Almost everyone agrees that in order to win a game, a team must produce hits on offense. And because the bat is what actually hits the ball, many players are superstitious about their bat. Some players believe that their bat contains a certain number of hits, and once the bat has produced that number, it is no longer good. Also, some players will use only one model of baseball bat, while others feel the need to switch their bat constantly. Many players share common superstitions about their bats, but there have been several players that have had unique superstitions, especially the players that had remarkable batting statistics.
One player, Eddie Collins, used a bat that was half-white wood and half-red timber for over twenty-five seasons. If you were to ask him, it was his bat that produced his .333 batting average, which was the statistic that got Eddie into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Another notable superstition was that of Ted Williams, who had a lifetime batting average of .344 and was the last player in the major leagues to finish a season with an average of over .400. Once a year, Williams would go to the Hillerich and Bradsby Company in Louisville, Kentucky and pick out a piece of wood for his bat to be made from. He would spend hours searching through stacks and stacks of wood until he found the piece of wood with the narrowest grain, because he would not bat with any piece of timber that he did not personally select.
In contrast to Williams’ belief, Al Simmons would go to Louisville and search for the piece of timber with the widest grain. Even though Simmons’ bats were made from a completely different sized grain, he was able to produce a lifetime batting average of .334.
Another great batter that selected the wood for his bats from Louisville was Hugh Duffy. The wood for his bats that produced a .330 lifetime average had to sound right to Duffy. The workers at the lumber yard would have to bounce the wood off the concrete floor, and it would have to make a certain "ring" that only Duffy could approve of in order for the wood to be used.(7)
As you can see, there have been many strange and unique superstitions
about baseball bats. You can read about some more superstitions and
anecdotes at the