Taking routine to the extreme

Players find their unique game-day rituals during run

Lynn DeBruin, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 24, 2007 at midnight

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BOSTON - The camouflage shirt looks out of place in a clubhouse where purple and black dominate. But Todd Helton isn't about to change now.

"We won 20 of 21 with that shirt," Helton said last week before the four-game sweep of Arizona pushed the Rockies' streak to 21 of 22. "That son of a b---- ain't going nowhere."

Ditto for Troy Tulowitzki's faded mint-green "Boston" logo T-shirt - a shirt he has worn every day since picking it up in Beantown in mid-June.

"If something's going good, why change it?" said the rookie shortstop, who also won't be seen forgetting to step on second base each time before settling into his position.

The Rockies might not be as crazy as Wade Boggs, famous for eating chicken every day of his 18-year career, plus two hot dogs, a bag of Lay's barbecue chips and an iced tea.

Or Turk Wendell, a former Cubs and Mets reliever who used to brush his teeth and eat four sticks of black licorice between every inning.

But no matter if they call them routines, rituals or superstitions, just about every Rockies player and coach has something a little different.

"It may sound silly to the average person that grown men would have silly little things like this, but we just know there's a certain amount of luck in this game," said pitching coach Bob Apodaca, who wears white shoes for workouts and another pair for games. "And there's no way they're going to say, 'Well, let's see if it is just luck and not these shoes.' "

Helton has been known to have some of the craziest routines. Then again, he also has been around the longest.

"Maybe not so much this year, but in previous years, he might come in and totally change his outfit if the game is not going the way he'd like," infielder Clint Barmes said. "I've seen him go through a bunch of batting gloves in one game. He'd change his hat, his helmet, his cleats, even his pants."

Then there's closer Manny Corpas.

Even if it's snowing when the World Series comes back to Denver this weekend, don't look for Corpas to take shelter in the bullpen like so many relievers do.

"In the game against Arizona, he sat out in the rain the whole time. He wouldn't go in there," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said.

Corpas also must have his uniform bloused just right and always draws a cross in the dirt with his finger or foot before he begins to warm up.

Bullpen coach Rick Mathews has seen just about everything and does his best to appease those who believe in the baseball gods.

For starters, he's not allowed to chew bubble gum when Brian Fuentes is warming up.

And when reliever Matt Herges gets ready, it's Mathews who has to throw him a ball to use in his warm-ups.

"If they take Advil, they do it at the same time in the same inning," Mathews said. "They stretch at the same time. And every day, one guy is responsible for getting the stretch cord out and it's his responsibility to get it out a certain inning."

Affeldt, who doesn't believe in superstitions because of his faith, still admits routines are important to get ready to play.

"When you play 162 games, you've got to prepare for every day. It's not once a week. It's not twice a week. It's every day," he said. "Knowing the game's more mental than physical, we like to do things the same so that our mind sits right with us."

For those who have seen Matt Holliday drawing a cross in the dirt next to home plate before each at-bat, Affeldt offered an explanation: It's not superstition, but a sign of Holliday's faith.

"He's a very humble human being, and when a guy like that gets elevated to superstar status, where he's pretty much at, I think he does it to underscore his faith in God, to remind him that his talents do not come from him and him alone," Affeldt said. "Obviously, I share the same feelings, so it's a reminder for him to stay humble."

Affeldt said it's easy to lose focus when the competitive juices take over.

"For me, from the time I run out of the bullpen (until I get to the mound), I'm praying that God will shine through me and that I wouldn't do anything on the mound that would disrespect how I'm characterized," he said.

Affeldt admits he has done things in the past that haven't met such standards.

"I've done everything - get in fights with coaches, thrown stuff," he said. "And we're on TV a lot and I've been exploited a few times."

The goal this year, he said, was to compete in a respectful, humble way.

While teammates respect that, a few can't help but mess with other's routines, such as one by

Fuentes.

He has to have his locker perfect, with each hanger spaced just so. Occasionally, he'll find somebody has disrupted the precise order.

Then there's unforeseen events such as the little dribbler Arizona closer Jose Valverde tried to field in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, only to inadvertently touch the third-base line.

He proceeded to walk three of the next four batters, including Willy Taveras with the bases loaded, to blow the save.

"Guys were talking about that in the clubhouse," Affeldt said. "Maybe that threw him off."

For some, it only reinforces the superstitions.

Reliever LaTroy Hawkins claims he's not particularly superstitious, but after the Rockies won Game 3 of the NLCS and needed one more victory to get to the World Series, he didn't test the gods of fortune.

He made sure to wear the identical outfit to the ballpark for Game 4, right down to the unwashed socks and underwear.

He isn't sure if he'll reprise that trick for the World Series, but rest assured, some things won't change, such as the camouflage shirts worn by Helton and Brad Hawpe.

"It's a game for kids that's played by men, but they still hold onto a lot of kids' ideas and they're not willing to gamble by changing," Apodaca said.

Lucky charms

Some famous superstitions from the book Jinxed: Baseball Superstitions from Around the Major Leagues.

• Wade Boggs: Began eating chicken each day out of necessity when he and his wife were a young couple, struggling to make it financially in the minor leagues. But by the time he reached the majors in 1982, beef wasn't an option. His wife had become an expert cooking the bird and even published a cookbook, Fowl Tips, after his passion for poultry became common knowledge.

• Craig Biggio: Astros second baseman wore the same "lucky" underwear without washing them when he was younger.

• Dave Concepcion: Former Reds shortstop once wore his uniform in the shower after an 0-for-5 performance to try to wash away his bad luck. He then jokingly hopped into an industrial-sized dryer, only to have the incident become a nightmare when teammate Pat Zachry turned it on, sending Conception into a spin and burning his body hair.

• Rob Murphy: Former Reds reliever wore a pair of women's black silk panties under his athletic supporter.

• Frank Viola: Three-time All-Star and 1988 AL Cy Young Award winner cleaned the mound before every inning, kicking up dirt four times. But if something bad happened, he would do it in repetitions of three or five.

debruinl@RockyMountainNews.com

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