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Addy Baird's “The Magical Game” uncovers baseball superstitions

6/5/2026

38 9 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Journalist Addy Baird released “The Magical Game,” a book about baseball’s superstitions.
She used Library of Congress microfilm, interviewed MLB historian John Thorn, and cited the 1945 Billy Goat curse and Wade Boggs’s chicken ritual.
Baird says sabermetrics and the 2023 pitch-clock rule reveal, not erase, baseball’s magic, targeting fans and anyone interested in magic, astrology, or superstition.

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Story summary

Journalist Addy Baird released “The Magical Game,” a book about baseball’s superstitions.
She used Library of Congress microfilm, interviewed MLB historian John Thorn, and cited the 1945 Billy Goat curse and Wade Boggs’s chicken ritual.
Baird says sabermetrics and the 2023 pitch-clock rule reveal, not erase, baseball’s magic, targeting fans and anyone interested in magic, astrology, or superstition.