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Curse of the Bambino

Prior to Ruth leaving Boston, the Red Sox had won five of the first fifteen

World Series, with Ruth pitching for the 191and 191!championship teams

"he was with the Sox for the 191# World Seriesbut the manager used himonl$ once, as a pinch%hitter, and he did not pitch&' (he )an*ees had not pla$ed

in an$ World Series up to that time' +n the ! $ears after the sale, the )an*ees

pla$ed in -9 World Series, winning . of them, twice as man$ as an$ other

team in /a0or eague Baseball' /eanwhile, over the same time span, the Red

Sox pla$ed in onl$ four World Series and lost each in seven games'234

5ven losses that occurred man$ $ears prior to the first mention of a supposed

curse in 19!,234have been attributed to it' Some of these instances are listed

below6

+n 19, the Red Sox appeared in their first World Seriessince the sale

of Babe Ruth, and were favored to beat the St' ouis Cardinals' (he series

went to a seventh game at Sportsman7s Par*in St' ouis' +n the bottom of

the eighth inning, with the score tied at -%-, the Cardinals had 5nos

Slaughteron first base and 8arr$ Wal*erat the plate' n a hit and run,

Wal*er hit a double to ver$ short left%center field' Slaughter ran through

the third base coach7s stop signand beat Boston shortstop :ohnn$ Pes*$7s

rela$ throw to home plate' Some sa$ Pes*$ hesitated on the throw,allowing Slaughter to score, but Pes*$ has alwa$s denied this charge' ;ilm

footage is inconclusive, except that it shows Pes*$ in bright sunlight and

Slaughter in shadow' Boston star (ed Williams, pla$ing with an in0ur$,

was largel$ ineffective at bat in his onl$ World Series'

+n 19!, the Red Sox finished the regular season tied for first place,

onl$ to lose the pennant to the Cleveland +ndiansin the ma0or leagues7

first%ever one%game pla$off'

+n 199, the Red Sox needed to win 0ust one of the last two games ofthe season to win the pennant, but lost both games to the )an*ees, who

would go on to win a record five consecutive World Series

from199to 19#-'

+n 193, the Red Sox surprisingl$ reversed the awful results of

the 19season b$ winning the

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wee*end of the season'2194+n the World Series, the$ once again faced the

Cardinals, and 0ust as in 19, the Series went to a seventh game' St' ouis

won the deciding contest 3%. behind their best pitcher Bob =ibson> =ibson

defeated Boston ace :im onborg, who was pitching on short rest and was

ineffective' =ibson even hit a home run off onborg in the game'2.?4

+n 193., the Red Sox lost the division title to the @etroit (igersb$ a

half%game'2.14(he season began with a 1-%da$ stri*ethat resulted in some

teams pla$ing up to nine fewer games that season'2..4

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half of the frame, Red Sox reliever Calvin Schiraldiretired the first two

batters, putting the team within one out of winning the World Series'

8owever, theEew )or* /etsscored three unanswered runs, t$ing the

game on a wild pitch from Bob Stanle$and winning it when Boston first

baseman Bill Buc*nerallowed a ground ball hit b$ the /ets7 /oo*ieWilsonto roll through his legs, scoring Ra$ nightfrom second base' +n

the seventh game, the Red Sox too* an earl$ -%? lead, onl$ to lose !%#' (he

collapses in the last two games prompted Fecse$7s articles'2.42.342.!4

2.94

+n 19!!and 199?, the Red Sox advanced to the hiring professional exorcists

and ;ather =uido Sarduccito purif$ ;enwa$ Par*> spra$ painting a

Reverse Curve street sign on Storrow @riveto change it to sa$ Reverse

the Curse "the sign wasn7t replaced until 0ust after the .?? World Series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Schiraldihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Stanleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bucknerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mookie_Wilsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mookie_Wilsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Knighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vecseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vecseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-26http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Athleticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_American_League_Division_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_American_League_Division_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Boston_Red_Sox_seasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grady_Littlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Mart%C3%ADnezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Boonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuckleballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Wakefieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Everesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Guido_Sarduccihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storrow_Drivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Schiraldihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Metshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Stanleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bucknerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mookie_Wilsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mookie_Wilsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Knighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vecseyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-26http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Bambino#cite_note-28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Athleticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_American_League_Division_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_American_League_Division_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Boston_Red_Sox_seasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_American_League_Championship_Serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grady_Littlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Mart%C3%ADnezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Boonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuckleballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Wakefieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Everesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Guido_Sarduccihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storrow_Drive

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win&> and finding a piano owned b$ Ruth that he had supposedl$ pushed

into a pond near his Sudbur$, /assachusettsfarm, 8ome Plate ;arm'

+n en Burns7199 documentar$ Baseball, former Red Sox pitcher Bill

eesuggested that the Red Sox should exhume the bod$ of Babe Ruth,transport it bac* to ;enwa$ and publicl$ apologiHe for trading Ruth to the

)an*ees'

Some declared the curse bro*en during a game on

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(he Red Sox then faced the St' ouis Cardinals, the team to whom the$

lost in 19and 193, and won in a four%game sweep'2#4Cardinals

shortstop 5dgar RenterGaJwho wore number -, Babe Ruth7s uniform

number with the )an*eesJhit into the final out of the game'2#4 2-4