foot] if it was like a good pitch to stay locked in or if I'm just thinking and just keep locked in."

: "I would say probably the weirdest thing is I have to put my left sock on first, my left shoe on first. In the clubhouse, before the game or even at home when I get up in the morning, I put my left stuff on first."

: "I did until last year. Last year I was hurt, my calf and then my ankle. … I can't go step-by-step, doing the same every single day because my ankle would feel different every single day and my calf would feel different, and then it's like I can't control that. If I wake up and my ankle hurts today, then I got to do a different exercise. That might take longer."

: "My superstition is I give a kiss to my two daughters before I come here. Every day. … Kiss my wife and kids before I come to the stadium and talk to God before the game."

: "When I was a kid, I used to eat chicken before every game -- chicken noodle soup. It hasn't really stopped, I guess. Like if I'm going through a rough patch, my dad will tell me, 'Hey, eat some chicken noodle soup.' It kind of just gives you that little extra boost of confidence."

: "That's the only superstition thing. Every time I play with this chain [he points to his thick silver chain necklace around his neck] I have a good day."

: "Last year, when I was in Durham, I hit BP in the cage one day and I was working on something and I just couldn't get it. I go out to the field, I had BP again. Still didn't get it and I've never been more mad in BP. I slam my bat and I think I broke it. In that game I went 4-for-4 with two homers and a double, so my superstition was to get mad, I guess. I was trying to replicate it, but it wasn't working.

"So here's my superstition [now]: It's not being superstitious. But isn't that a superstition in itself?"