Curses, Cussing, & Crying
From the Cheap Seats
by Chris Hahn
The Bambino….nah!
The billy goat…yeah, right!
There aren’t any such things as curses. Just don’t tell that to the folks in Boston and Chicago.
Hours after the MLB regular season and before the playoffs started, it was fun to play ‘what-if’. We proposed that the Red Sox and Cubs could meet in the World Series in a game that would signal the end of the world as we know it. But deep down inside, we knew it wouldn’t happen. Neither team had won the World Series since the beginning of last century, and those streaks weren’t going to be touched.
But then the impossible happened. The Cubs were 5 outs from the National League pennant, and everyone outside of the Miami area was cheering with all their heart. Those lovable losers were finally going to do it….right?
Just two nights later—after a comeback in Yankee Stadium that seemed to laugh at the Bronx Bomber mystique—the Red Sox were 5 outs (yes, the same 5 outs) away from the American League pennant. Surely a day after the Cubbies blew their miracle run, lightning wouldn’t strike twice. The mystique just wasn’t going to be there, especially with Pedro on the mound…right?
I don’t need to rehash history…if you don’t know what happened in either scenario, look it up before you continue reading here (were you hibernating?). Cubs fans in the stands had tears streaming down their faces. Bostonians were speechless (HONESTLY!).
If you string together all the dominos that fell before the baseball world went from 5 outs to Marlins-Yankee, nobody would believe you. It started with Steve Bartman and ended with Aaron ‘O-for’ Boone hitting a knuckleball over the fence. I simply can’t remember another post-season episode in ANY sport that had me sitting in front of the TV with my jaw between my knees.
I still don’t believe in curses. But if we go through this again next year, I might change my mind…