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Baseball HOFer Johnny Evers Explains Big League Superstitions
The former star infielder was known to always be searching to change his luck — but so were many of his colleagues
Baseball and superstition goes together like peas and carrots. Throughout the history of the game there have been countless players who have adhered to rituals they have performed in efforts to better their personal performance and that of their teams. Although typically not scientific in nature some are easier to understand than others. A notorious superstitious player was Hall-of-Fame second baseman Johnny Evers, who once went out of his way to try and explain some of the more common attempts players made at finding good luck.
During the course of 18 big-league seasons (1902–1917; 1922; 1929), Evers was primarily known for playing with the Chicago Cubs, with whom he spent the first 12 years of his career. The second baseman in the famed double-play trio with shortstop Joe Tinker (They were not friendly to each other off the field) and first baseman Frank Chance, they were immortalized by a famous poem by Franklin Pierce Adams celebrating the Tinkers to Evers to Chance double play combination.
Evers was a winner, playing in four World Series. This included being a key cog in three teams that won…
