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Former Durham Bull finds out superstition not just a Hollywood concept

By Ken Medlin

Jul 2, 2008

Baseball players are among the world's most superstitious people, and that's certainly not lost in the movie "Bull Durham."

In the film, a player believes his bat has been cursed, and he rubs beads on the bat hoping to remove the curse.

Believe it or not, that's not far from reality. In fact, the truth is stranger than fiction.

"During batting practice I went over to get some water, and there happened to be a Latin player there leaning over to get some water in front of me," recalled Josh Labandeira, a former shortstop with the Durham Bulls. "I reached down and grabbed his beads, not knowing that it's kind of a voodoo-ish type thing. Well, I grab his beads and he told me: 'Hey it's very bad you grabbed my beads.' "

"I just started laughing and played it off and all of a sudden, come the sixth inning, a guy slides in to me at second, and I break my leg. So talk about bad luck...that's kind of what i was dealt with."

Coincidence? Maybe.

But Labandeira isn't about to touch another player's beads anytime soon.

"Funny thing was, the year before, a guy grabbed his beads and the same day dove into first and broke his thumb," joked Labandeira. "So this guy... he was bad."

You may be wondering about the fate of the player in "Bull Durham" who touched the beads without permission.

Well... he got released...

Note: Kevin Costner, the star of "Bull Durham," is back in the Triangle Friday night when his band plays a concert at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Tickets are available at durhambulls.com and at the gate.