Baseball historical past is riddled with curses. Essentially the most well-known, after all, is the Curse of the Bambino, which supposedly prevented the Pink Sox from successful the World Collection between 1918 and 2004, karma for buying and selling away the best participant of all time for money. You’ll find different curses all through baseball historical past, some extra well-known (Billy Goats, Black Sox) than others. A few different baseball curses chances are you’ll not learn about:
Some Clevelanders suppose they haven’t gained the World Collection since 1948 as a result of they traded Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. Sure, that Harvey Kuenn. Colavito: good participant. Not Babe Ruth.
A gaggle of offended New York Giants followers supposedly positioned a hex on the membership once they moved to San Francisco in 1957. They didn’t win a World Collection till 2010.
The Hanshin Tigers of NPB in Japan suppose they’re cursed by Colonel Sanders. Sure, that Colonel Sanders.
Speak of curses in Milwaukee Brewers fandom will not be new. A widely known current curse is referred to by these within the know because the Curse of Prince Fielder. Usually, that curse is such that the Brewers haven’t had a dependable, long-term first baseman since Fielder left in free company after the 2011 season. Extra particularly, there have been really 11 straight years the place the crew didn’t have the identical first baseman begin probably the most video games in consecutive years. Try the listing of the Brewers first baseman who performed probably the most video games within the years after Fielder’s departure (these are some names, all people):
2012: Corey Hart (149g, 120 OPS+, 1.8 WAR)
2013: Juan Francisco (89g, 99 OPS+, -0.7 WAR)
2014: Mark Reynolds (130g, 87 OPS+, 0.1 WAR)
2015: Adam Lind (149g, 123 OPS+, 3.6 WAR)
2016: Chris Carter (160g, 113 OPS+, 0.9 WAR, led the NL in homers)
2017: Eric Thames (138g, 125 OPS+, 1.0 WAR)
2018: Jesús Aguilar (149g, 135 OPS+, 3.4 WAR)
2019: Eric Thames (149g, 117 OPS+, 1.4 WAR)
2020: Justin Smoak (33g, 69 OPS+, -0.5 WAR)
2021: Daniel Vogelbach (93g, 99 OPS+, -0.1 WAR)
2022: Rowdy Tellez (153g, 113 OPS+, 0.7 WAR)
The a part of the curse wherein there have been no consecutive repeaters led to 2023, when Tellez once more led the crew in appearances at first base, however he actually didn’t have that job on lockdown (79 OPS+, -0.6 WAR in 105 video games). Rhys Hoskins performed at a cursed degree in 2024 (131g, 98 OPS+, -0.3 WAR), and chances are high good that he’ll once more lead the crew in appearances in 2025.
There are a pair good years in there—Lind in 2015 really led the crew in WAR (yikes), and Aguilar was a beloved presence and an All-Star in 2018. However even with the repeat seasons from Tellez and Hoskins, speak of the Curse of Fielder is not going to abate till the Brewers discover somebody who competently performs the place for a number of years.
However the curse that’s most on Brewers followers’ minds in 2024 is what I heard Eric Balkman of The Rating in Appleton consult with because the “Reverse Curse.” Till 2024, each single crew that the Milwaukee Brewers misplaced to within the postseason all through their whole historical past at the very least made it to the World Collection. A fast rundown:
Of their first postseason look in 1981, the Brewers misplaced the ALDS 3-2 to the Yankees, who misplaced within the World Collection to the Dodgers.
The Brewers, after all, gained their solely pennant in 1982, however misplaced to the Cardinals within the World Collection.
Milwaukee misplaced the 2008 NLDS to the Phillies, who defeated the Rays within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced to the Cardinals within the 2011 NLCS. St. Louis defeated the Rangers within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced to the Dodgers within the 2018 NLCS; L.A. subsequently misplaced to Boston within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced the 2019 NL Wild Card Sport to the Nationals, who defeated the Astros within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced within the 2020 Wild Card spherical to the Dodgers, who beat the Rays within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced the 2021 NLDS to the Atlanta, who defeated Houston within the World Collection.
The Brewers misplaced the 2023 Wild Card spherical to Arizona, who misplaced to Texas within the World Collection.
That’s a loopy run: from their inception in 1969 via the 2023 season, the Brewers performed in 9 postseasons and gained zero World Collection. Their opponents appeared in all 9 World Collection and gained six of them. It must be famous that each postseason the Brewers have performed in apart from one got here in a 12 months with the Division Collection, so there have been at the very least three playoff rounds in all of these years except for 1982. The Reverse Curse!
In case you’ve been being attentive to postseason baseball this 12 months (and it’s completely comprehensible when you have not been), you’ll have famous that the Reverse Curse as we perceive it has reached its conclusion. The Brewers have been eradicated within the Wild Card spherical in excruciating vogue by the New York Mets. The Mets then defeated the favored Phillies within the Division Collection, and it regarded just like the curse was alive and effectively. However New York faltered towards the Dodgers within the Championship Collection and misplaced. This 12 months’s Mets are the primary crew ever to defeat the Brewers within the postseason and never make it to the World Collection.
Possibly breaking the curse necessitated a loss in as heartbreaking of a vogue as one might presumably think about. And perhaps you need to simply borrow whichever most well-liked messianic cliché from the fantasy world (The One, Azor Ahai, Lisan al Gaib, and so on. and so on.) for Jackson Chourio, who practically beat the Mets by himself.
It doesn’t matter what occurred to put this curse upon the Brewers, it seems that one half of it’s now damaged. Possibly this Halloween you may ask your witch and warlock pals to raise the a part of the curse that makes the Brewers lose within the playoffs yearly!
