Neverisms

Daly wasn’t an objective journalist reporting on a social phenomenon. He actually believed the superstition. Or he pretended to, writing:Only a scoundrel would commit so dastardly a deed, because such mention instantly brings the whammy out of hiding. The whammy is a spook with the horns of a jinx that would thereupon direct the flight of the next batted ball and destroy the no-hitter.

Nobody knows when this superstition began, but even the oldest readers of this piece may recall learning about it for the first time during their sandlot days. And when they first heard it, the rule was likely phrased this way:

Never mention a no-hitter while it’s in progress.

Despite its prominence in baseball history, this famous admonition was never formally mentioned in an official baseball publication until 1986. That was when Baseball Digest published an article by two California sportswriters titled, “The Book of Unwritten Baseball Rules.”

The article, written by sportswriters Peter Schmuck and Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register, was an attempt to chronicle a series of baseball practices that had long dictated the way the game was to be played, but that had never been written down. Even though the word book appeared in the title, the article wasn’t a book at all. Speaking frankly, it wasn’t even an article. It was simply a list of thirty informal rules and prohibitions that, over time, had achieved an almost sacrosanct status. The list included some of the game’s most time-honored practices, like “Don’t steal third with two outs” and “Play for the tie at home, but go for the victory on the road.” And yes, on a formal list for the first time was, “Never mention a no-hitter while it’s in progress.” Seven more were also expressed neveristically, including these:

Never give up a home run on a 0?2 count.

Never make the first or third out at third base.

Never steal when you’re two or more runs down.

These rules are not based on superstition, like the no-talking ban, but they have traditionally been considered so stupid that they fall into the category of “ways to beat yourself.” They are, in short, the kind of things best described by neverisms. In 2009, language lover and baseball fan Paul Dickson updated and expanded the work of those two California sportswriters when he came out with The Unwritten Rules of Baseball.

In his book, Dickson wrote that the unwritten rules of baseball “represent a set of time-honored customs, rituals, and good manners that show a respect for the game, one’s teammates, and one’s opponent.” Among the unwritten rules that Dickson added to the list were some lofty principles (“The clubhouse is a sanctuary”) and some important exhortations (“Always show respect for your teammates”). But the greater part of the book was a series of admonitions, many introduced by the word never. Most were addressed strictly to players:

Never rat out a teammate.

Never, ever slide into the infielder with your spikes high.

In a blowout game, never swing as hard as you can at a 3?0 pitch.

Never question the honesty or integrity of an umpire or his partner.

Never peek back at the catcher to see the signs

or his position while in the batter’s box.

Some were addressed specifically to managers:

Never intentionally walk in a run.

And one fascinating one was addressed to fans:

Never accept coins from a vendor.

In his delightful explanation of this fan rule, Dickson reminded us that unwritten rules hold as much sway in the stands as they do on the playing field: “Let ’em keep that change or your row will brand you as a cheapskate.”

In addition to superstitions and unwritten rules, baseball has also long been characterized by a practice that it shares with all other sports—the use of short and simple sayings to inspire, motivate, and spur athletes on. In exhorting athletes to perform well, however, coaches rarely yell out such positively phrased sayings as, “Always persevere!” or “Give it your all!” No, when it comes to urging their athletes on, the most memorable sayings to come out of the mouths of coaches are negatively phrased:

Never give up! Never give in! Never quit! Never let up!

Never lose your cool! Never coast! Never stop trying!

Never beat yourself! Never be out-hustled! Never show intimidation!

From early childhood, young athletes have had sayings like these drilled into them by parents. As kids get older, they hear the sayings repeated countless times by coaches. Ultimately, the sayings are internalized. Many critics have disparaged expressions like “Never give up!” as mere platitudes. Some have even suggested that the people who spout such trite and hackneyed sayings display a lack of originality, and perhaps even a lack of intelligence. A platitude, we are told by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, is:

An expression or idea that has lost its originality or force through overuse.

While there is no denying that most popular sports neverisms have lost their originality through overuse, it is quite another thing to believe they have lost their force. For many athletes, succinct sayings take on an almost sacred quality as they are repeated over and over again in a mantra-like manner. There is no doubt that such sayings have transformed some lives.

On February 16, 2005, ten days after helping the New England Patriots win their third Super Bowl trophy in four years, thirty-one-year-old middle linebacker Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke. A short while later, as he went into surgery, he was told that his playing days were over. After surgery, Bruschi lacked the strength to lift his young children in his arms. During his rehabilitation, though, he began to think the unthinkable. Could he return to the game he loved? The thought horrified his wife, Heidi, who pleaded with him to give up such a dangerous idea. His doctors also scoffed at the notion. But less than nine months after his stroke, Bruschi was introduced as the team’s starting linebacker in a nationally telecast game against the Buffalo Bills. In one of the most emotional moments in the history of sports, he became the first NFL player to return to the game after a stroke. Bruschi told his story in a 2007 memoir that he wrote with Boston Globe sportswriter Michael Holley. The subtitle was My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL. And the title?

Never Give Up

The force of simple sayings also showed up prominently in the life and career of legendary basketball coach John Wooden. While he is best remembered for his coaching accomplishments, Wooden was also an outstanding player. As a high school student, he led his Martinsville, Indiana, basketball team to the state finals for three consecutive years, winning it all in 1927. While majoring in English at Purdue University, he took the Purdue Boilermakers to the 1932 National Championship. He was the first college basketball player to be named to an “All-American” team for three consecutive years. In the 1930s, he played in the National Basketball League—the precursor of the NBA—while