superstitions

Nicole Massey
4/16/10
A block
Superstitions

Babe Ruth steps up to the plate, he plants his feet in the dirt, and looks the pitcher in eyes. The pitcher throws his fast ball; Babe swings and hits a home run! As Babe trots to home plate his whole team is there to celebrate with him. The red sox have just beaten the Yankees to win the World Series.
In 1914 the Boston Red Sox bought Babe Ruth from the Baltimore club, who were a minor league team during this era, and immediately signed him for $3,500 a year, three times the amount he was being paid. During the next 3-years Ruth was the best left-hander in baseball. (Williams) The red sox have won 5 World Series, the most a club has ever won. The Yankees haven’t won any. The Red Sox any Yankees are rivals, Babe Ruth has helped the red sox win all there World Series. In 1920 the red sox manager Harry Frazee traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees for 100,000 dollars. Red sox fans were heart broken when they open their newspapers on January 6th 1920 and found out the Bambino has been traded.
Since Babe has been traded the red so have not won a World Series since then. This is what people call the curse of bambino. In perhaps the most notorious play in Boston Red Sox history, on Oct. 25, 1986, first baseman Bill Buckner bobbled a ground ball that let the New York Mets win Game six of the World Series. The Mets went on to win game seven and the World Series.
Fans have believed that there was a curse for over 86 years. Finally in 2004 the curse was broken when the red sox beat the cardinals in the World Series. It almost seemed like fate for the red sox. They made it to the American league playoffs, and had to play their rivals, the New York Yankees. Boston was down 3 games. It was then in Game 4, when things completely turned around. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Sox caught up with the Yankees, tied the game within the last few innings, and would eventually win the game by the 12th inning. It was the start of a record-breaking moment in baseball history, as they are the first team to win a post-season series after losing the first three games. Boston won the series and went on to play the St. Louis Cardinals. Boston swept St. Louis and became the World Series champions. Fans were more impressed when the red sox beat the Yankees. Some fans believe the curse was broken and some believe the curse still exists.
The typical red sox fan will say next year is our year. But only once has that statement been true. It wasn’t only Babe Ruth that made this curse seem so real. In 1978 the red sox had a fourteen game lead on the Yankees. It looked like they were going to win the World Series. But the combination of red sox injuries and the Yankees hot streak narrowed the lead down to four games, as the Yankees came to Boston for a four game series. The Yankees swept the Sox in stunning fashion winning by scores of 15-3, 13-2, 7-0 and 7-4.(Webber) The Yankees went on to win the World Series.
This curse has made so many people have many different superstitions. Some fans wear certain socks, some fans drink out of certain cups, and some fans wear certain jerseys. Some fans are so superstitious they will not change the channel during the game, or they will not get out of their seat, because they think they can control the game. So many fans have different superstition.
When the curse was finally broken in 2004, fans thought we would win more World Series then ever before. But in reality we have only won two World Series since then. Some fans still believe the Red Sox are still cursed. The Red Sox have only won two World Series since 1920. If the curse was broken then they should have won more World Series right? Some fans think they curse is broken and we will have our year, but it’s just not this year.
Superstitious beliefs in professional sports have always intrigued players and fans alike. It has garnered wild thoughts and images of sorcery and voodoo idols in the locker rooms, and while some would scoff at the idea of superstition in sports, there are some stories that may prove its validity. In the world of Baseball, one famous superstition has plagued a team for 86 years, and for the Boston Red Sox, it is the Curse of the Bambino.
The Yankees even had their own superstition, while the Yankees were building their new stadium, a Boston Red Sox fan was working on the construction site. He buried a David Ortiz jersey on the third base line, trying to put a hex on the Yankees. One year later word broke out about the jersey and the Yankees paid construction workers to dig up the jersey. Boston fans believe the hex has backfired in the Red sox, because David Ortiz had been struggling ever since then.
Fans have had many superstitions ever since the game baseball has been played. The biggest superstition in baseball was the curse of the Bambino. It existed for 86 years. Finally the curse was broken in 2004 but like all baseball fans more superstitions are starting again.


Work Cited

1. Prelude to save, Boston Globe, By Amalie Benjamin http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/04/11/prelude_to_a_save/
2. 2001-2003 Edward Cosset http://www.bambinoscurse.com/whatis/
3. © 2009 NBC Sports.comhttp://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6323070/ns/sports-baseball/
4. 1999 - 2007 - baseballhistorian.com http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/babe_curse.htm
5. http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/s/2002/0718/1407265.html
6. Sebastian Mardershttp://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Baseball-Superstitions--The-Curse-Of-The-Bambino/564963
7. http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/March-April-08/Yankees-Try-to-Avoid-Hex--Unearth