What is the curse? Complete baseball ignorant here.

[gardenista]

I never heard of the curse before. Tell me about it. I know that somebody named Bambino is involved, and he or she is dead, and the Sox couldn't win because of it.

I would like to imagine that it's a curse that has an epilogue. Like Boston's favorite son will rise to the highest office in the land, once the curse is broken, and all of his people will get flu shots.

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. That all are doomed to have TV and message boards overwhelmed with

incessant babble related to ball-throwing activities of one kind or another. I do not think this curse will ever be lifted.

[Endangered Specie]

2. It goes something like this...

Before 1918, The Red Sox won 6 WS (world series), and the Yankees none... they used Babe Ruth (Bambino) in many of those wins, pitching and hitting...

Then they traded him to the Yankees in 1918 post season. Since then the Yankees have won 26, Boston 0... and Boston has come SO close 4 times to winning it all (all loses in game 7)


THe most recent attempt is where the guy (journalist?) introduced the curse idea in the 1986 WS... where the Red Sox were 1 strike away from winning at 4 times in the game 6, which was lost on a seemingly little league error.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. It was not introduced in 1986.... Babe himself said it when he

found out (from a journalist, BTW, not from the owner) that he had been traded.

He got drunk.... well, drunker anyway. Threw his piano in a lake and cursed the Sox "would never win another WS"

[Sandpiper]

3. The curse

The Boston Red Sox were one of the American League's flagship franchises in the early part of the 20th century.

Strapped for cash, the team sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees following the 1918 season.

Since that sale, the Yankees have gone on to win 26 World Series titles, and the Red Sox have won zero, although they've come agonizingly close on a few occasions.

[seraph]

4. Babe Ruth

Was sold to the NY Yankees, where he went on to greatness.

The Red Sox haven't won a world series since.

THAT was 1918.


LONG TIME.

[gardenista]

6. Ahhhh sooooo! Thank you! May the ghost of the Bambino himself

deliver a win this time 'round.

[gardenista]

7. Ooops, so it was the Bambino's curse? I think the piano should be

exhumed, and maybe it will break it.

[AmericanErrorist]

8. The piano stuff's probably bull turkey

But people have tried to recover it.

[AmericanErrorist]

9. Here's the Wikipedia article

WARNING: As much as Wikipedia tries to have a neutral point-of-view, this article is biased towards reality....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino

Choice bits:

While the phrase and idea of a curse make for book sales, excellent drama for television networks, and witty T-shirt slogans, the story of this curse is pure fiction, with no basis in fact or history. Babe Ruth never said anything negative about the city of Boston or the Boston Red Sox.

As to the origin of the nickname?

The Curse of the Bambino is a term coined by author Dan Shaughnessy in his 1991 book entitled: "The Curse of the Bambino".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Red_Sox

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. Okay, I stand corrected. I had been fed lies

and I should have known better, considering who I heard it from first.

[HEyHEY]

10. Wasn't the curse a crock of shit fabricated in the 80s?