At approximately 11:40 last night, Boston baseball fans forever lost the righ tot blame their team’s woes on a decades-dead player. Instead from now on, win or lose, their team’s fortunes will now rest squarely on their own heads. Henceforth no matter what happens with the Boston Red Sox, it’s their fault. If/when the team shows up next year bearing no resemblance at all to their current state, the fans don’t get to claim that Babe Ruth caused over half of them to be up for free agency this year.
This is, of course, a mortal blow to the perpetually victimized Red Sox Nation, whose team is no longer a collection of pre-destined losers who will always break your heart, but instead…just another team. And that may turn out to be the most heartbreaking development yet.
PAD
• 
“Scanning, Captain…one moment, please…
“Yes, it’s just as I initially suspected: tricorder readings confirm off-the-scale readings of sour grapes.”
If you’re bitter _now,_ just wait until this time _next_ October, when the Yankees make it back to the World Series and are beaten in five games…by the Cubs.
>> Boston baseball fans forever lost the righ to
>> blame their team’s woes on a decades-dead player.
Grrr… how often do we have to tell people…
IT’S NOT US! The fans didn’t drag out that curse
crap, most of us don’t believe in that silly-ášš angle.
It’s other teams, other fans, freakin’ FOX, the
rest of the media looking for a story.
NOT THE FANS.
The “Curse” isn’t dead… it was never alive.
Thankfully, we no longer have to debate that.
Riding the high,
-Brad
“IT’S NOT US! The fans didn’t drag out that curse
crap, most of us don’t believe in that silly-ášš angle.
It’s other teams, other fans, freakin’ FOX, the
rest of the media looking for a story.
NOT THE FANS.”
Really.
Funny, ’cause when I was up in Boston and talked to various fans, they kept bringing it up, saying the curse was over and this was the year they were done with the curse and had t-shirts that the word “Curse” printed in reverse, and there sure were a lot of people holding up signs on view during the ballgame that talked about 1918 or had pictures of Babe Ruth on them.
So both from anecdotal conversation and what’s seen on TV, although “most” of you may not feel a particular way, there’s one honkin’ dámņëd loud minority.
PAD
“Not only is the glass half-empty, but I’m gonna smash you in the face with it.” 🙂
“Yes, it’s just as I initially suspected: tricorder readings confirm off-the-scale readings of sour grapes.”
Then you better smack the tricorder hard a few times, ’cause everybody in this house at least was rooting for the Red Sox. There’s no love lost hereabouts for the Yankees, and we were pulling for the team that totally mortified them to go all the way. So I dunno WHAT you’re talkin’ about.
PAD
Good for BoSox fans.
Us Cub fans, at least the rational ones, don’t blame our losses squarely on some billy-goat that doesn’t explain the 14 years between the incident and the last time the Cubs were in the Series.
Nope, we place the blame squarely where it belongs: on the Wrigley family until ’81, and the Tribune Company thereafter.
Although Sammy Sosa is a tempting target nowadays, too…
PDA: In Captain Marvel #29 (Time Flies part III), Rick (via CM) asks Spider-man 2099 wether or not the Red Sox won the World Series in this century to which Spidey replies “No”.
Looks like you’re going to have to change that for the TBP release.
Russ:
I think Spidey 2099 was merely taking the “no man should know the future” route.
I do have a theory that over the next few years, the New England population may drop, and the Chicago area’s go up, as people start moving to where they can still angst about a team (with the bonus value of two teams to do so about, no waiting!)
There’s also the theory that somehow the Curse misfired and hit the opposing teams’ dugouts. Thus explaining the Yankees “Greatest…Choke…Ever”[tm] and some of the bizarre Cardinals play (OK, when’s the last time you saw a player make it halfway home from third base, have the opposing infield concede the run, and end up getting tagged out? Before Tuesday night that is.). And certainly the total lunar eclipse needs to be factored in.
