There are some weird superstitions and rituals in the world of sports — take, for instance, the many odd habits of former pitcher Turk Wendell (shown in the interview above) — but one that was revealed to us by WFAN host Craig Carton might take the cake.
It was the pregame ritual of three-time All-Star Carlos Baerga, who served as an excellent batter in the middle of the order for Cleveland in the early and mid-1990s before moving around between several teams throughout the remainder of his career. And boy, let me tell you. It is strange.
Carton used to work for a station in Cleveland in the early 1990s, and it was at this point that he was in the team's locker room prior to a game.
"So I get brought into the Cleveland Indians locker room, alright. Charles Nagy, was a young stud pitcher for them... he and I were friendly — I wouldn't say we were friends, but friendly," Carton said. "So I'm in the Indians locker room and one of the guys is like, 'Charles, show him, man.'"
Carton asked what they wanted to show him, but the only answer he got was that it was something he couldn't talk about on his radio show. 30 years later, the guys decided that it was okay for him to finally reveal what he'd been shown.
"So there's the trainer's room, separate from the actual clubhouse, where guys get massage, treatments and tape done, whatever. And as I walk toward the trainer's room, I hear this," Carton said, making a thumping sound. "And a group of guys now are a couple yards behind me, but following toward the sound that's coming from the trainer's room. Now, maybe I'm being pranked, I don't know, but I go into the trainer'r room. There's one man and only one man in that trainer's room."
It was Baerga, sitting on a stool — Carton described as one you'd see in a doctor's office that swivels — by himself.
"...And his baseball pants are down around his ankles. In his hand is what could very well be a baseball bat, but it's much smaller and attached to his body," Carton recalled. "And he's slapping it against the doctor's stool, rhythmically. Boom, boom, boom.
"So I of course stare for a second or two longer than I should have... and I turn around and half the Indians' roster is behind me, all laughing hysterically. He keeps going, though, he doesn't stop. I go back in and I go to Nagy, and he goes, 'Pregame ritual. Nobody asks. Nobody wants to know.'"
If that's what it takes to get you multiple All-Star nominations and a pair of Silver Slugger awards, I guess you don't mess with the routine?
But instead of think of this story for too long or use this as your point of reference when recalling Baerga's career accomplishments, there's a much better moment that we can look to. Let's stick with this one: hitting a home run from both sides of the plate... in the same inning.
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