As long as the sport has been around, baseball has been home to the most superstitious athletes in all of sports. Given the nature of a 162-game season, it’s no surprise that a Major League player would put stock in ceremony, process, and even higher powers to guide the inevitable journeys through slumps and streaks.
Because such superstition is prevalent in the pros, it’s only natural that younger players would take the same approach. They put their uniforms on in a certain order, avoid stepping on certain parts of the field, take a certain number of warm-up swings and … look at memes for good luck.
That is the pregame ritual of Fairfield, Connecticut’s Leo Randazzo. The youngster was at bat during a game televised on ESPN when a graphic revealed the unorthodox approach to gameplay. Leo “looks at memes before games for good luck.”
ESPN was quick to take notice and share the revelation on Twitter.
The third baseman didn’t get into specifics or offer any further information on the matter, but living in 2017, he must be enjoying an embarrassment of riches in the meme department.
As to the efficacy of his habit, I wouldn’t get sports scientists on the case just yet. Though his team won this particular game against Maine 8-0, Twitter users were quick to offer some circumstantial evidence that maybe meme-browsing wasn’t quite the all-in-one solution to baseball greatness that Leo purports.
Others, however, may have been channeling their best memes in the hope that Leo turns it around in time for future plate appearances.
Good luck out there, Leo. Stick with what works, and take every advantage you can get, meme or otherwise.
