Times of Northwest Indiana

I ain't afraid of no digit

April 11, 2007
BY HILLARY SMITH

Wilt Chamberlain poured in 100 points in a single game, was named to 13 all-star teams and his number has been retired by five different teams.

That number, in case you don't remember it flashing on the back of the 7-foot-1 basketball player, was "lucky" 13.

Chamberlain said that it wasn't unlucky for him, but it was for his opponents.

"Everyone says it's unlucky, but it's brought luck to me," said Munster hoops player Brianne Rubesha, who sports the No. 13.

The "luck" of the 13 is subjective, says Purdue professor of communication Glenn Sparks, who specializes in the effects of mass media on the paranormal.

"The belief in the superstition that Friday the 13th and the number 13 in particular will bring bad luck if you don't honor or respect it is an unfounded belief in a sense," Sparks said. "So I think there are two primary ways of reacting: Belief in the superstition and not go near the number. Those athletes who chose to wear the number are making a statement that they're going to defy the superstition.

"In athletics, it may have the connotation that 'I am so good, I am so capable that I can defy forces that are other worldly and are operating against me.'"

It happened on Friday, April 13: 1984 -- Pete Rose becomes the first National League player with 4,000 hits.

Region players who picked the uniform number for one reason or another don't embrace the same fear that plagues triskaidekaphobics.

Crown Point pitcher Blake Mascarello wears the number in baseball, but as a quarterback, plays in the "6" uniform.
Simple explanation: "My favorite number was taken by Matt Jansen," Mascarello said.

Mascarello was looking for No. 24, worn by Ken Griffey Jr. in his youth.

Instead, because he was but a freshman, he got the last pick and the upperclassmen were avoiding it.

"A lot of my family, my grandparents, they've asked me why I'd pick 'unlucky 13,'" Mascarello said. "I tell them, 'I think I can make it lucky.' We'll see this year."

Other famous baseball players to wear the No. 13 include Ralph Branca, who threw the pitch that Bobby Thompson hit to give the Giants the 1961 NL pennant, Omar Vizquel, who won nine Gold Gloves, and Ozzie Guillen, who still wears it as manager of the White Sox.

It happened on Friday, April 13: 1849 -- Hungary becomes a Republic.

Lowell's cleanup hitter Michelle Johnson selected the 13 cardinal when her No. 17 was already taken. (She liked 17 because lefty Mark Grace wore it for the Cubs). In Italy, 17 is considered an unlucky number.

With 17 gone, the left-handed first baseman, who also has an affinity for odd numbers, picked up the 13

"I never thought of it as unlucky," Johnson said. "I always thought it was lucky. So far it has been pretty good for me."

"There had been a couple 13s before her," Lowell softball coach Pete Iussig said. "We went though a couple years without one and when she picked it up, I thought she was nuts. Usually, it's her twin sister, Kelly ... that is more the nuts one. Michelle, she's the low-key kind of common sense one, so I thought it was strange."

Michelle has noticed how strange it is. She is picking out the commonalities between her number and others who wear it on the college field.

"What I have noticed, I've seen a lot of 13s play first base and are left-handed," the senior said. "And both of those are me."

It happened on Friday, April 13: 1945 -- German troops kill 1,016 WW II prisoners of war in Gardelegen, Germany. Americans discover the massacre two days later.

Munster sophomore Rubesha picked 13 on the junior varsity basketball team because 23 wasn't even an option.

She certainly didn't think about the consequences until family and friends started to ask.

"They said, 'That's an unlucky number,'" Rubesha said. "I said, 'I've got to change that.'

"A sophomore being on varsity, that's a big step for me. I think that's the number I'm going to stick with. It doesn't bother me and your number doesn't effect how you play."

It happened on Friday, April 13: 1866 -- Butch Cassidy is born.

It's not simply that athletes who slap the 13 integer on their backs are immune to superstition. They have chosen to ignore the irrational fears toward the No. 13 that comes from historical references associating the number with calamity, mishap and tragedy.

"I think that beliefs like this, psychologists generally would talk about beliefs serving some function," Sparks said. "People don't just believe something for no reason, but in the case of superstition and paranormal,

"I think these beliefs are functioning to bring order to a person's world where they see chaos. It's an attempt to deal with the unknown and things that we don't have control over, so we embrace these beliefs because it gives understanding and control over our world."