Moises Alou's Superstition

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Wall Street Journal recently came out with an article titled, "The 10 Most Bizarre Athlete Superstitions" saying that, "If any group has a reason to be superstitious, it's professional athletes. Since their livelihoods rely on their abilities to consistently replicate physical motions, it's hardly surprising that they often don't want to change anything about their routines once they find success. However, some stars take these rituals beyond their logical extremes. Jumping over the baselines when taking the field in baseball? Pretty standard. Wearing the same cup from high school on through your pro career like Mark McGwire reportedly did? Now we're getting a little more peculiar..."

The article went onto state 10 players who had extremely odd superstitions. Why do I mention it here? On a Mets blog? All for #5 on that list, Moises Alou:

Most baseball players wear batting gloves to absorb some of the shock of making contact with the ball and to improve their grip on the bat. A handful eschew gloves in favor of a barehanded approach, though, most famously outfielder Alou. Alou does have a system for avoiding calluses and hardening his skin: he urinates on his hands throughout the season. New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada also employs this superstition to aid in his gloveless approach at the plate. The trick may be more gross than helpful, though: a 2004 article in Slate questioned the value of this superstition since urine contains urea, a key ingredient in moisturizers that actually soften the skin

...no comment...seriously...no comment...


UPDATE: 12:50 PM

...Okay...one comment, k?.... Alou puts the "P" in superstition...Okay, okay, I'm done....

9 comments:

ralphrc said...

I thought the Alou superstition was staying healthy. Just don't shake hands with Alou or Posada, or let them make you a pizza. Nex.t thing you tell me is that they had a cult which drank out of McGwire's cup

Kelvin said...

When Steve Bartman caught the ball in Chicago, Alou was noticeably upset. Perhaps he didn't urine enough that day...

ralphrc said...

I think he was upset that Bartman caught the ball in McGwire's cup.

Andrew Vazzano said...

How do you start this?

One day, you're just like, "Yeah, today I will pee on my hands!"

wario said...

moises alou's sister said its not true.... true story.

wario said...

wait if thats number 5...... i could only imagine what #1 is!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW

haraz31 said...

They say that is why they came up with bumping fists instead of shaking hands.

Skeptic Al said...

Popping pills like McGwire would make anyone not need to change the size of their cup! Read the warning label.

Eli From Brooklyn said...

Perhaps this is the reason for all those injuries... Slippery bat, ball and glove does not make for productive baseball... I'm just sayin.