| Curse of the Bambino Timeline |
| 1914-1917 |
| Used almost exclusively as a pitcher, George Herman Ruth compiles a 67-34 record with 413 strikeouts, three saves and a 2.07 ERA in 121 appearances with the Red Sox. In limited plate appearances -- 361 total at-bats during this span -- Ruth hits .299 with nine home runs and 68 strikeouts. |
| 1918 |
| Ruth pitches less frequently -- 13-7 in 20 appearances -- and bats more, to the tune of a career-high 317 at bats. His numbers at the plate are decent (.300 average, 66 RBIs, 50 runs, 11 home runs) but his value to the Red Sox in the World Series was still as a pitcher (see below). |
| Sept. 11, 1918 |
| Boston wins the World Series over Chicago in six games. Ruth wins Games 1 and 4 and extends his Series scoreless-innings streak to 29 2/3, a mark that will stand for 43 years. Ruth's career World Series ERA is .087 in 31 1/3 innings pitched. |
| 1919 |
| In 432 at bats, Ruth hits for a .322 average, knocks in 114 runs, walks 101 times, doubles 34 times and hits a then record 29 home runs. He also makes 17 appearances on the mound, where he goes 9-5 with one save and a 2.97 ERA. |
| Jan. 3, 1920 |
| Red Sox owner and Broadway producer Harry Frazee sells first baseman-outfielder-pitcher Ruth -- who owned a career 17-5 record as a pitcher against the Yankees -- to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in cash and a $300,000 loan. Frazee uses the money to open the show, "No, No, Nannette." |
| July 17, 1920 |
| As a member of the Yankees Ruth breaks the single-season home run record he set with the Red Sox with Nos. 30 and 31 against the Chicago White Sox. |
| 1920-1921 |
| In his first two seasons as an outfielder and first baseman with the Yankees, Ruth hits 109 home runs and averages .847 slugging percentage. |
| Oct. 15, 1923 |
| New York wins its first championship in the first World Series played at the brand-new Yankee Stadium (which will eventually be unofficially be christened "The House that Ruth Built"). |
| 1923-1932 |
| The Red Sox finish last every year but two and, in 1932, lose 111 games. The Yankees win four titles during this span and Ruth sets a new home run record, with 60, in 1927. The record will stand for 34 years. |
| 1935 |
| Ruth returns to the city of Boston to play his final season with the Braves. At 40 he bats .181 and hits six home runs. Playing for teams in Boston, Ruth hit 26 home runs. With the Yankees he hit 688. |
| 1936-1962 |
| The New York Yankees win 16 World Series titles. Boston's only brush with the World Series comes in 1946. Boston's playoffs disappointments are only beginning. |
| Oct. 15, 1946 |
| In its first World Series appearance since 1918, Boston loses in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Though many saw it differently, Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky is vilified for holding onto a relay throw as St. Louis's Enos Slaughter races home from first to score the series-winning run with two outs in the eighth inning. Ted Williams bats .200 with five singles in the series. |
| Oct. 12, 1967 |
| One year removed from a ninth-place finish in 1966, "The Impossible Dream" Red Sox -- after winning the pennant on the last day of a magical season -- lose a seven-game World Series to Bob Gibson (three complete-game wins) and the St. Louis Cardinals. |
| March 22, 1972 |
| Red Sox trade pitcher Sparky Lyle to the Yankees for first baseman Danny Cater. In a Yankees uniform, Lyle goes 57-40 with 141 saves. Cater plays three seasons in a Sox uniform -- 211 games -- and bats .262 with 14 home runs. |
| Oct. 21, 1975 |
| One of the few great memories all Red Sox fans cherish: After unsung hero Bernie Carbo hits a three-run homer to tie this World Series game at 6-6, Carlton Fisk body-Englishes a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 12th to beat the Reds in Game 6. |
| Oct. 22, 1975 |
| Boston coughs up a 3-0 lead in Game 7 to lose the World Series to the Big Red Machine. |
| Oct. 2, 1978 |
| The Red Sox, who held a 14-game lead on the Yankees in late-July and trailed by 3 1/2 with eight to play, catch up to force this one-game playoff for the AL pennant. Down 2-0 in the seventh, Bucky Dent -- who was batting .140 in his previous 20 games and had only four home runs on the year -- takes a 1-1 Mike Torrez pitch barely over the Green Monster for a 3-2 lead. The Yankees go on to win the game 5-4 and, one series later, their 22nd championship title. |
