When the Boston Red Sox made a magical comeback down 0-3 in the American League Championship Series, and then went on to win the World Series, all I heard was the constant refrain, "This is good for baseball."
But they were all wrong. And I knew it. I knew it because I was among those who wanted the Yankees to win (like they "always do"), and so I was upset enough by their defeat not to get caught up in the "End of the Curse" euphoria.
For those unfamiliar with what I mean by the "end of the curse", I am of course referring to the curse of the Bambino, which stated that when Babe Ruth was traded (actually sold) to the New York Yankees it forever changed the fates of the two franchises. Ruth would vault the Yankees into one of the winningest franchise in American Sports. The Red Sox on the other hand were "cursed" for the move, giving away one of the best if not the best baseball player ever for basically nothing. The Red Sox would go on to being the ultimate underdogs of the 20th century. No matter how good they were, they just could not win a World Series. No matter how close they came, it only took a routine ground ball to gently roll past and doom them to always being in the Yankees' shadow. What it did was inspire a superstition that the Sox were cursed, and a mentality that made them fun to root for.
But not anymore. While everyone championed how good it was to see their victory, years later now things have changed. Baseball is a sport that lives off of magic, superstition, and nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, I still love the sport, and there is much more to it than that. But this is part of what makes being a fan fun. The feeling of an impossible, supernatural hump makes the experience all the more enjoyable. And it gives one a reason to root for them when they are competing and easy to explain when they lose. It also fueled the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in a way that no other rivalry in sports could really compare.
But this only exists while the superstition lasts. When the curse ends the magic of the sport is lost and it is just a matter of strategy, performance, and competition. Simply put, it's just not the same. Yes the Yanks and Sox are still rivals, yes people still hate the Yankees, yes it may take until the end of the 21st century before we see another Red Sox World Series victory. But it will never be the same. Or as unique. Or as pure baseball.
Let me put it this way: When Aaron Boone launched an extra-inning walk-off homerun off of Tim Wakefield, that was better baseball than a year later when the final out was recorded and the Red Sox players stormed the mound. No doubt the Red Sox victory felt better and more baseball at the moment. But it killed the ability for future baseball lore about the Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry. That homerun by Boone was the final in almost a century long string of moments, tied together by the curse of the Bambino. It carried that tradition forward. The Red Sox's victory ended it. Before long Boston was no longer the underdog, all of the sudden they were another large market team. When they won again a few years later they were further proof of what is "wrong" with baseball, namely that the big salary teams get the big players and therefore can compete and repeat. During the 2004 season, Boston had the second highest salary (second only to the Yankees) and had fewer homegrown stars than the Yankees. Yet only the Yankees were the evil empire that bought their team. But the Sox are no longer underdogs. Their wins are no longer magical. Their losses have no excuse. Consider last season's meltdown and continued struggles, there was no curse to explain it. It was no longer just inevitable.
Now my title of this blog is about the Cubs. But I've been talking about the Red Sox this whole time. Why? Because the Cubs still have that. They have the infamous goat curse, a less known curse perhaps, but still a part of baseball lore. And every fan watching that Game 6 of the 2003 Championship Series, and the tragic catch by a fan that doomed the postseason, you know the feeling of facing impossibility, the feeling of how the odds will always be stacked against you (sometimes in odd ways). It allows also for the Cubs to maintain a national fanbase that few teams have, in spite of their record. And even for non-Cubs fans like myself (who as a Brewers fan had plenty a years of rivalry with the Chicago Northsiders), I find there is something fun about the curse, that enhances the entire baseball experience. No matter what side you root for.
Therefore while a World Series victory for the Cubs would make for a magical season, it would rob baseball of a century of magical moments. The curse of the Bambino made baseball more exciting, and more unique than it is today. And Cubs fans ought remember that when it is gone it can't come back. The endless patience, the "maybe next year", the "what I would do to see the Cubs win the World Series" excitement and mentality would be gone. And lost years would be just that, and will take many fans with it.
This game needs magic. So please, keep losing.
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