Btw, one nice bit. As is customary, next season’s first Red Sox home game will be immediately preceded by the raising of the American League and World Series pennants.
The opponent for that game is the New York Yankees.
You know, if there’s any team in professional sports that’s operating under a curse, it’s got to be the New Orleans Saints. Thirty-odd years in the NFL, a pitiful handful of winning seasons, maybe one Playoff victory in their entire history… now *that’s* a cursed team.
You know, in the end, both the Yankees and the Red Sox (and to a lesser extent, the Cardinals) got exactly what they deserved.
Steinbrenner has reverted to his old ’80s formula” Make a big splash! Sign a big star! Spend a lot of money! Grab the headlines!
I mean, if anything epitomized these Red Sox, it was the bloody sock of Curt Schilling. He had been instrumental in Arizona’s win over the Yankees in the 2001 World Series (preventing the Yankees from winning four straight titles! Bloody unbelievable!). He was a competitor, still a winner, and could have been had by the Yankees.
But the Yanks were so obsessed with A-Rod (since Boston wanted him and because he supposedly was the best player in the game – guess they never heard of Barry Bonds) they held onto their prospects, which they eventualy traded away anyway.
Think Schilling in a Yankee uniform would have made a difference?
My uncle is a diehard Sox fan and I was brought up as such. This uncle has an aortic aneurism 7 months ago, broke his neck in a fall 7 weeks ago and had a heart attack last week….. I made a call to him at about 10pm to make sure that he was making it through this game. 🙂
Incredible story in the last 8 games, no doubt it.
Fred
In a related note, the City of St. Louis has filed a Missing Ballclub alert. Please be on the lookout for the St. Louis Cardinals. They were last seen shortly after game 7 of the NLCS and haven’t been seen since.
Because whoever those stumblebums posing as the Cards were, that wasn’t the team that won 105 games this year.
grumble, grumble, grumble
JSM
In related news, Boston joins the rest of the country and finally becomes a football town…
A long but fascinating article on where the whole idea of the Curse may have come from here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2004/news/story?page=Curse041005
“There’s also the theory that somehow the Curse misfired and hit the opposing teams’ dugouts. Thus explaining the Yankees “Greatest…Choke…Ever”[tm] and some of the bizarre Cardinals play (OK, when’s the last time you saw a player make it halfway home from third base, have the opposing infield concede the run, and end up getting tagged out? Before Tuesday night that is.). And certainly the total lunar eclipse needs to be factored in.”
Maybe instead of factoring in eclipses, curses, and Santa Claus (all three had the same impact on the outcome of the series), maybe try factoring in: Derek Lowe, Curt Schilling, and Pedro Martinez = 20 IP and 0 ER.
I also have a theory that the Sox being 50-15 in their last 65 games might have had more to due with winning the World Series then any fat boogey man.
Can’t wait for the parade on Saturday!
I have friends in Boston who I talked to after the game. They are happy, but they don’t know how to deal with the emotion. I love them dearly, but I just had to laugh.
I could almost understand. Being a New York Rangers fan, I lived with the chants of “1940”. When they won the Stanley Cup in 1994, I was stunned, but agreed with the sign in Madison Square Garden, “I can now die happy.”
Too bad four of the five preceding generations of Sox fans can’t say the same.
Hi,
I know it’s probably silly to be this excited over a sporting event, but I just can’t stop smiling. I have literally waited my whole life (at least as much of it as I can remember) for the Red Sox to go all the way and win the World Series and now they finally have. I will be watching them much more closely next season to see what happens.
Thank you for your time,
averagejoe
“Us Cub fans, at least the rational ones, don’t blame our losses squarely on some billy-goat that doesn’t explain the 14 years between the incident and the last time the Cubs were in the Series.”
Tell it! Cub fans shouldn’t blame goats, black cats or fans grabbing foul balls for their team’s perpetual woes. The blame belongs on the players who didn’t play well enough, the manager who didn’t manage well enough, and the owners who pay them. Nowhere else.
