Title: White Left Wrist

General Information about Item:

• Magic Superstition, homeopathic
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: PO
• Date Collected: 11/3/21

Informant Data:

• PO is a 21-year-old male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.  He was born and raised in Schenectady, New York. Pete is a third baseman on the Men’s Varsity Baseball Team at Dartmouth. Pete has played baseball since he was six years old, and also enjoys fishing and golfing. A Government major, Pete plans on attending graduate school after Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Baseball players are some of the most superstitious athletes in the world. Baseball is a very mental sport, with preparation and focus being a big part of success – more than the physical aspect. Baseball is traditionally played more frequently than any other sport in America, often being played almost every day.
• Social Context: This specific superstition was mentioned when the interviewee was asked about pre-game preparations. Baseball players often have regional superstitions or routines before facing a pitch that are shared with one another when players from all over the country. This particular superstition comes from the Schenectady/Troy/Saratoga region of New York State.

Item:

• Right-handed batters tape their left wrist with white tape, and left-handed batters tape their right wrist with white tape. This is used to help remind the batter to keep the wrist locked while swinging a bat, making for more likely and more powerful contact with the ball. In this picture, we can see that Pete is a right-handed Tbatter, with his right wrist taped in white tape even though he is fielding a ball and not batting.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “I’m not sure where it started, but everyone in my area tapes their wrist of their bottom hand on their bat. We were told it helps you keep your wrist locked, but after I got stronger and didn’t need that anymore it just felt right. After a while it just became customary and made me feel more connected with the bat”

Informant’s Comments:

• “I like taping my wrist because it reminds me of home, and it’s cool to see other players now at different colleges with the same white tape and know they’re from my region”

Collector’s Comments:

• I liked how Pete was able to relate this regional superstition and not only bring it to college, but also use it as an indicator when he sees other people around at different schools from his region. I find this superstition to be especially effective after he said that it makes him feel more connected with the bat.

Collector’s Name:

Jack Cameron

Dartmouth College

Russ013 21F

Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas