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Notes from
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Babe: There was no curse
In an exclusive interview, MLB.com tracked down Ruth and got his never-before-heard comments on what transpired in St. Louis on Wednesday night, when the Red Sox changed history. MLB.com: Mr. Ruth, pleasure to be talking to you. We all thank you for ... Babe Ruth: Come on, now. You're better than that. It's Babe. It's not George, George Herman, G.H., and please, don't call me the Bambino anymore. I'm really tired of that one. And cut with the pleasantries, too. You came here to talk ball, so get to it. I don't exactly have all the time in the world here.
MLB.com: Well, OK. Babe, as you know, the Boston Red Sox just won the World Series for the first time since you pitched them to the 1918 title. Shortly after that, you were sold to the Yankees, and the Red Sox managed to go winless in the Fall Classic from that point until the other night. Meanwhile, the Yankees racked up more rings than Paris Hilton's cell phone. Ruth: Kid, what the heck are you talking about? I haven't stayed in the Paris Hilton since the winter of '29. Great times there, though. Wow. The champagne, the cigars, those French ladies ... MLB.com: Never mind. Forget that last part. The point is, the Red Sox went 86 years without winning the World Series, and they came awfully close a number of times. Fans and media members blamed it on the fact that they let you go. They called it "The Curse of the Bambino." You know, the Yankees got all the glory and the Sox got all the heartbreak. You must have been watching. Ruth: Yeah, I saw all that, and let me tell you, kid, it was a lot of things, but it wasn't no curse. MLB.com: Really? OK, then how do you explain all the close calls? How do you explain 1975, for example, when the Sox lost Game 7 to Cincinnati even after Carlton Fisk's dramatic homer won Game 6? Ruth: Kid, the fact is, you don't explain it. It's baseball. Stuff happens. Cincinnati was a better ball team that year. Plain and simple. MLB.com: Fine. But what about 1978? Boston has a 14 1/2-game lead in the American League East on July 19, they blow it, then lose a tie-breaker to the Yankees in Fenway Park when Bucky Dent, of all people, hits one over the Green Monster. How do you blow a 14 1/2-game lead when you're not cursed? Ruth: By not pitching, that's how. The Red Sox folded, the Yankees rallied, and Mike Torrez hung a pitch to Bucky Dent. Ballgame. MLB.com: You make it sound so simple, so un-mystical. Ruth: Kid, you're confusing me again. Mystical? I don't even know what that means. I sound simple because baseball is simple. You pitch, you hit, you score, one team wins, the other team goes home. MLB.com: Fine, fine. But you can't possibly tell me that there was nothing otherworldly going on in 1986, when the Sox were one strike away from winning it all in Game 6 of the World Series against the New York Mets. Ruth: Oh, now you're gonna hit me with this Bill Buckner stuff, right? MLB.com: Of course! I mean, isn't it obvious that if Buckner fields that ball ... Ruth: Alright, I'll explain this for the 17 millionth time. First of all, the Sox had already lost the lead during Mookie Wilson's at-bat in the 10th. Bob Stanley had thrown a wild pitch right before Mookie hit that grounder. So it already was a tie game in Shea Stadium, where the Mets were almost unbeatable that year. Remember, this Mets team went 108-54 that year. That ain't chopped liver at the Carnegie Deli, kid. MLB.com: But Buckner ... Ruth: Don't "But Buckner" me, kid. Mookie was one of the fastest baserunners in the whole game, and Buckner had so many leg problems that he was about as mobile as a pregnant sumo wrestler. If you look at the replays, even if Buckner fields the ball, there's a good chance Mookie still beats it out and Ray Knight eventually scores from second. MLB.com: A lot of people really became convinced of the Curse that night, though. You're saying it's hogwash? Ruth: You think I'd want the Mets to win? A New York team other than the Yankees? Come on. I didn't rig that. You couldn't possibly rig that. I'm saying it's something worse than hogwash. Something you sure as heck can't print in your paper. MLB.com: Actually it's not a paper. It's a Web site. Ruth: Web site? Are you talking about spiders? You're talking nonsense again. Can we talk about baseball? MLB.com: Yes. Let's talk about baseball, specifically the other example of the Curse that everyone loves to talk about: Aaron Boone's 11th-inning homer in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series. How do you explain that? Ruth: How do I explain that? Very easily, kid. A knuckleball that doesn't dive is basically a 60 mph grapefruit with a big neon "Hit me" sign dangling from it. Even I would have hit that ball out. Even you would have hit it out. MLB.com: So, in conclusion, you're saying there's never been a Curse and what happened in New York and St. Louis this October is just another example of a better baseball team winning. Ruth: Exactly. When you come back from an 0-3 deficit in a seven-game series for the first time in history, then win eight games in a row over the teams with the best records in baseball, you're the best team. And we play so many games in baseball that the best team always wins. Trust me. MLB.com: We do, Babe. Thanks for your time. Ruth: Think nothing of it, kid. Now get outta here and let me
get some sleep
Marauders The Right Attitude = Winning
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