This article was originally posted on Aug. 5, 2022.

Riley Greene sleeps with his bat.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Tigers' rookie outfielder actually takes his bat with him to bed when he's slumping at the plate. Why in the world would someone do that, and why do so many baseball players and fans have superstitions?

That's what MLB.com's Sarah Langs and Mandy Bell dove into last August in the first episode of their podcast, "Fielding Questions."

• Listen to the Fielding Questions Podcast

As we celebrate Friday the 13th, if there's one thing we know about baseball, it's that among all the major sports, it's by far the one that involves the most superstitions. We've all seen them. Whether it's Nomar Garciaparra adjusting his batting gloves over and over again between each pitch of a plate appearance, or Wade Boggs eating fried chicken before every single game, there's just something about baseball that makes its players go to great lengths to make sure they perform their special ritual.

"Why does baseball make normally rational people so superstitious?" Mandy asks as the two jump into the mystery by looking at famous baseball superstitions throughout history, as well as superstitions current players have.

Greene is far from the only current player who has a superstition. Take, for example, Brewers infielder Mike Brosseau, who absolutely must have a specific, relatively obscure, type of candy bar before every game.

And what about players who make a superstition out of not being superstitious at all? You can count a Cardinals legend among that group.

Be sure to listen to the inaugural episode of "Fielding Questions" to find out more about which players have what superstitions, and why. And be sure to check out other episodes wherever you get your podcasts as Mandy and Sarah share their love of the game by tackling the mysteries of our national pastime.