Sophomore jinx

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The sophomore jinx, in sports, refers to the tendency for a player to follow a good season in his rookie year with a disappointing season. While some superstitious players may believe there is a curse or hex on second-year players, the usual causes for it are injury and/or other teams learning how to adjust to the player's style of play. In addition, it is suggested that sophomore jinx can become self-fulfilling i.e. a player in the second year of his career can be aware of such a jinx and this can affect his performance

Many excellent players have been exceptions to the sophomore jinx, as have some current stars, notably baseball's Albert Pujols. Ryan Howard, in his sophomore season (2006), hit 58 home runs, won the 2006 Home Run Derby, and won the National League MVP award. Many players adjust after a season or two and go on to lead productive careers. However, in some extreme cases, the player fails to adjust and quickly disappears into obscurity.

[edit] Examples of the sophomore jinx

• Rick Ankiel had a record of 11-7 and an ERA of 3.50 in his first full season in the majors (2000), but during the playoffs that same year, he started having severe control problems and never pitched a full season in the majors again. At the start of the 2005 season, he became an outfielder.
• Wally Bunker won 19 games as a 19-year-old for the Baltimore Orioles in 1964, then developed a sore arm the following year and never again won more than 12 games. He pitched his final major league game at only 26 years old.
• Joe Charboneau won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1980 with the Cleveland Indians and then never hit above .214 again.
• Mark Fidrych won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1976 with the Detroit Tigers, winning 19 games, and then went 10-10 over the course of the four following seasons.
• Bob Hamelin won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1994 with the Kansas City Royals, then hit .168 the following season and only approached his rookie numbers once, as a part-time player in 1997. He hit .219 in 1998 and was out of baseball.

[edit] Other uses

• In the music industry, the sophomore jinx refers to an artist’s failed attempt to follow-up his or her critically-acclaimed debut album with an equal album that fails to meet expectations. This is commonly attributed to the unrealistic expectations from critics, immense anticipation from fans, and overexposure from the media. A oft-cited example of this is in the case of the rapper Nas, whose sophomore effort It Was Written fell disappointingly short of what fans and critics expected as a follow-up to his groundbreaking debut album Illmatic.