Superstition is as much a part of baseball as bats and bases. Spitting sunflower seeds, leaping over the foul line and not washing your lucky jock… none of these things make you a better baseball player, but good luck telling someone on a 10-game hitting streak to ditch the silly antics lest their fortune runs out.
If a superstition is something that might work but probably doesn’t, would you freak out if I told you that icing your arm after pitching is superstitious?
My latest article on Stack.com ruffled some feathers when I went after one of the oldest superstitions in baseball. The act of icing one’s arm after throwing has become so commonplace that few people stop to ask if it actually works. What actually happens when you put ice on a tender elbow or swollen shoulder? Does it really help? Or could it even do more harm than good?
The article made it to the front page of Yahoo where over 200 people commented, arguing back and forth about whether icing could magically heal a pitcher’s arm between outings. That tells you how passionate people are about their superstitions, whether they actually play baseball or they’re simply a casual fan.
Click below to learn the truth. The research is clear as ice, and it may surprise you.