10.22.03
O.k., so I'm behind a little bit. I had intended to write an article about the baseball playoffs
before they began, but the superstition and history got to me and I decided not to jinx
anything by writing an article. Now, everything I had hoped for has come to pass, so I can
talk freely.
Yes, you got that correctly, I was hoping that the Cubs and Red Sox would both fail in
their respective quests for the World Series. I know that I am in the minority on this one,
but I have my reasons. First, the Cubs. As many of you know, I am a Cardinals fan, so
the Cubs are our hated rivals. I would have hated to see our rivals in the World Series.
Also, for as long as I've been a baseball fan, the Cubs have been the 'loveable losers'. If
they were to make it to the World Series, or, God forbid, win one, that moniker wouldn't
be appropriate anymore. I like the fact that our rivals are known far and wide as losers.
Next comes the Red Sox. This one is harder for some to understand. The thing is, I am
not a Yankees fan, so I don't have that same rival hatred as I do with the Cubs. In fact, I
don't hate the Red Sox at all (or the Yankees for that matter). I'm pretty ambivalent
towards both teams. If I'm going to root for an American League team it would be for the
Royals, since I live in Kansas City. Anyway, it isn't a favorite team or rival issue with the
Red Sox, it comes down to history. All my life (and my father's life, and his father's life)
the Red Sox, like the Cubs, have been without a World Series victory. It is part of baseball
history that these two franchises are cursed. The players on the teams scoff at the idea
that the team is cursed, and what else would they say? But history tells another story,
especially for the Red Sox. Not only have they failed to win a World Series since 1918, but
they have repeatedly failed in ways that defy logic and break the hearts of their fans just
when victory seems to be in their grasp. I won't go into all of the stories, but suffice it to
say that Bucky "bleeping" Dent, Bill Buckner, and now Grady Little are all symbols of the
curse.
I love those stories because those stories are part of the mysticism and lore that makes
baseball great. Similar to Babe Ruth's called shot, which no one can prove or disprove, I
want to believe because those types of stories make baseball great. [Side note: Babe Ruth's
called homerun was in the World Series against the Cubs.] There have been researchers
that have tried to go back and prove one way or another that Ruth did or didn't call his
shot. I don't understand that mentality - why would anyone want to wipe away that part of
baseball history and reduce it to the common? A Babe Ruth homerun was a common
event, but a Babe Ruth homerun where he pointed to the stands, telling the pitcher where he
would deposit the ball, was uncommon, special, and part of the mythology of baseball that
makes following the sport so great.
If the Red Sox were to win the World Series and wipe away the Curse of the Bambino, part
of the mythology of the sport would disappear. Part of the magic of following baseball is
that each season builds on the legacy of seasons past and adds to the mythology. It's why
we compare the statistics from players past to players present and argue over who was
greater. If the stories that make up the mythology are wiped clean, reduced to the
ordinary, explained away by coincidence and disproved by the Cubs or Red Sox winning
the World Series, some of the lore and mystique of baseball would be gone forever.
Baseball IS its history, its ghosts, its stories of seasons gone by that grow more magical as
each season passes. A Cubs or Red Sox World Series victory would remove some of that
magic.
I suppose I could accept the Red Sox (or the Cubs) winning a World Series if it was
accomplished by an uncommon act. If Pedro Martinez had thrown a perfect game in
Game 7 or Sammy Sosa hit four homeruns in Game 7 or... I don't know, I guess what
would be significantly uncommon is pretty hard to predict. In the end, the way both the
Cubs and the Red Sox was fitting and contributed to the mythology of the curse. The
Cubs Game 6 implosion (with the Steve Bartman incident - which, by the way, should not
be blamed any more than Bill Buckner should have been blamed in 1986, but will be
nonetheless) and the Red Sox falling apart in Game 7 will go down in history along with the
Babe and the Billy Goat as recent chapters in an old book.