The biggest superstition or ritual for each MLB team

By Brad Weiss | May 13, 2019

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 9: CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees delivers the first pitch in the first inning during Game 4 of the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

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UNITED STATES – AUGUST 03: PERSONAL USE ONLY, CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. NOT FOR EDITORIAL USE., Baseball Hall of Fame, “It’s me, Shoeless Joe – Pete here and myself figure if those guys go in, we gotta go in first.”, Shoeless Joe Jackson Pete Rose Raphael Palmeiro Mark McGwire Sammy Sosa Barry Bonds Jason Giambi, (Photo by Bill Gallo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /

Chicago White Sox: Curse of the Black Sox

Before 1920, the Chicago White Sox were one of the best teams in professional baseball, boasting an incredible roster of players that led them to World Series titles in 1906 and 1917. However, it was the actions of these players during the 1919 World Series that would change the direction of the franchise for nearly the next 90 years.

During the 1919 World Series, eight members of the White Sox took money from gambler Arnold Rothstein to throw the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Despite being acquitted of any wrongdoing, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, suspended the eight players for life.

Without the talent of the likes of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson on the roster, the White Sox became one of the worst teams in the American League and would not win another pennant until the 1959 baseball season. However, they would not win another World Series until 2005, a span of 88 years, that led some to believe that it was caused by the Curse of the Black Sox.

The rigging of that World Series has been played out on the national stage, as it has been turned into movies and theatrical productions, and Jackson, who many consider the best hitter in baseball history, is still not in the Hall of Fame. Since that 2005 World Series win, the White Sox have not been back in the Fall Classic.

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