Curse of The Bambino

[Archive]

Posted By: nickinvegas

I have been a lifelong Red's fan. With my wife being from the Cape and a graduate of Tufts U. I became a Red Sox fan by marriage. If I had only known the pain that would lie ahead becoming a Red Sox fan...

I just finished watching another difficult,but predictable loss. The Red Sox lost in the 13th inning to the dreaded Yankees. With each loss being more painfull than the last, I am now a true believer in the curse! I tell myself I want the streak to be over, but would baseball ever be the same if the Red Sox were to win it all?

Has anyone seen the new DVD, "Curse of the Bambino"?

This is a good site relating to the Curse, he really relates to the pain I feel:

http://www.bambinoscurse.com


Nick

[edited to fix link]

[Archive]

Posted By: Gary B.

There is almost nothing in baseball I'd rather see (outside of someone hitting .400, someone breaking Dimaggio's 56, Sisler's 257, Hack Wilson's 191 or other impossibilities) than seeing the Red Sox win a world series. I don't believe in curses though, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. Sigh...

[Archive]

Posted By: Marc S.

They are my favorite team in the lower league (AL) - but the one thought I am always struck with as it relates to the Cubs/Red Sox: Yes, there are talks of curses, Babe's piano, Steve Bartman, etc.

But if one of them actually wins the World Series - the world will rejoice and be happy for a while - but I think after that, the next season or two after, in the words of Chet Baker "The Thrill is Gone". Once they win - all the mystique and interest that have surrounded them for my entire lifetime will be replaced by more indifference.

All in all - the Phillies have been a MUCH MUCH more futile franchise than either the Red Sox or Cubs. They just happened to win in 1980 - and their is no thrill or mystique surrounding them. With the Cubs and Red Sox - many like them because you know they will lose - you hope and hope they win, but perhaps secretly enjoy rooting for the perennial underdog.

I dunno - perhaps I'm rambling - but I think baseball will lose a lot of its essence if/when one of these teams wins it all.

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

I don't believe in the curse either, but it is quite extraordinary the things that keep happening to them. I do root for the Yankees, but I can be sympathetic. I'm still trying to figure out how they lost the 6th game of the 1986 World Series. I also am a lifelong Giants fan; now that they have gone 50 years without a championship, and considering the way they lost to the Angels in 2002, are they finally earning a place alongside the Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs, or is it a bit premature? Do you have to suffer a little longer to earn that status?
To Mark S.- using a Chet Baker quote to discuss a curse is quite amusing- did you read his biography "Deep in a Dream?" Talk about a man who except for his music led an almost entirely cursed and doomed existence.

[Archive]

Posted By: JC

What a Painfull loss last night... Everything averages out over time. I think Boston will beat them in playoffs this year as a wild card team.

[Archive]

Posted By: Andy Baran

I'm willing to take that chance. GO RED SOX!

[Archive]

Posted By: George S.

The difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees is one has heart and one has Nomar and Manny.

[Archive]

Posted By: runscott

The Sox are the second best.

[Archive]

Posted By: docpatlv

The Yankees may be the best team money can buy, but that didn't mean anything in '01 or '03. I love it when small franchises with no or a few minor stars beat down the so-called "best" (Another ex. - Pistons v. Lakers 2004)

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie

but maybe people don't talk about that much in Chicago (when I left in '69, I wasn't into baseball much, and then only the Cubs). As a psychologicasl phenomenon, it seems like much more of a real posibility than--trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees...that was just dumb, not evil.

And speakinbg of No Reason, what do the Cubs cite? You'd think that a certain number of monkeys occupying a baseball diamond-- for 96 years!--would occasionally win a World Series...

[Archive]

Posted By: warshawlaw

I am a Yankees fan. I never worry about the Red Sox, though, because they are part of the spectrum of loser franchises.

There is a force within the universe that is mightier than us all. Some call it The Force or karma or mojo, or walking like you've got a pair; I call it the Loser Franchise Principle. Some teams have such an ingrained tradition of losing that they are loser franchises. Their successes are in spite of themselves and they always manage to $%%^& up their situation. Rookies come to these teams full of promise but become infected with the loser virus in short order. A team can also become a loser franchise in as little as one generation (Royals and Brewers come to mind) with sufficiently poor management and attitude. Baseball has the following loser franchises: Red Sox, Indians, Cubs, Mariners, Rangers (carry-over from being Senators), Padres, Expos, Astros, Brewers. The only way a loser franchise can break free is to sign enough players or management from winning franchises to overcome the negativity. The Devil Rays are a great example. They are playing stellar ball because their manager comes from a tradition of winning and doesn't take "no" for an answer. The 1980 Phillies are another perfect example. Their mainstays included a Red (Rose), a Met (McGraw) and a Cardinal (Carlton). The Angels were a loser franchise until they imported a manager from a winning franchise and, more importantly, faced a team in the WS that is rapidly becoming a loser franchise. I believe that the Angels are backsliding. Vlad Guerrero may win the triple crown, but in coming from a loser franchise to a loser franchise, the Angels will go down in the 1st round, if they even make the playoffs. The Cubs are intriguing this year because they imported a winning franchise pitcher, whose winning aura might just be enough to counteract the dead dog stink the Cubbies otherwise have. Ditto the Astros, whose imports have a whole bunch of rings. The Royals never were a loser franchise before, but they are approaching the edge.

Now, you may ask yourselves, members of the Red Sox Nation, why should you believe in this theory? Well, ask yourselves instead what it is that motivates you to talk incessantly about the curse of the bambino rather than about the strengths of your team? Answer: Loser Franchise Principle. Loser franchise players and fans worry about LOSING; winning franchise players and fans worry about winning.

One final thought: 1918...

[Archive]

Posted By: Chris

It helps to have an extra 75 million or so to use to outbid for everyone as well. The Yankees were looking pretty "loserish" back in the days of Kevin Maas and Hensley Meulens. Give Kansas City, Pittsburgh, etc. the same budget and I think it would take them 2 years tops to get to the top of the heap.

The Cubs and Red Sox do seem to have that loser stigma though -- I will agree with you on those two teams...

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

not great, but interesting. If you can find one for a decent price on ebay, grab it, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

The biggest loser franchise of all time is the Washington Senators which became the Minnesota Twins and yet without signing big name free agents and a horrible period from the late 70's until 1987, they managed to turn things around, win 2 world series titles and have won the division in back to back years and are competing again this year. All this despite a small media market, blase fans for the most part who are polite and appreciative but rarely bombastic, a current general manager who gave up on Eric Milton 9-2 and Kenny Rogers 11-2 this winter and spent most of the meager moola on Joe Mays who is in his 2nd year of rehab and whose one successful trade was for Shannon Stewart who is rehabing and picking splinters out of his butt while Lew Ford excels as a youngster. It's all about the farm system and the Twins have a great one now.
P.S. Yeah, yeah, I know, Joe Nathan, came by trade for AJ but he might be a ones season wonder, hope not.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jerry

Mama, Mia, datsa one big CURSE! Boston simply never shoulda allowed the Babe to be SOLD. Serves ya right and you continue to suffer. Just like the Cubbies.

And San Francisco endures their own version of The Curse, in the person of Barry "My head just grew that large and I gained 35 pounds of muscle in an offseason, "naturally" " Bonds. Until The Juiceman leaves the Bay area, no mo' championships.

[Archive]

Posted By: Pcelli60

Pedro was out of gas !!!