Pitcher Jerome Williams always wears a necklace of white puka shells around his neck to remind him of his Hawaiian heritage and of his mother, who died of breast cancer.  As a tribute to his mother, Jerome Williams is active in women's health causes.

Pitcher Turk Wendell is famous for his superstitions: brushing his teeth between innings, chewing black licorice, drawing three crosses in the dirt, and waving at the center fielder before pitches.

Barry Bonds always kisses his gold cross necklace after he hits a home run.

Roger Clemens always visited Monument Park to touch the head of the Babe Ruth statue before he pitched in Yankee Stadium.  Roger Clemens gave each of his children names that began with the letter K.  "K" stands for strikeout in baseball.

Baseball Curses

The Curse of the Billy Goat: This curse is on the Cubs.  According to legend, William "Billy Goat" Sianis, a Greek immigrant who owned the nearby Billygoat Tavern, brought a real billy goat to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.  He and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field -- they even paraded on the playing field before the game.  However, during the game, they were ejected from the stadium because the Cubs owner said the billy goat was too stinky.  Sianis cursed the Cubs, saying they'd never win a World Series until a billy goat sat in Wrigley Field.  This curse has held up for over 50 years.

The Curse of the Bambino -- BROKEN! This one is on the Red Sox.  In 1918, the Red Sox won their fifth World Series, and a big star was Babe Ruth.  Two years later, they traded him to the Yankees.  The Yankees had never won a World Series before that, but since then they have won more than any team in baseball.  The Red Sox had terrible luck in the World Series after that.  They rarely made it that far and when they did, horrible things happened, such as the famous Bill Buckner error.  (The Sox lost the series to the Mets because of his error, letting the ball roll between his legs.) In 2004, the Red Sox broke the curse in the biggest way possible -- by winning the World Series in a four game sweep.