Professional Baseball Players: Rituals & Magic for Winning - Essay Sample

Introduction

Baseball is the occupation of professional baseball players. According to Gmelch (2009), they take every step such as touching the letters on their shirt or eating a particular food pre and post the game diligently. They ensure that no single step is missed if they are to win (Gmelch, 2009). This makes the steps seem like a ritual. Many of them employ magic in attempts to secure their victories. Baseball has three main parts. The parts are pitching, hitting and fielding. This paper discusses, taboos, rituals, and fetishes concerning a baseball game and how they are related to religion.

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Just like in any other activity, baseball players have to perform some practices to gain confidence. For instance, some players would leave the house at an exact particular time, eat a certain food before the game or even touch the letters printed on their shirts (Gmelch, 2009). Surprisingly, the players consider all the parts of the ritual important and would not miss a single step (Gmelch, 2009). There is a connection between rituals and religion.

A taboo is generally considered as a social or religious practice that forbids association with a particular activity or substance (Gmelch, 2009). It is normally passed from generation to generation. It is mostly based on religious or social beliefs within society. On the other hand, a ritual is a religious or solemn ceremony that involves different activities that are all conducted in a series of a particular order (Gmelch, 2009). One of the best examples of taboosrituals is stepping on the chalk foul line. Some players may jump over the whole base path to avoid this. Other taboos include watching a movie before game day or reading a book before such a day. Pitchers stay away from activities that can exhaust them as they need their strength to pitch on game day. This includes having sex, eating certain foods, or shaving. the one done by Dennis Grossini. He starts by waking up at 10 am going for lunch at exactly 1 pm and eating the same type of food every day. He then changed into the sweatshirts of the previous winning game and chewed the same type of gum. This was done in series and he never failed to carry out a particular task of the ritual. Finally, a fetish is the worship of non-animal objects. This worship is done because the person involved thinks that it has some magical powers and will turn tides into their favor. Magic and religion have several similarities. For instance, they both believe that a supernatural power is involved. These powers could be made to act in a particularly positive or negative manner by following a series of rituals (Gmelch, 2009). Finally, both can be applied as some form of social control. Magic is practiced mostly in the beginning and after the game ends. I do not have any magical objects.

Conclusion

In conclusion, baseball players practice different rituals, taboos, and fetishes to ensure that they win. Every step that is taken by baseball players before game day is essential to ensure that they win. Such steps may be as simple as avoiding certain foods before game day. All the fetishes, taboos and rituals mentioned above are practices that are passed on among baseball players that ensure they win their games. Therefore these practices are important to the players.

References

Gmelch, G. (2009). Baseball Magic. Gmelch, G. (2009). Baseball magic. Clifton, VA: Pocol Press.