The Arizona Diamondbacks are back in the World Series for the first time since 2001 and they’re just three wins away from glory. General manager Mike Hazen helped put together this roster and he may be helping off the field with some of his superstitions.
Hazen detailed his pregame superstitions, which include listening to the same Morgan Wallen album, while appearing on the Audacy original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“I work out in the gym the same way… I do the same workout, I listen to the same music every time,” Hazen said (7:43 in player above). “Same music, same album, same everything. And then I come to the ballpark on the first bus with the staff. I change my jacket for every series but I’ve washed all the same shirts. I’ve worn the same pair of pants for every game. I have the same pair of shoes for every game. I wear the same pair of socks every game.”
People tend to think of a certain type of style or genre when they imagine workout music. However, for Hazen it’s not Eye of the Tiger or any of the classics. It’s country music star Morgan Wallen.
“Morgan Wallen, his album that came out. Over and over and over again,” Hazen said. “I started that in the regular season. This all started a long time ago. It’s a continuation of that. Why am I going to change it now?”
Wallen broke onto the scene during the sixth season of “The Voice.” He released albums in 2018 and 2021 before his most recent, “One Thing at a Time”, back in March.
Hazen continues through his routine in the hours leading up to first pitch. He talks with the coaches and has a meal at the ballpark before retreating to his lair.
“At some point we’ll go to a suite somewhere and I’ll start pacing,” he said. “It’s not fun. Nobody likes to be around me. I couldn’t do it in the stands. I can’t sit still so I have to walk around. So I find different places to sit, different ways to watch whether it be on TV or watching it live depending on how it’s going.
The superstitious GM even sits a certain way if things are going well, like they were during Game 6 in Philadelphia.
Hazen couldn’t bare to watch the final innings of Game 7.
“I was in Torey’s office in the bathroom. I had headphones on. I couldn’t watch,” Hazen said. “I’m watching the game on the gamecase but if you don’t have headphones on you hear the crowd. So when they cheer you don’t know if it’s good or bad. So it gives you jolts of anxiety. I didn’t want to hear anything.”
Well, Hazen did ultimately watch the final outs in the clubhouse but only from a distance.
It’s safe to assume that Hazen’s routine is well underway here before Game 3 and he’ll continue it as long as the World Series lasts.