I didn’t sleep well last night. The Dodgers came up one run short in their comeback, and it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.

Baseball players and baseball fans are superstitious. Terrible things will happen if a player or coach steps on the foul line, if an announcer mentions that a no-hitter is taking place, or if a player changes his routine ever so slightly during a hot streak. I still blame myself for ending Willie Davis’ 31 game hitting streak in 1969 by telling my Grandma about it.

My boys played high school baseball, and that was a superstition nightmare. I was a notorious pacer. I couldn’t sit still for a game. I walked all over the place. If one of my kids got a hit, I would stand in the same spot for every one of his next at bats, unless he struck out. Then I would have to find a new good luck spot. It is amazing how much power we have over baseball games!

Even though I could not make it to Texas for the series, I find that I still unintentionally influence things from my living room. When the Dodgers swept the Padres, I wore the same shirt to watch each game. My wife washed the shirt after the series, and that was mistake number one. Although I wore the same shirt for the first game with the Braves, all the luck vanished in the spin cycle.

How could I help the team for game two? I got my old Wes Parker jersey out of the closet. (My son once asked me who my favorite Dodger was as a kid, and I mentioned Parker, number 28, a slick fielding first-baseman. For Fathers day, he gave me the jersey.) I also put on my 1968 Dodger souvenir helmet, which has graced my cartooning studio for 40 years. I was now prepared to cheer my team to victory.

When the score got to be 6-0 Braves, I decided I must be bringing them bad luck. I left the house for a while and took a walk. A long walk. The longer I stayed away, the better. I imagined the big innings they might be having. I came back about an hour later and it was 8 to 3 Braves.  A little improvement. And Max Muncy came up and BOOM! It was 8 to 6!

My walk had helped. I knew that for the sake of the team, I needed to turn the game back off. They were playing better without me. I made myself some dinner, sat back down on the couch and picked up the remote, just  to take a little peek. The moment the TV came on I saw that it was 8 to 7, but before I could get excited,  A.J. Pollock ground one sharply to third for the last out, stranding the tying run on third.

My fellow Dodger fans, I am firmly convinced that had I not turned on that stupid TV, we’d all be celebrating today.

It’s truly amazing the power we baseball fans have!

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