Mets and Yankees detail their game-day superstitions

Baseball players have their own rituals, whether it’s before, during or after a game. But how many would call themselves superstitious? Newsday interviewed several players from the Mets and Yankees and found a sliding scale of answers.

Mets

Brett Baty

“A big one for me is I don’t like to step on the foul line. When somebody steps on the foul line, I just look away. Something in my brain is like, I can’t step on it before the game. Obviously, I play third base so if I have to make a play I’m going to step on it, that’s a big one for me. Honestly since I can remember, maybe 5 years old or something, I got a little bit of OCD in me and I just can’t step on it. I can’t mess it up, it’s so pristine.”

Sean Manaea

“I used to [have superstitions], I don’t really anymore. I try to stay away from them. They’re great when they work, but I don’t want to rely on that on a daily basis. I used to have to put on a white sock [on my right foot] and then a black sock [on my left foot] and then long socks, that’s what I used to do.”

David Peterson

“I think baseball players in general are superstitious so there’s some fun stuff during the game. If we’re not having the best game on defense, we’ll switch spots [sitting on the bench]. For me a lot of it is routines and trying to stick to it as much as I can and be disciplined.

“I eat the same thing, at least when we’re home. The [Mets’] kitchen staff makes me a chicken-bacon-avocado sandwich, and a lot of it is nutritionally based as to why I eat it, but it works. It doesn’t upset my stomach or give me cramps or anything, so if it [isn’t] broke, don’t fix it.”

Paul Blackburn

“In the minor leagues I did [have superstitions] and, early on when I got to the big leagues, I used to eat pizza every night before I’d pitch. Just pepperoni pizza. It started with Domino’s and then it changed into any pizza [place] before I pitched. I was struggling really badly in the minor leagues and one night we got in late, I ordered pizza and pitched the next day and pitched really well. So I rolled with that for five or six years.”

Yankees

Paul Goldschmidt

“I’m not that superstitious but sometimes, as a joke, if we had a hamburger maybe I’ll have it again the next day if things are going well.

“I’m very routine-oriented, but it’s not like, oh I have to do this. I think it just makes it simpler for us to perform, to have a solid routine every day, but I can adjust that if needed to.

“I’ve always had a routine. It switches around all the time. I think as younger players it’s something that was taught to me [by] veterans, you can’t just show up and kind of bounce around the clubhouse and do whatever, that’s not going to allow you the best chance for success, so it’s more about that. Changes could be hitting off the tee in the cage and other times it’s hitting off the pitching machine. Other times it’s a certain drill, so it kind of switches depending on what’s needed.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

“I actually do not [have superstitions], I’m one of the few. I mean I do the same thing every day, but I wouldn’t say it’s superstition because I wear different shoes every day, different socks every day. I don’t try to wear the same thing just because I don’t believe in the superstition. I just try to think that I’m going to be free flowing and do what I got to do. I don’t really have much on the rituals and the superstitions, but I see a lot of guys do it. I don’t try to ruin anybody else’s beliefs, so if someone has something that they do and I’m a part of it, I’ll do whatever they need with them.

“I used to [take part in superstition] but it was back when I was in Miami. Me and Nick Gordon, if he was doing good, we did a certain handshake that day. At a certain point we did it every day. In Miami, me and Nick Gordon used to use the exact same bat during every game. So if that bat got a hit, that was the bat we would use. For me it was never a superstition thing, but for him it was like, ‘Oh that bat is working today, we’re going to use this bat.’ ”

J.C. Escarra

“Clothes-wise, I wear the same stuff. Two arm sleeves, the same tights, but I don’t think it’s superstition, I think it’s routine. Same stuff I do every single day. I started [wearing the same sleeves and tights] like four years [ago], and I think it starts because I do well that day and then it just keeps going. I do well in other games, and I do the same things and next thing you know, four years later I’m still doing the same thing.”

Luke Weaver

“You know maybe back as a younger player, but as I’ve come to grow, I don’t think superstitions yield results. I think we find excuses to make us feel better. I think being routine-oriented is a fine line between superstitious and not. I guess, if you want to say something, I would say I always remember to hop over the line. I’ve always done this thing where I walk off the mound [and] always make sure I don’t step on the line, but when I go out to the mound from the dugout I always do this hop and I kind of like subtly heel-click at the bottom. So that’s my, I don’t want to say ‘superstitious’ [thing] but it’s kind of like my ‘stitious’ thing.

“And I also have this thing where I prefer not to walk through the infield, like after games, coming from the bullpen. I always try avoiding through the infield, just like how position players avoid walking over the mound. Outside of that, I’m not very ‘stitious.’ ”

Jonathan Loaisiga (via translator Marlon Abreu)

“I like moving around and starting to move in the bullpen around the fifth inning. I stretch a lot, throw the baseball, do some plyometric work with the balls — the heavy balls against the wall — and it’s something I always have to do to get myself ready for the game.

“Once I got to the big leagues, it kind of became part of my pre-game routine.

“For me it’s all routine based. [However], just before the game, heading to the bullpen I like to have a light meal, nothing heavy. I like to be getting cold water or hot water, and then once I get to the bullpen, I do a prayer and that’s it.”