Baseball

For my last post about sports subcultures I am going to talk about baseball. I know it doesn’t involve a board like the other sport subcultures, but according to George J. Gmelch in his article “Baseball Magic”, baseball is a subculture all its own. Gmelch claims that baseball players partake in rituals, taboos, and fetishes that men resort to when they want to ensure that the game goes their way. The players in this subculture have their own ways to perform these rituals and taboos, but all are performed with the same result in mind, to win. “The baseball player can ritualize any activity he considers necessary for a successful performance, from the type of cereal he eats to the streets he drives on,” claims Gmelch. Players from other sports have their own rituals they perform that are considered crucial to their game performance. For baseball in particular, “It is not uncommon for a hitter who is playing poorly to try different combinations of tagging and not tagging particular bases in an attempt to find a successful combination.” Certain taboos believed by everyone involved in the subculture of baseball include mentioning that a no hitter is in progress and crossing two bats over each other. It is believed that if the pitcher hears the words “no hitter” then his spell will be broken and the no-hitter will be lost. And crossing the bats is bad luck for the whole team. Baseball is an interesting subculture because everyone involved in the sport has their own unique beliefs in what will help them win a game.