It was a normal part of every day when we were kids and upward. Our city was a true ethnic mixmaster and many of the folks (neighborhoods) were mainly first generation American parents, or maybe grandparents. Many were Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Ukrainian, etc. and most of those families were Roman Catholic.
So, seeing the sign of the cross was common - when a kid went up to bat, before shooting a free throw, when going on stage to play a musical piece, before diving off the high rock into the river, etc. Always seemed sincere, and a normal event.
The Eastern Orthodox kids (Greek, Russian, and some Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian) rarely made their sign - I did see that when I went to their church activities with them - but they were never very public with their religious gesture.
I didn't have one - but would tap the plate three times with the bat. Hoping for a fastball waist high, or a curve up,
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I think you are on the right track. I attended a party last night and a nice Catholic mother prayed over her son. Consistent with your observations above, she was a first generation immigrant from Mexico of the Boomer generation, but you didn't see her behavior mimicked by the younger mothers. I suspect as more of that generation continues to pass you will see less and less of this behavior in public.
