Why Baseball Players Are So Superstitious

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Baseball players do a lot of rituals...and anthropologists of religion have noticed. Some call it superstition, but are there other reasons why athletes might ritualize so many of their behaviors?

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Bibliography:
George Gmelch, "Baseball Magic," Society 8(8) June 1971
Michael Jackson, "Existential Anthropology," 2005.
Xygalatas, "Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living," 2022.
Stanley Tambiah, "The Magical Power of Words," Man, New Series, Vol. 3, No 2 (Jun., 1968), 175-208
Stanley Tambiah, "Form and Meaning of Magical Acts: A Point of View,"

00:00
2:08 Malinowski's uncertainty theory of magic
4:13 Pre-Performance Routines
8:06 Empirical Studies of Sports Magic
11:35 Is it Superstition?

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