Magical Thinking In Baseball

Magical thinking is the idea that a repeated action brings about a desired result. This can be seen in the rituals and taboos many baseball players follow, which were discussed in the Gmelch reading. I do think that this form of magic helps people be more confident, but it can also make a person dependent on following the ritual. In the reading about baseball, many of the players would not dream of changing their retinues until the effectiveness of the old ritual changes. Some feel that doing something as simple as not watching a movie or wearing the same, unwashed clothes helps them play better, then there is no physical manifestation of a negative effect. Players will have the confidence to play to their fullest, because they believe they have done everything they could do to produce the best result. But with dependence on the magical thinking or ritual, the player may not want to train quite as hard, relying on the magic to carry them, or they will subconsciously send themselves into a slump if they miss their ritual. Magical thinking could be their own worst enemy in certain situations. The player’s actual skill

For example, performing a ritual to ward off insects, using a lucky bat to hit more home runs, or restraining oneself from an activity are various ways that people try to control the randomness of life. Rational thinking would say that the weather was not right for insects to invade a crop, the batter’s training paid off and he was able to hit the ball, or having a taboo allowed the person to concentrate solely on the task and succeed. Regardless of rational thinking, following magical thinking can be beneficial to the practitioner. Since contagious magic relies on having once been connected to an object to influence it, this seems closer to sympathetic magic, where a person follows guidelines at specific times, much like a