| Oct. 25, 1986 |
| Maybe you've seen it. "Slow roller down the ..." You know the rest. One strike away from their first World Series title, Bob Stanley, Calvin Schiraldi and Bill Buckner combine to blow a 5-3 lead in the 10th inning. |
| Oct. 27, 1986 |
| Boston coughs up a 3-0 lead in Game 7 to lose the World Series to the Mets. |
| July 13, 1988 |
| Joe Morgan replaces John McNamara as Sox manager after the All-Star break. Boston wins 19 of its next 20 and goes on to win the AL East title. |
| July 29, 1988 |
| Boston trades Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling for righthander Mike Boddicker. Anderson is would hit 50 home runs in 1996 and is still a productive major league centerfielder, while Schilling remains one of the best power pitchers in baseball, with two 300-strikeout seasons and 99 career wins. Boddicker went 29-22 with the Red Sox and started only 18 games with Kansas City and Milwaukee after the 1991 season. |
| Sept. 9, 1988 |
| Oakland sweeps Boston in the ALCS. Former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley saves all four games and earns the series MVP. |
| Aug. 31, 1990 |
| Boston trades the Double A Eastern League's leading hitter, Jeff Bagwell, to the Astros. For Bagwell -- a native New Englander who once dreamed of playing for the Red Sox and wondered in 1993 why then GM Lou Gorman hadn't been fired -- the Red Sox receive Larry Andersen. |
| Oct. 10, 1990 |
| Umpire Terry Cooney ejects Roger Clemens in the second inning of Game 4 of the ALCS and Boston falls to the A's in another ALCS sweep. |
| Oct. 3, 1995 |
| In baseball's longest postseason game (5 hours, one minute), former Red Sox catcher Tony Pena hits the game-winning home run in the 13th inning to give Cleveland a victory in Game 1 of the Division Series. Three days later, the Indians sweep Boston after sluggers Mo Vaughn (the 1995 AL MVP) and Jose Canseco go hitless in 27 combined at bats. Boston's consecutive playoff winless streak increases to 11 games. |
| Dec. 13, 1996 |
| Three-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens signs with Toronto. The Rocket is 40-39 in his final four seasons with the Red Sox. But in his first two seasons with the Blue Jays, Clemens goes 41-13, wins two more Cy Young Awards and becomes the first AL pitcher since 1945 to win pitching's Triple Crown. |
| July, 1997 |
| As a member of the Blue Jays, Clemens makes a triumphant return to Fenway with an electrifying 16-strikeout performance that earns him a standing ovation. |
| Feb. 18, 1999 |
| Toronto trades Clemens to the Yankees. |
| Oct. 13, 1999 |
| In Game 1 of the historic ALCS, umpire Rick Reed's blown call in the top of the 10th turns Boston's men-on-first-and-third-with-no-outs into a man on first and one out. Brian Daubach grounds into an inning-ending double play to end the threat and Bernie Williams hits a walkoff homer in the bottom of the 11th to give the Yankees a 1-0 series lead. |
| Oct. 17, 1999 |
| After shelling Clemens in Game 3, the Red Sox disintegrate in Game 4. The game features another blown call and an embarrassing meltdown by the fans at Fenway, who watch the Yankees take a 3-1 series lead. "It's like we're being cheated out there," Darren Lewis says after the game. Two days later the Yankees end Boston's 81st consecutive season without a title. |
| Oct. 27, 1999 |
| The Yankees close out the century by winning their 25th title. Clemens pitches in the World Series finale and earns his first championship ring. |
| Oct. 26, 2000 |
| Proving that the Curse is in fact Y2K compliant, the Yankees win their third consecutive World Series title and fourth in five years by beating the New York Mets in five games. |
| Sept. 2003 |
| The Yanks enter the season's final month with a 5 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox in AL East. The rivals meet once more -- Sept. 5-7 at Yankee Stadium. Only a Red Sox-like collapse can prevent the Yankees from a sixth consecutive division title.
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