Curse of The Bambino - The Lore

The Lore

Although it had long been noted that the selling of Ruth had been the beginning of a down period in the Red Sox' fortunes, the curse was publicized by Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe in his 1990 book, The Curse of the Bambino, and became a key part of the Red Sox lore in the media thereafter. Shaughnessy's book became required reading in some high school English classes in New England.

The term "curse of the Bambino" was not in common use by the press during the 1920s, nor can it be found through the 1970s, as a search of historical newspapers will illustrate. In fact, the New York Times did not use the term until 1990, and the Boston newspapers do not seem to have begun using it until Shaughnessy's book and a Boston Globe article about it were published. The degree to which ordinary Red Sox fans ever believed in the curse has been questioned, e.g., by Bill Simmons in his 2005 book, Now I Can Die in Peace.

Although the title drought dated back to 1918, the sale of Ruth to the Yankees was completed January 3, 1920. In standard curse lore, Red Sox owner and theatrical producer Harry Frazee used the proceeds from the sale to finance the production of a Broadway musical, usually specified as No, No, Nanette. In fact, Frazee backed many productions before and after Ruth's sale, and No, No, Nanette did not see its first performance until five years after the Ruth sale and two years after Frazee sold the Red Sox. In 1921, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow left to take over as general manager of the Yankees. Other Red Sox players were later sold or traded to the Yankees as well.

Neither the lore, nor the debunking of it, entirely tells the story. As Leigh Montville wrote in The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth, No, No, Nanette had originated as a non-musical stage play called My Lady Friends, which opened on Broadway in December 1919. That play had, indeed, been financed as a direct result of the Ruth deal.

Various researchers, including Montville and Shaughnessy, have pointed out that Frazee had close ties to the Yankees owners, and that many of the player deals, as well as the mortgage deal for Fenway Park itself, had to do with financing his plays.

Yankee fans taunted the Red Sox with chants of "1918!" one weekend in September 1990. The demeaning chant echoed at Yankee Stadium each time the Red Sox were there. Yankee fans also taunted the Red Sox with signs saying "1918!", "CURSE OF THE BAMBINO," pictures of Babe Ruth, and wearing "1918!" T-shirts each time they were at the Stadium.