Oh…and congrats BoSox fans! Woo hoo!
There is another explanation for the Cubs’ woes–Merkle’s Boner.
On September 23, 1908 the Cubs and the New York Giants were fighting for the National League pennant, and the two teams played a crucial series at the Polo Grounds. In the third game of the series the score was tied going into the bottom of the ninth, and the Giants had two runners on base and two outs. A bloop hit into center field, the runner on third crosses the plate, and the runner on first–Fred Merkle–runs from first to second, stops halfway, and runs back to his dugout believing the game to be over.
The game wasn’t over. The ball was still in play. A force-out at second would have nullified the run.
Unfortunately the crowd surged the field and interfered with the play.
The Cubs on the field, though, were very much aware that Merkle could still be tagged out. They recovered the ball and tagged Merkle out.
The umpires had no choice but to declare the game a tie–there were too many fans on the field rioting.
This play has since come to be known as “Merkle’s Boner.”
The Cubs and the Giants tied for the regular season and held a single game playoff. The Cubs’ victory in that playoff game sent them to their third World Series in three years for the second and final World Series victory.
Among old-time fans, it’s not the goat that cursed the Cubs. It’s the spirit of John McGraw, still angry at the Cubs for stealing the pennant from his Giants.
Nothing else to say, really.
While I’m glad the team with the highest payroll didn’t win, is baseball really better off now that the the team with the second highest payroll did?
http://www.josephfinn.net/mt/archives/002656.html
Ding. Whine time is over: At approximately 11:40 last night, Boston baseball fans forever lost the righ tot blame their
I think this has positive effects that have nothing to do with the lack of parity in the league. It shows that even with Steinbrenner buying major stars left and right some other team can beat them FOUR GAMES IN A ROW. I could care less who kills the Yankees as long as they die.
Hëll, these guys no matter how overpaid they are for the regular season, earned every dime in these two series, they won eight straight games after being declared goat artists after being down 3 games.
That said, the lack of parity in baseball will kill the sport if it continues this way. If teams with great histories like the Pirates and Tigers can’t put together teams that can compete with Steinbrenner’s group of thuggish jerks than we’ll never really have great baseball anymore.
And anyone who thinks the Sox winning will diminish their fans enthusiasm doesn’t really understand fanaticism. If anything this proves they were right in their minds and now they can say “Let’s do it again next year.” now it’s about proving it wasn’t a fluke.
It’s been 20 years since the Tigers won, dammit, I’m officially starting the Tiger Nation.
While I’m glad the team with the highest payroll didn’t win, is baseball really better off now that the the team with the second highest payroll did?
Um, do you really think this wasn’t going to happen?
Think it through. Generally, good players cost more money. Generally, you don’t win without good players. The only exception to this rule is if you can win with the majority of your good players in their first six years, when their salaries are held artificially low.
Trying to win with very young players with less than six years is very, very hard. It’s even harder when you try to do it with average or bad players.
It is a sunny day in Boston with temperatures in the 60’s. It is nearing winter but it feels like spring. There is a new world blooming.
Most Boston fans do not believe in any curse. It was a convenient way to lump bad plays, bad pitches, and bad managerial decisions into something otherworldy. The savvy Red Sox fan knew better.
Now, hopefully, the world will know better. No more shots of Babe Ruth winking in a Red Sox uniform. No more Bucky Dent clips. No more Buckner clips. No more Aaron Boone clips. There is no place in this new world for these. They are yesterday’s news. ARE YOU LISTENING FOX SPORTS !!!
Congratulations to the whole Sox team. Everyone played a small role. No one was above the team.
And congratulations to the Red Sox Nation for showing that love and loyalty, passion and perserverance mean something.
That said, the lack of parity in baseball will kill the sport if it continues this way. If teams with great histories like the Pirates and Tigers can’t put together teams that can compete with Steinbrenner’s group of thuggish jerks than we’ll never really have great baseball anymore.
