Red Sox reverse the Curse

Walter Iooss, Jr.

Here lies the Curse of the Bambino, born Dec. 26, 1919, the day Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees, and died Oct. 27, 2004, the day a group of wild-haired, self-styled Idiots completed one of the most one-sided sweeps in World Series history, not to mention the greatest reversal of fortune the sports world may ever have witnessed.

On Oct. 17 the Red Sox were three outs away from being eliminated in the ALCS, four games to none, by the Yankees and a rested Mariano Rivera. Ten days later they were world champions, becoming the first team to win eight consecutive games in the same postseason and only the fourth to sweep the World Series without ever trailing.

The death of the Curse was emphatic. Never again will the Red Sox have to listen to the "1918!" chant. "Now," closer Keith Foulke said, "it is history. Now we only have to worry about the future."

--From "On Top of the World" by Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated Presents 2004 World Series Commemorative

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