Is the Curse of the Bambino Now Haunting the Yankees?

Since 1918, over most of the last century, the Boston Red Sox had not been able to win a World Series until 2004. In the world of baseball, this inability to obtain a championship title was accepted as "the curse of the Bambino." The name Bambino refers to arguably the greatest player to ever play the game of baseball, Babe Ruth. Way back in 1920, shortly after the Red Sox won the World Series of 1918, Boston traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash.

Babe Ruth was the star of the Red Sox and a vital part of their success, but Boston decided to basically give him away for some pocket change. In baseball history, this is the most absurd trade to have ever taken place. This is the worst business move to ever have been made and past records will show it. Below are two tables that show all the World Series games that Boston and New York have been involved in, who their opponent was, and the result of the series.

Boston Red Sox

Year Opponent Result of Series For Boston
2004 St. Louis Cardinals Won
1986 New York Mets Lost
1975 Cincinnati Reds Lost
1967 St. Louis Cardinals Lost
1946 St. Louis Cardinals Lost
1918 Chicago Cubs Won
1916 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1915 Philadelphia Phillies Won
1912 New York Giants Won
1903 Pittsburgh Pirates Won

As you can see, Boston was doing extremely well while having Babe Ruth on their side. They won 5 of 15 World Series Titles between 1903 and 1918, but then the trouble began. They did not make it to the series that much anymore and obviously lost all the ones they did attend until finally breaking the curse.

New York Yankees

Year Opponent Result of Series For New York
2003 Florida Marlins Lost
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks Lost
2000 New York Mets Won
1999 Atlanta Braves Won
1998 San Diego Padres Won
1996 Atlanta Braves Won
1981 Los Angeles Lost
1978 Los Angeles Won
1977 Los Angeles Won
1976 Cincinnati Reds Lost
1964 St. Louis Cardinals Lost
1963 Los Angeles Lost
1962 San Francisco Giants Won
1961 Cincinnati Reds Won
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates Lost
1958 Milwaukee Braves Won
1957 Milwaukee Braves Lost
1956 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers Lost
1953 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1952 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1951 New York Giants Won
1950 Philadelphia Phillies Won
1949 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1943 St. Louis Cardinals Won
1942 St. Louis Cardinals Lost
1941 Brooklyn Dodgers Won
1939 Cincinnati Reds Won
1938 Chicago Cubs Won
1937 New York Giants Won
1936 New York Giants Won
1932 Chicago Cubs Won
1928 St. Louis Cardinals Won
1927 Pittsburgh Pirates Won
1926 St. Louis Cardinals Lost
1923 New York Giants Won
1922 New York Giants Lost
1921 New York Giants Lost

If you compare the charts. You will notice that the Yankees have been to 4 times as many World Series Championships and also have been victorious 26 out of the 36 times that they attended.

It is really astounding to see a side by side comparison of these two amazing teams. The question that I have is, "Has the curse really been reversed?" The Boston Red Sox have made it to the World Series again in 2007 and in only three short years after "breaking" the curse. While under the curse, they never made it back to the World Series this quickly. It took them decade in many instances to get a chance of winning. Are we about to see a complete reversal?

Is it now the Yankees time to be losers and for Boston to dominate baseball? Over the past few years, the New York Yankees have had some amazing teams assemble but have yet to win a World Series since 2000. It does beg the question as to what lifted the curse. Was it Y2K? Or some astronomical or natural law of rebalancing? Or was it just Manny Ramirez? I do not know what broke the curse but I can tell you that it seems times are going to be very rough for the Yankees over the next century.

If the Yankees go through a century long drought like the Red Sox did, it will be the most amazing thing ever, not only in sports, but in life all together. There are so many unexplainable things that happen in this world like the Red Sox not winning a World Series for almost a century. It is things like these that remind us that no matter how hard we try, we do not have as much control as we might think. I know the Yankee fans are hoping that New York can persevere to conquer once again, but only time will tell.