Histories don’t compete on the playing field. Getting some folks with IQs over room temperature in the front office will. I haven’t been impressed with the management of the Tigers and Pirates, who’ve made some truly bad decisions over the years; why should they be rewarded and made competitve just because of their history?
If this is tragedy, you can keep your triumphs! 🙂
Roger Tang: That said, the lack of parity in baseball will kill the sport if it continues this way. If teams with great histories like the Pirates and Tigers can’t put together teams that can compete with Steinbrenner’s group of thuggish jerks than we’ll never really have great baseball anymore.
The lack of parity in baseball is problematic. Improving the quality of the front offices will help. Even now, it’s difficult to maintain a dynasty for a long time. The Braves and Yankees have done it in large part because they were able to exploit other teams and assemble key pieces of value (mainly, great starting pitching which stayed healthy) while other teams couldn’t. Other teams (notably the A’s) have started making similar moves. This should make for some exciting baseball in the next 20 years.
I always chuckle when people say that parity is killing the NFL, and that sports need dynasties to keep peoples’ interest. What rubbish.
Here’s a really frightening thought: Now that the Dodgers have a GM who knows talent evaluation, and given their financial resources, how good will they be for the rest of this decade?
Even now, it’s difficult to maintain a dynasty for a long time.
Well, should it be EASY to maintain dynasties?
Seriously, dynasties should be possible…but hard to maintain. To me, that rewards smart front offices. We shouldn’t reward stupid front offices merely for the sake of parity…and we shouldn’t penalize good front offices because they’ve been good at their jobs.
Smart front offices generates victories…and victories generates revenues. THAT’s the mantra that baseball fans should concentrate on. I mean, that has catapulted the Seattle mariners into the top 5 revenue producers in baseball. And it’s up to the front office to keep them there by building good teams.
SIGH***
Babe Ruth wasn’t the cause of the losing (well… maybe the first decade or so… Selling away the greatest player of the game ever does have real world consequences)… It just was a poetic way of marking the start of the Losing…
The Losing wasn’t caused by “The Curse”. The Losing WAS “The Curse”
The pain of being oh so close… Tasting the thrill of victory, only to have it slip away. That was the source of the pain.
If we truly believed Babe Ruth was the reason, why is it that Bucky “F.” Dent, and Aaron “Bleeping” Boone have these middle names given to them by Sox fans? Why was Grady Little practically run out of town if he wasn’t to blame for the Losing?
The “Bambino” part of the curse was not superstition. Merely poetry inspired by a long period of coming up short.
Which is why someone ought to tell Cubs fans to give up on the “Goat” story. It’s too absurd.
Also, the Red Sox will never be “just another team” for fans. The true fans of any team live or die with each game, each season. They wear the medals of victory side by side with the scars of defeats. And Losing hurts. Wether its been for years or a single season. I’ve seen enough Yankees fans act like Red Sox fans over the past few weeks to know better.
Belittle a fan’s passion, Claim that their joy will be lessened by finally winning, say that they wanted to lose all along… And you will have grossly miscalculated.
As the coach of the NY Jets said, “You play to win the games!!!”
Even the Globetrotters nemesis the Washington Generals played to win.
In this age of bandwagon jumpers… Some may think that cheering for a perennial loser must be by choice. Wrong. It’s called fan loyalty..
(sorry PAD, I know this doesn’t all apply to you directly… But I’ve heard enough griping about “Whiny Red Sox Fans” all over the place.. it all came out here.)
“The “Bambino” part of the curse was not superstition. Merely poetry inspired by a long period of coming up short.”
When did it start?
Seriously. Does anybody know? Who first started this “Curse of the Bambino” thing. I mean, the Sox won in 1918. Ruth was sold to the Yanks in 1919. I doubt that the Sox lost in 1920 and said, “Holy crap, we’re cursed!” When did this thing first actually take form and get labeled?
