Whose 'curse'... |
The World Series for 2016 has turned out to be a matchup between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Both teams are charter members of their respective leagues, meaning they’re both over a century old.
BOTH
HAVE ONLY two World Series victories in their histories (1920 and 1948 for
Cleveland, as opposed to 1907 and 1908 for the Cubs). Both have old fans who
have never seen their team win the whole thing, and have endured decades of
horrendous baseball in the process.
... will prevail? |
Meaning anybody who’s going into this week thinking that the Cubs just have to come out ahead is seriously misguided. It would be just as much of a moral victory for baseball if this were the year of the Indians.
Heck,
one could argue that with the way the Cubs created an allegedly lovable image that makes some people think
ivy-covered walls is what baseball is all about and that winning is secondary, the team hasn't suffered at all.
They
never played home games in the “Mistake on the Lake,” as in the Lake Erie-based
stadium of some 76,000 seats that could look absolutely desolate when only
6,000 or so were showing up to see the Indians contend for last place in their
division throughout the years. The less said about “Dime Beer Night,” the
better.
Which team will these two spirits... |
ONE
ALSO HAS to admit that the Curse of the Goat that Cubs fans also cite as the
source of their losing teams has a contender in the Curse of Rocky Colavito –
Rocky being the slugging ballplayer of the 1950s whom the Indians traded away
to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn.
It
was supposed to be a home run hitter for a potential batting average champion.
Rocky went to Detroit and played respectably, while Kuenn never played as well
for Cleveland.
By
the time the Indians reacquired Colavito in a trade in the mid-1960s, they had
to give up a ton of young talent to do so. And by then, Rocky just wasn’t the
same ballplayer himself.
...be rooting for this week? |
IT
MAKES ME wonder how many cemeteries across northern Ohio are going to wind up
with Indians pennants on the gravesites of now-deceased fans who never got to
see their team win the whole thing?
Or
is that sight destined to occur across the north side of Chicago. Because among
those who are tied spiritually to the South Side, there will be those rooting
for an Indians victory. I’m not kidding – I’ve talked to enough of them to know
Cubdom doesn’t unite the city, no matter how much Cubs fans want to think the
whole world is rooting for their ultimate victory.
Is having to play ballgames here enough reason ... |
And
let’s not forget Bill Veeck, who owned that Indians team. It was his first
major league team he ran outright, after having worked while a kid for the Cubs when his father was team president who helped put together the teams that won National League
championships every three years throughout the 1930s.
YET
EVEN THOSE teams always fell short come October. The Yankees of Babe Ruth, then
Joe DiMaggio, and the Detroit Tigers were the teams that came out on top. While
Cleveland has to live down the shame of being the team that let a second-rate
wildcard like the ’97 Florida Marlins beat it in the World Series.
... to be entitled to break a 'curse?' |
So
before North Siders get too cocky, keep in mind that it could easily be you
come a week from now who will be agonizing aloud, “Why God? When will it
FINALLY be our turn to win!”
-30-
1 comment:
Great article!
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