It might be hard to believe, but superstition and sports kind of go hand in hand, like gloves and bats. From not stepping on the foul line to wearing the same outfit, athletes across sports have their own quirky rituals to feel just a little more in control of the unpredictable nature of the game.
For some, it’s about luck. For others, it’s just routine. Either way, these superstitions are often traded like trade secrets. Unless, of course, someone from the inside spills the truth. And that’s exactly what happened when Pete Alonso and Mookie Betts sat down to swap some of the strangest habits of athletes they have heard.
And you might want to sit for this—it gets strange!
Mookie Betts asked Pete Alonso if he had heard about a player who didn’t wash their socks throughout the entire tennis tournament! And Pete Alonso took a guess and asked, “Is he old school or new?” Except it’s not a he—but a she! Pete Alonso took another wild guess and said, Sharapova? Maria Sharapova? But Betts clarified that it is actually Serena Williams.
Now, the two MLB players did try to reason it out. Maybe it’s superstition or an allegation, and maybe tennis players don’t have clubbies like baseball teams. Mookie Betts, funny as he is, says she probably just hangs it all up, lets it dry, and calls it good. Mookie Betts said, “They’re lucky socks.” But that was not all; Betts really had a lot of other secrets to spill—well, alleged secrets.
Betts revealed the name of an NFL player who reportedly throws up before every single game. Pete Alonso again didn’t win the million-dollar question of who this is, and, well, it turns out it is none other than Josh Allen. Both of them, though, couldn’t believe he would do this, saying, It probably doesn’t feel good, but hey, if it works, it works.
There was another player whose weird habit Betts talked about. And it was the classic Michael Jordan case. He famously wore his UNC shorts under his Bulls uniform for every NBA game. So, from GOATs to even the rising stars, everyone has their way of keeping their mojo going. If that means throwing up, rocking holey socks, or wearing college shorts, for players, it’s a so-be-it attitude. Maybe being a little “stitious” is just part of the game.
Stars like Mookie Betts have one fear – ghostly encounters!
Now that was the superstitious part of the sport. There is also a part about the eeriness that has surrounded the sport in many ways. Athletes have often found themselves navigating through these supernatural things, too. For example, one of the most talked-about haunted locations in MLB is the Milwaukee Pfister Hotel. Built in 1893, this age-old hotel has a reputation for ghostly encounters among MLB players. Even Mookie Betts is terrified of it and chooses to sleep elsewhere during his trips to Milwaukee.
Mookie said he heard unsettling noises during his previous stays. Spooky! Plus, baseball stadiums themselves too are not completely far off from the ghost stories. Chicago’s Wrigley Field is said to be haunted by the former Cubs player and manager Charlie Grimm. Several reports of phone calls and weird sightings have been reported. Even Fenway Park seems to have some mysterious figures near the walls, often seen too.
Also, in the NBA, they have a hotel called the Skirvin Hilton Hotel that’s in Oklahoma City that is said to be haunted. Teams like the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls have reported strange occurrences like door slams and weird noises. Hence, many think that some sort of paranormal activity does take place.
Well, from superstition to spooky sports, the world sure does have a layer of mystery, one even more than the scoreboards. Do you know of any such instances?
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