"Curse of the Bambino"... a historical look

[cameroncrazy822]

In 1914 the Boston Red Sox bought Babe Ruth from the Baltimore club, who
were a minor league team during this era, and immediately signed him for
$3,500 a year, three times the amount he was being paid. During the next
3-years Ruth was the best left-hander in baseball. He chalked up 18 wins in
1915, 23 in 1916 and 24 in 1917. In all 3 of those years opponents batted
under .220 against him. In 1916 he led the league with a 1.75 ERA and spun a
league leading nine shutouts. In 1917, Ruth was 24-13, completing 35 of the
38 games he started. He allowed only 244 hitters in 326 innings. The
'Bambino' as Ruth was called, intimidated batters with his imposing size,
6'2" 220lbs.

In the 1916 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ruth and Sherry Smith
opposed each other in one of the greatest pitching duels in history. The
Dodgers scored in the 1st inning, the Red Sox in the 3rd and the game was
still tied 1-1 until the last of the 14th when the Red Sox scored and won.
Both Ruth and Sherry Smith pitched the entire game, which is still the
longest World Series game ever played.

In the 1918 World Series vs the Chicago Cubs, Babe Ruth hurled a 6-hit
shutout in Game 1. In Game 4, the Cubs scored their first run in the 8th
inning to break Ruth's record string of 29 1/3 scoreless innings. Ruth's
mark stood until 1961 when Whitey Ford broke it.

The following year 1919, he played 111 games in the outfield when he wasn't
pitching and slugged 29 home runs, the most in major league history, and for
good measure, 'the bambino' hit a homer in every American League park. He
led the league in runs (103), in RBIs (114), in on-base-pct and slugging
pct.

The Boston Red Sox won four World Series in the eight years Babe Ruth played
on the team. They sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a
$300,000 loan because Boston's owner Harry Frazee needed the cash to invest
in a new play on Broadway. As noted since the cash transaction, Boston's
inability to win a single World Series Title has been attributed to "The
Curse of the Bambino."

Babe Ruth pitching career: 94 Wins 46 Losses, .671 pct. 2.28 ERA, started
148 games and completed 107, opponents batting ave .221.
Baseballhistorian.com

[Ace_O_Spades]

Intriguing.... I didn't know the full story.

Thanks!

[eddo31]

the only problem with a historical look at the curse of the bambino is that it doesnt start in 1919, it starts in 1986.

the term "curse of the bambino" was not actually used in print before buckners error in the 86 series, and since then the idea of a curse has snowballed, primarily due to dan shaughnessy (who wrote the book "The curse of the bambino"), espn and fox.

as a sox fan it really gets old watching any pregame show, or listening to mccarver blather on during the games about the curse. most sox fans, at least the ones who pay attention and are knowledgable, laugh at the idea of a curse. they recognize that bad managerial decisions, good opponents, and some bad luck have contributed to the 86-year drought, and not some ridiculous curse.

[Glory's Sun]

I agree. The talk of the curse gets quite old. It's just something that the media uses to add hype and get more money. Baseball is baseball. You never know what's going to happen. A bad hop here a bad hop there. A bad manager here a bad manager there.. and all of a sudden it's a curse.

[maleficent]

I thought for a curse to be a curse -- someone had to actually do the cursing on you -- as in the case of the Cursed Cubbies... Who actually did the cursing?
The definition of curse is:
An appeal or prayer for evil or misfortune to befall someone or something.
The evil or misfortune that comes in or as if in response to such an appeal

So it's really not a curse, the selling of the Bambino was more the impetus for a lot of bad luck....

I find it pretty amusing that 6'2 220 lbs was considered imposing, Tony Clark, of the Yanks is 6'8" -- I thought Ruth was a lot bigger than that...

[Glory's Sun]

maybe houston will pull out the series and the sox also then we can see pedro vs clemens again?!!