Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
October 22, 2004
Curses

My good friend and Canadian ex-pat Dan Wechsler writes:


Care to include a link to this? I especially like the last part about ex-Cubs.

Here's the part about the Cubs.

And we must warn you of another, less familiar mystical force: the ex-Cub factor. The idea is that the Chicago Cubs are so poisoned by failure that the team with more ex-Cubs loses the Series. In the playoffs, the Yankees had the most ex-Cubs: six. St. Louis had three; Houston only one. Boston, with two ex-Cubs, may be safe because the hex seems to require a minimum of three. It has been broken only twice since 1945, by the 1960 Pirates and the 2001 Diamondbacks. Each time, the Yankees lost in Game 7, in the bottom of the ninth.

I guess this was written before the Cardinals won last night.

So Dan (and any other Canadians reading this), which ex-Expo are you rooting for? Larry Walker or Pedro Martinez?


Posted by David Pinto at 02:14 PM | Superstitions | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Of course, I prefer Larry to Pedro -- does he even care when he gives up so many runs? -- but I want the Red Sox to cut down on the curse talk, and for them to deliver justice for my Astros.

(However, rooting for the underdogs can be very upsetting.)

((Can Pujols be stopped?))

Posted by: Aaron at October 22, 2004 03:26 PM

Do the Cards have any more ex-Expos? If not, wouldn't Orlando Cabrera give the Sox the ex-Expos-Advantage?

Posted by: Eric Blair at October 22, 2004 04:08 PM

Larry Walker's not just an ex-Expo, but a bona-fide Canadian.

Posted by: Adam Villani at October 22, 2004 04:33 PM

Ah, but the Cards do have another ex-Expo... the inimitable Steve Kline.

But will he be on their World Series roster? If not, then that breaks the tie and the Sox (with Pedro and Cabrera) gain the ex-Expos edge over the Cards (with Walker, sans Kline).

Posted by: Leonard at October 22, 2004 04:54 PM

6 ex-cubs?! No wonder we lost. Does this mean the Cubs "curse" is in fact worse than the Red Sox's?

Posted by: Robert at October 22, 2004 09:05 PM

I'm rooting for Boston, as an Expos fan... its hard to root against Larry, but I'm on the "end the 'curse'" bandwagon.

Posted by: Ryan at October 23, 2004 04:31 AM

I think dismissing the bottom of the Cardinals lineup based on aggregate statistics from the 2004 season is an inaccurate way of looking at the lineup.
Larry Walker was added in mid-season. Saying their talent is concentrated in the top four is misleading. What about Jim Edmonds? He hit 43 homeruns and had an OPS of 1.061...How is he an 'easy' out? Maybe I'm missing something.

Posted by: Bryan at October 23, 2004 01:05 PM

nevermind I totally misread that.

Posted by: Bryan at October 23, 2004 01:07 PM

Loved Pedro martinez. Loved. Loved Cabrera too.

Hated Walker (but loved him as a player).

But how can I root against Steve Kline? The guy was a nice pitcher, loved the town, nice to the fans and the media, and was traded (along Hermanson) for he-whom-I-shant-type-the-name-cuz-I-don't-want-my-fingers-to-rot...

How, I ask you? So I'll root for the Cards.

Posted by: Olivier at October 23, 2004 02:04 PM