How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"The result is that Pop has the feeling he has been jinxed since the time of his flop, and he has spent twenty-five years and practically all of his pile trying to break the jinx, which he thinks he can do by making the Knights into the world champs that the old Sox never did become." (2.184)
Baseball is full of superstitions, and the jinx is one of the most powerful ones. Pop has worked out some sort of deal in his head with the baseball gods, which would let him break the jinx inaugurated by Fisher's Flop and finally get some good luck.
Quote #2
Doc Knobb's hypnotism cut down their jitters but it didn't much help their coordination, yet when they were left unhypnotized for a few days, they were afflicted with more than the usual number of hexes and whammies and practiced all sorts of magic to undo them. To a man they crossed their fingers over spilled salt, or coffee or tea, or at the sight of a hearse. (3.84)
One of the coolest things in The Natural is its use of all the superstitious jargon from baseball, like jinxes, hexes, and whammies. This passage shows how the players seem to make their own luck; when they're hypnotized they are focused and play all right, but without Doc Knobbs' treatment they get caught up looking for new rituals and end up screwing up even more. They believed that the hypnosis helped, and that's what mattered.
Quote #3
In the locker room Pop asked Roy to explain why he thought the cover had come off the ball.
"That's what you said to do, wasn't it?"
"That's right," said Pop, scratching his bean.
This is one of those weird moments in the novel where it seems like Roy has some supernatural powers to make his thoughts come true, but only on the baseball field.