Turner normally has a black smudge or smudge across the “ Tu ” in his last name on the upper-back of his consistent. That was true in Game 1 of the 2020 World Series against the Rays, excessively. But while baseball players are the ultimate creatures of superstition, Turner does n’t make the crisscross intentionally. It good ends up there thanks to his common casual everyday .
“ When I take my practice swings, ” Turner told LAMag.com in 2018, “ I try to exaggerate end, and my bat comes depressed over my left field shoulder, leaving a pine pitch stain. ”
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Batters use ache tar to get a better grip on their bat, and it ‘s a awkward, dark-colored message. It can decidedly leave a stain, although Turner is the only player who seems to wind up with the stain on the back of his new jersey thanks to that overdo follow-through he mentions .
The more common place for ache mariner to appear during games is on batter ‘s helmets. The dirty, brown-ish helmets that you ‘ll much see on MLB hitters are covered in ache mariner. It ‘s in depart because it might be on their hands while adjusting their helmet, and in character because it is a commodious home to stash for a little extra handle.
Per MLB rules, it’s legal for Turner and any other hitter to use pine pitch to grip the bat, arsenic hanker as the pine pitch remains at or below 18 inches up the bat from the treat.
Turner ‘s practice-swing routine has worked for him since he joined the Dodgers in 2014. Turner hit .340 that first year and has batted .302 overall in his career with the Dodgers. That includes 116 of his 124 career MLB home runs, thanks in part to a golf stroke change that saw Turner alter his leg recoil and weight switch upon joining LA .
JUSTIN TURNER GOES BACK TO BACK THE DODGERS ARE THROWING HAYMAKERS IN THE FIRST pic.twitter.com/QUJrn5qwTT
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) October 17, 2020
The Dodgers benefited most in Game 1 of the World Series from Turner ‘s glove, which he flashed to make a dive looting of Yandy Diaz leading off the sixth inning against Clayton Kershaw. The left-hander pointed at Turner in agitation after the play was made, and Turner turned about to walk back to his position for the adjacent play, smudge clearly visible on the back of his uniform .