The Curse Gets Worse

World Series, originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

The 100th World Series begins tonight in Boston. Is this the year that the Red Sox and actually all the inhabitants of New England shake the dreaded Curse of the Bambino? Nope.

What is the Curse of the Bambino? Dan O'Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe wrote a book about 20 years ago placing the anguish of the Boston Red Sox on the fact that they have not won the World Series since trading away Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Afterwards he became the guy who hit 714 home runs and had candy bars named after him. The Red Sox have not won the World Series since 1918 while the Yankees have won 26 times.

Boston's opponent, the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League boasts the Majors most complete team. They hit for power, for average, have solid starting pitching and the best bullpen in the Series.

More people seem to be dwelling on the Yankees; the team that is no longer playing instead of the Cardinals, who won 105 games this season, most in the majors.

Face it, the Red Sox Nation has already won what they desire--finally beating the Yanks. A letdown versus the more formidable Cardinals is inevitable. As the Redbirds showed in the NLCS, they can hit the longball. Boston's Green Monster in left field will be making Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds salivate.

We can go through all the stats and analyze every possible strategy but facts remains that the Red Sox reach their height of greatness just before the actually crowning of a championship.

The Curse is real.

Aside from its place in the annals of sports lore, the tale of the distraught people of New England and their cursed baseball club is some of the finest mythological stories of our time. Do you want to see the great story of the Curse Of the Bambino to end?

If you think the Red Sox will win, then within this great tale, who will be the man who slays the ghost of Babe Ruth? What man on the Red Sox roster was destined from the day of his birth to the ball field he first suited up in Little League to be mentioned in the same breath with the most famous New Englanders of all-time? Would you put Curt Schilling, Johnny Damon or David Ortiz next to Paul Revere, Nathanial Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau and John Quincy Adams?

I think it's more plausible to place Albert Pujols next to Stan Musial and Bob Gibson as one of the greatest Cardinals ever rather than tackle 400 years of regional history in one series.

Cardinals in seven with the most agonizing ending possible for the Olde Towne Team.