Baseball players are known for their unusual routine and bizarre superstitions. Boston Red Sox fans are quite familiar with these, having observed shortstop Nomar Garciaparra's unique pre-pitch ritual thousands of times.
Recently, Red Sox fans may have noticed that Boston's manager, Bobby Valentine, has a strange habit of his own. Valentine can be seen smelling the baseball while he is on the mound waiting for a relief pitcher to come into the game.
This weekend, the media finally got to the bottom of Valentine's odd routine.
"I like the smell of [the baseball]," Valentine said. "Must be the [Delaware] mud mixed in with that Taiwanese leather. I don't know why I do it. It’s kind of weird."
Valentine says he doesn't think his habit affects relievers. For his sake, let's hope he's right. The man has bigger things to worry about at this point.
(H/T to Yardbarker)
