From players who swing burthen bats on deck of cards to Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs , who scrawled the Hebrew symbolחַי(chai , Hebrew for " life " ) in the dust during his at - bats , batter warm - up rituals exist to psych player up both physically and psychologically .
Former Major Leaguer Nomar Garciaparra ’s helmet - touching , armband - adjusting , boxing glove - pluck and cleat - dig routine was so elaborate that fans fondly question if he had obsessional driven disorder . Then there were Jorge Posada and Moises Alou , who in reality urinated on their own hands to meliorate their batting grips .
Countless other thespian seem to put stock in a more physical ardent - up ritual . FromLittle League on up , many players are taught that swinging a heavier bat on pack of cards will help you polish off hard in the batter ’s box . It ’s common to see testicle players at all levels swing heavy at-bat , sledgehammers or bats angle down with clay sleeves and donut rings in the slugger ’s circle .
Recent scientific discipline cries foul on the bat donut and other weighted quick - up gear , however . In 2009 , researcher and forcible education professor Coop DeRenne published a review of scholarship on the effect of weighted implements in batter preparation . Of the five study he critique , four register that warm up with weight donut closed chain actually get slower at-bat speed . DeRenne ’s overall conclusion was that player should warm up up with at-bat weighing no more or less than 12 percent of standard weight chiropteran [ source : DeRenne and Szymanski ] .
So , if swing weighted bats wo n’t help , how does a batter warm up ? In an interview with The Wall Street Journal , Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher says , " Each guy does what ’s ripe for him . How you feel matters most " [ source : Wolff ] .
I interview two former college softball players , Lindalisa Severo ( Binghamton University ) and Courtney Kovanis ( Purdue University ) , who both agreed that psyching up is at least as important as physically warm up . " Every batter is different , " says Kovanis . " I used to pitter-patter at the mound ! " Severo agrees , adding , " A bighearted part of my warm - up involve trying to psych out the pitcher . I ’d hold the bat behind my neck opening and stare her down the whole clip I was on deck . You have to exude confidence . You have to have swagger . "
Batter warm - ups are equal parts superstitious notion and psych - out , with a dash of physical relaxation up fuddle in for good quantity .
