It's not exactly a secret that baseball players, and athletes in general, are a superstitious bunch. A player can eat a bucket of fried chicken before a game and then go 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 runs driven in that night, and you know what he'll be eating the next day. That very same bucket of chicken, from the same restaurant, and he'll probably eat each piece in precisely the same order.After all, it wasn't those hours in the film room or the batting cage that helped the player break out of his slump, it was that delicious KFC. It's ridiculous when you look at it objectively, but at the same time, it makes a lot of sense. Success in sports for an athlete is largely dependent on that athlete's mental makeup. If they're feeling down on themselves, it's going to show in their performance and vice versa. So if something as stupid and trivial as a bucket of chicken can help boost a player's confidence enough to keep playing well, then by all means, keep doing it.
So now you'll know why you're seeing Nick Swisher wearing Toby Hall's pants tonight.
Swisher was batting .201 after the Sox lost their third straight at Tampa Bay on June 1. After going 11-for-26 on the homestand, Swisher has upped his average to .228.
"I couldn't be happier,'' Swisher said. "You have to take the good times with the bad.''
Swisher also credited Toby Hall for his recent tear. He's been wearing the backup catcher's pants.
"They're coming with me to Detroit,'' Swisher said.
Along with hitting .423 on the White Sox' recent 7-0 homestand, Swisher also hit four home runs and drove in 10 runs as the entire White Sox offense feasted upon the Royals and Twins pitching staffs last week. While I'm sure Nick's turnaround has a lot more to do with his work with hitting coach Greg Walker in recent weeks, if Toby Hall's pants are what he wants to give all the credit to, I'm sure White Sox fans want to see everybody on the team in Toby Hall's pants tonight.
Though Toby's wife probably feels otherwise.
