Lore 267: Curveball
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Folklore is often grown in the fertile soil of doubt and a lack of control. And within one specific national pastime, those elements have allowed some wild and unusual stories to take root and grow.
Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Sam Alberty, and music by Chad Lawson.
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©2024 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.
This episode is sponsored by Wildwood. From Leica, the studio behind Coraline, comes a new epic fantasy adventure. And at the heart of Wildwood is a simple question. How far would you go for someone you love? Wildwood is a handcrafted epic fantasy adventure that transports audiences into a secret magical and dangerously alive world just beyond their doorstep. At its heart is the story of a courageous girl, Prue McKeel, on a desperate mission to rescue her baby brother from a forbidden forest filled with enchanted creatures, endearing allies, and formidable adversaries. Her journey unfolds in a spectacular high-stakes adventure where the fate of an entire hidden world hangs in the balance. The film features vocal performances from Carrie Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, and Angela Bassett. And I have to tell you folks, I have seen the trailer for this film so many times, and I cannot wait to park my button to seat and experience this adventure. Wildwood is now playing in theaters everywhere, so grab your tickets today. Hey Denver, the Wayfair Store's grand opening weekend starts November 20th. Come shop, celebrate, and save, with up to 80% off in store all weekend long. Plus, the first hundred customers in line each day get a free $50 gift card, bring the whole family for giveaways, music, entertainment, and surprises. So mark your calendar and head to the Wayfair Store at Avenues at Northfield November 20th through 22nd for our grand opening celebration. Wayfair, every style, every home. First came the cough, then the fever. The boy struggled for air, and each breath was like a knife to the chest. After a visit from the doctor, there was no doubt, it was pneumonia. And finally, on one icy Chicago day in 1920, Robert Rochheim passed away. He was only 7 years old. And yet, his story wasn't over, because as it turns out, little Robert was destined for a strange sort of immortality. You see, Robert's grandfather, Frederick Rochheim, was something of an entrepreneur. And in 1893, Frederick and his brother Louis had started hawking a new snack product at the Chicago World's Fair. It was a hit, and the brothers began mass producing a packaged version of the treat. Now, of course, the product would need a flashy logo, something to signal wholesome patriotic fun to consumers across the nation. And in 1918, after a number of less-inspired iterations, Frederick landed on a design that stuck. He decided to honor his then five-year-old grandson Robert by putting his face on the box, dressed in a sailor suit with a dog at his feet. Little did Frederick know that less than two years later that smiling little boy would be dead. The only thing left of him would be that picture, emblazoned like a memorial on thousands upon thousands of cracker jack boxes. That's right, Sailor Jack, the kid depicted on the classic baseball game snack, is actually a drawing of poor little Robert, a boy, who never grew up. But I'll be honest, when it comes to spooky baseball stories, that one is just the beginning. So today, we'll dig deep into America's favorite pastime, emerging with prizes more strange and hunted than any cracker jack box could ever hold. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is lore. It wasn't just a good game for Jim Davenport, it was a great game. The Giants player had hit not one, but two home runs, and now back in the locker room, he was pondering his success. How had he played so well that night? What had changed? After all, his skill hadn't grown between this game and the last. His opponents were no less formidable. But as he glanced down, he spotted the anomaly, right there on his uniform, it was a button, or rather the lack of a button. In his rush to get ready that morning, he had accidentally missed a buttonhole while dressing. Yes, that empty buttonhole must be his lucky charm, his secret to success, and so after that day, Jim would leave that buttonhole undone on purpose for the rest of his career. Now it may sound absurd if you aren't a baseball fan, but for those who do follow the sport, you'll know that superstitions like this are even more common than strikeouts. And as it turns out, there's a pretty good reason for that. Philosopher and baseball writer Dr. Amber Griffin describes it best. She writes, "A poorly thrown fastball can result in a strikeout, and a perfectly executed slider can be blooped into the outfield for a base hit. A ball popped up in the infield can be lost in the sun, and the wind can turn a would-be home run into a foul ball. The best teams wind only approximately 60% of their games. In other words, despite requiring extreme talent and finesse, many of the outcomes in baseball depend largely on chance or luck." Now, if there's one thing that we know about the human brain, it's that it hates leaving things to chance. In fact, we'll do just about anything to manufacture a sense of control, even convince ourselves of impossible, impractical cause-and-effect relationships. Like, say, the ability for a single buttonhole to produce home runs. Some baseball superstitions are learned as early as Little League, passed down from coach to player, or whispered amongst peers in the dugout. Things like, "Never step on a white-chock foul line," or "Never speak to a pitcher who's in the midst of throwing a perfect game," or the idea that a bat only contains a limited number of hits, and when those hits are used up, that's that, the bat has to be retired. There are superstitions about how to wear your cap, how many times to swing the bat before stepping into the batter's box, and more. In the 1920s and 30s, players who tripped on the field would have to retrace their steps exactly to undo the bad luck. Further back in the century, finding a lady's hairpin on the ground was considered lucky, as was seen a white horse before a game. The hairpin and the horse, though, brought up another issue. You had to be lucky enough to organically stumble upon these things, which meant once again, relying on chance. So, sometimes managers would, well, let's just say, stack the deck.
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