Fansided

The biggest superstition or ritual for each MLB team

By Brad Weiss

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)
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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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MAY 01: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies hits a home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on May 01, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MAY 01: Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies hits a home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on May 01, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Colorado Rockies: The thin air of Coors Field

The Colorado Rockies came into Major League Baseball in 1993, joining the then-Florida Marlins as the league’s two expansion teams. Since then, the Rockies have done a nice job producing some of the best hitters in all of baseball, though some would like you to believe that is because of the thin air of Coors Field.

It is easy to see why this would be the case — the air is thin at a mile of elevation — and at the beginning, balls were flying out of the stadium at record pace. To counteract this, the stadium installed a humidor for the baseball, as they tried to level the playing field between the batters, and the pitchers.

For the Rockies, the thin air became something that hindered them getting quality starting pitchers to sign with them as free agents. And when they did actually sign a free agent starter, they had to overpay, which was the case when the team signed Mike Hampton to an eight-year, $121 million contract in 2001.

In addition to the rare air hurting the team’s chances of bringing in quality starters, it has also hurt their legendary players when it came time to be enshrined in Cooperstown. The superstition that the air helped their players hit over .300 in their career is nonsense, because while it did help, they still had to put bat-to-ball. While the thin air isn’t a Rockies’ superstition, it’s certainly one that has struck the rest of the MLB.

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