We reside in a wondrous age. Unlike our ancestors, we’ve got been in a position to grasp the sector round us as a result of the advance of science and generation.
We’re now not hostages to the darkness, concern of the unexplained, and superstition. We’ve realized that the earth is spherical and it revolves across the solar, no longer the wrong way round.
The James Webb Space Telescope is appearing us attractions we could not have imagined even 10 years in the past. Thanks to DNA mapping, we all know there is no one else in the world like us, that we are fearfully and beautifully made.
We know there is no such factor as good fortune ― with the exception of when it involves sports activities. The Sports Illustrated Curse, the Madden NFL Cover Curse, and the Rally Possum are all too actual.
I may possess the IQ of Albert Einstein and I nonetheless would consider that during 2004, the Boston Red Sox did certainly in any case damage the Curse of the Bambino, which concerned Boston Red Sox proprietor Harry Frazee promoting Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 and a $300,000 mortgage.
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Ironically, the fat-wallet Yankees have not gained a World Series since 2009, after they changed the House that Ruth Built. The new stadium intently resembles the unique, however the Babe is not fooled ― no longer one bit.
On Oct. 14, 2003, everybody on this planet knew the Chicago Cubs had been doomed when a fan, Steve Bartman, interfered with outfielder Moises Alou catching a nasty ball that may have gained them the National League Championship Series and despatched them to the World Series.
Bartman had to enter witness coverage because the Cubs choked like a canine consuming peanut butter, blowing a 3-1 sequence lead in opposition to the Florida Marlins.
But the Cubs broke the Curse of the Billy Goat and a 108-year-old drought right through the 7th recreation of the 2016 World Series in opposition to the Cleveland, when a 17-minute rain prolong stunted Cleveland’s momentum within the backside of the 9th.
Had it no longer rained, Cleveland very most likely would have would have sealed the deal. But in case you are from Northeast Ohio, your cart-wheeling abdomen already instructed you ways it was going to end up, did not it?
The Cubs, by way of the way in which, graciously awarded Bartman a World Series ring.
That’s the way you courtroom good good fortune.
In 2021, after years of hemming and hawing about it, Cleveland modified its group name to the Guardians according to longtime court cases that the Chief Wahoo mascot denigrated Native Americans.
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Is it a accident that the primary yr of the change, the youngest group in Major League Baseball, has rolled into the playoffs after a six-year absence?
The happy-warrior Guardians are so younger, they do not even know they are intended to be scared. Several of the avid gamers are slightly sufficiently old to drink the champagne they sprayed round within the locker room after achieving the playoffs.
But some fanatics boycotted this season, yelling wokeism since the Indians had been allegedly named after Louis Sockalexis, a Native American participant.
Chief Wahoo most likely wasn’t created with malicious intent, however no longer the whole lot interprets smartly with time.
If honoring Sockalexis was the objective, most likely they must have known as themselves the Sockalexi, or higher but, the “Socks,” a lot in the way in which that “Cleveland Browns” honors Paul Brown.
Others blame Cleveland’s longtime woes on The Curse of Rocky Colavito, the wildly common outfielder and nine-time All-Star who was traded to the Detroit Tigers two days prior to Opening Day in 1960, and whose legend comprises hitting 4 consecutive house runs in a recreation in opposition to the Baltimore Orioles in 1959.
Why would someone make this sort of bone-headed industry?
Money, honey. Plus, it’s mentioned that Cleveland General Manager Frank Lane additionally resented Colavito’s recognition, which may also be leverage in negotiations.
In sportswriter Terry Pluto’s e-book, “The Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at the Thirty-Year Slump,” he main points how after that seismic industry, Cleveland suffered a 34-season stretch (1960 to 1993) wherein they by no means completed inside of cheap-seats distance of first position.
Cleveland nonetheless hasn’t gained a World Series since in 1948, when gas was 26 cents a gallon and Harry S. Truman was president.
The remaining group to change its name was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who made the playoffs for the primary time ever after they shortened their name to the “Rays” in 2008.
Their fanatics in reality begged for the change.
That the Rays had been swept out of the playoffs this yr by way of the Guardians perhaps means that karma rewards good choices that receive advantages others.
People are describing the American League Division Series with the Yankees as “David vs. Goliath,” however the icons which stand sentry at Hope Memorial Bridge are a lot higher than than a Philistine who could not even deal with a teenage shepherd boy.
Perhaps the impossibly younger Guardians can ship to Cleveland what the Indians may no longer.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository team of workers creator and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP