Every time a Pirate knocks an extra base hit, teammates flash that iconic Zoltan sign. "It all started in Atlanta [in April] when we were watching [television] in the clubhouse, and there was nothing we wanted to watch," said second baseman Neil Walker. "We saw Dude, Where's My Car? And guys were like 'Oh, we haven't seen this in a while.' So we watched it. It was just so terrible and stupid. We just pulled that from it. It's just kind of our team way of bonding, I guess."
"I think you've got to just find ways to lighten the mood at times," Walker said. "This game is so difficult that when times are going good, you have to celebrate. When times are going bad, you have to forget about it and move on. It's a way for all of us to come together a little bit more and have fun with it."
It became prominent among the players in May after catcher Rod Barajas belted a game-winning home run against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park. As he rounded third, he found his teammates waiting for him at home plate, each one displaying the "Z.""Athletes in general like to be part of a team," said Aimee Kimball, director of mental training at UPMC Sports Medicine on the South Side. "So something that they all have in common, like an inside joke, bonds them a little more. And the fans then take it to another level."
"We just started doing it, we've been raking ever since," said starter A.J. Burnett. "That was my favorite part of the night, seeing 20 guys behind home plate doing that. It shows you what a group we have."
"It gives them a sense of shared goal and that positive message of winning. It unifies them," said Dr. Kunkle-Miller. "I remember when the Pirates were in the World Series [in 1979], they would play 'We Are Family' to rally the fans and get everybody going. This is a variation on that."
And now you, the Pirates fan, can get in on the fun.
"It's important for athletes to have something to help them to tap into their full resources," said DGeorge Pappas, a sports psychologist who has worked with professional athletes across the country. "It helps in improving concentration, getting rid of unnecessary tension, substituting negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
"It creates a positive image and it takes on like a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you're negative, a player strikes out, and he might dwell on what he's been doing wrong. Now he has something positive to think, and he's changed for the better."
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