IStock Photo 5038260 © James Steidl

Baseball players are known as a superstitious bunch. 1 in 1.88 (53%) engages in a superstitious behavior before or during every game; even more do so on occasion. It is, for example, well known that no one in the dugout is to talk to a pitcher while he is in the midst of a no-hitter. Many players refuse to step on the foul line. Wade Boggs used to eat only chicken before games. Craig Biggio would not wash his batting helmet during the season. Reliever Turk Wendell brushed his teeth between innings.

In 1984, according to The Seattle Times, Minnesota Twins pitcher Frank Viola noticed a large sign that read “FRANKIE SWEET MUSIC VIOLA” in his home park. He met the owner of the sign in 1987, and that year, according to Sports Illustrated, went 15-0 in games where the sign was present with four no-decisions, all of which the Twins eventually won.

The Twins went to the World Series that year, and upon finding out that the sign’s owner did not have a ticket, Viola’s wife offered him tickets to games 1 and 7. Viola won both, and was named World Series MVP.

It’s a beautiful story, but one that demonstrates the powerful attraction of superstition more so than its effectiveness. Though Viola claimed to have gone 15 - 0 when the banner was up in 1987, his home record that year was actually 11 - 3. He did go 4 - 1 in no-decisions at home, and it’s possible—though not likely—that the one game the fan missed was the only loss. It’s almost certain that Viola’s superstition rendered his memory faulty—he remembered (and exaggerated) the good while conveniently forgetting the bad.

That’s probably true for a lot of superstitious baseball players, but what’s interesting is that not all baseball players approach superstition in the same way. For example, in the United States, 1 in 2.19 players claim that superstitious behavior “makes something good happen;” in Japan, the number is 1 in 1.33.

The differences don’t end there. Though Japanese baseball players are significantly more superstitious, they are much less likely to believe that superstition actually affects their own performance—just 1 in 5 players in Japan agree that superstitious behavior “affects a player’s performance,” versus 1 in 2.15 in the US. Note that the proportion of American players who believe in the good effects of superstition is close to the number that believes superstition makes them better.

Japanese players are much more likely to believe that superstitious behavior will affect their team’s success. 1 in 2.67 Japanese players believe that superstitious behavior will “affect what happens to a team,” as compared to 1 in 9.01 Americans.

Though it is impossible to know for sure where these differences come from, the results seem related to the differences between American and Japanese culture. Whereas Americans prize individual success, Japanese tradition is much more family-oriented. Inasmuch as a baseball team is a family, it might make sense that Japanese players see their superstitions affecting their team more so than themselves, whereas Americans perceive the opposite.

It’s interesting to speculate on how Viola would have told his story had he been a Japanese pitcher. He might have believed the sign made his teammates hit and field better. Perhaps he would never have exaggerated how well he pitched when the banner was up.

And that lucky fan might never have gotten free World Series tickets for holding up a banner.