PAD
Well, I’m glad all the fooraw is over. My girlfriend is a BoSox fan, so I’m thrilled on her behalf. I’m just waiting for the next big show on Nov. 2.
Because whoever those stumblebums posing as the Cards were, that wasn’t the team that won 105 games this year.
Amen. I don’t mind that we lost to the Red Sox. It was the way we did it. We are still the second winningest franchise in history, and they deserved to win for a change. If history is any judge we’ll have two or three more chances before having to wait another decade.
111 days til spring training.
Who first started this “Curse of the Bambino” thing
There have been some news reports and articles about where it originated, and the term itself didn’t come about until some reporter used it in the 70’s or something, and I think there was a book by the same title too.
All in all, being a Cubs fan, I don’t believe in a Curse of the Bambino any more than I believe in a Curse of the Billy Goat.
All I know is The Curse Is Over, Red Sox Nation is gone for good!
Someone posted on another message board: “I’m 33 years old, and I’ve been waiting for this for 86 years.” That about describes me as well.
I paced, I panted. I pleaded, I begged, I cheered them on, I excorciated them. As the ball settled into the glove for the FINAL out, I exulted in joy unforetold before! (Well, with the Patriots it was the same, but not for the same amount of time).
My dad woke up and came out to see the celebration.
My sister called.
My mom was in tears as she had finally seen something my grandfather (who like most people in Red Sox Nation had managed the team for decades) was unable to be a part of, having passed on years ago.
I think I woke up my neighborhood with my outside whoops of joy. You could hear the echo at least 2 streets away.
My 80 year old grandmother saw the entire game with my uncle.
The euphoric feeling we have now will last a while as all the demons are drained away.
Well done BoSox, your dreams came true. Doing so you fulfilled ours. Nothing could be finer!
This is really, really cool that the Red Sox won but, enough is enough about the long-suffering Boston fans. Everyone talks about the BoSox and the Cubbies but what about Philadelphia, the Z’ha’Dun of baseball.
“Put them down. Put them all down. There’s enough suffering in the universe already”
Well, I’m glad all the fooraw is over. My girlfriend is a BoSox fan, so I’m thrilled on her behalf. I’m just waiting for the next big show on Nov. 2.
Lucky you. I’ve still got to deal with my fiance. She’s an OSU Buckeyes fan.
Help!
PAD, maybe the fans you talked to who were enthused about ‘the curse being over’ meant having to f****** HEAR about it.
If so, count me in with them.
As far as the assumption of sour grapes someone else made, perhaps it was just the most-likely assumption on the part of someone reading piss & snark about something others are celebrating.
“When did it start?”
It all started with a book by Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140296336/qid=1099020254/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/002-6635096-0432842
All the curse talk from ESPN, FOX, Sports Illustrated, Yankee fans, etc came from that SOB (in 1990).
Lucky you. I’ve still got to deal with my fiance. She’s an OSU Buckeyes fan.
Oh, and did my Hawkeyes give them a beating a couple of weeks ago, a beating they should’ve gotten in 2002 but for a scheduling fluke. 😉
Best part from that Amazon link is under the “Our Customers’ Advice” heading:
“11 people recommended 101 Uses for a Turd instead of The Curse of the Bambino”
Sums up how Red Sox nation feels about “the curse”…
So let’s see here:
1.) I told ya! The Sox did it! They deserve it!
2.) President Bush is starting to get bit in the rear by the missing explosives fiasco. Hmmmm…just in time for the vote…..
3.) Today, the FBI started to investigate the Haliburton contracts. Hmmm…..
4.) Yasser Arafat is (apparently) gravely ill. Maybe he will do us all a favor. Hmmm…..
5.) Now, if Kerry can just win on Tuesday, maybe…..just MAYBE…..we can get things back to a more healthy state of exsistence. Hmmm…..