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Curse of the Bambino Facts & Worksheets

The Curse of the Bambino is one of the legendary myths in all of sports and possibly all of American culture.

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The Curse of the Bambino is one of the legendary myths in all of sports and possibly all of American culture. It ignited a spark of fun in the minds of baseball fans for many years.

See the fact file below for more information on the Curse of the Bambino or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Curse of the Bambino worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

THE BAMBINO

  • Nicknamed “The Bambino” and “The Sultan of Swat”, Babe Ruth was a rising star of the Boston Red Sox.
  • George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr.’s career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935, five seasons of which were with the Boston Red Sox.
  • In 1914, Ruth was signed to play minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox.
  • By 1916, he had built a reputation as an outstanding pitcher who also hit long home runs, a feat unusual for any player in the pre-1920 dead-ball era.
  • With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919.

THE INFAMOUS TRADE

  • While Babe was with the Red Sox (1914-1919), they won three World Series titles and Babe was a key player in winning those championships.
  • However, in 1920, the Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, decided to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000 in cash and a $300,000 loan.
  • Red Sox president and owner Harry Frazee said he would have rather taken players, saying that “I do not mind saying I think they are taking a gamble.”
  • While there are many reasons cited for his action, one of the most common beliefs was that Frazee sold Ruth in order to fund the play called, “No No Nanette.”

THE “CURSE”

  • After selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees, the Red Sox did not win another Championship for 86 years until 2004.
  • The causes were many — bad management decisions, unfortunate errors, and a huge amount of incredibly bad luck.
  • However, it was during the 1980’s, when the World Series title drought had lasted for nearly 70 years, sports journalists introduced the concept of the curse.
  • Game 6 of the 1986 World Series mirrored the curse after the New York Mets forced a winning game 7 win against the then dominant Red Sox.
  • Babe single-handedly out-homered the entire Boston team in ten of the next twelve seasons.
  • The Red Sox had a losing record.
  • For nine of those seasons, they were in last place in the American League.
  • Curse on the Pennant Race
    • In 1948, the Red Sox played the Cleveland Indians in a one-game playoff for the AL East Division. They lost the game 8-3 after the CCE starter was benched for another pitcher.
    • In 1949, the Red Sox needed to win one of their two final games of the regular season against the Yankees in order to win the AL pennant. However, they blew their lead and lost.
    • In 1951, Boston had been favored to win the AL. However, they lost their final nine games of the season, including the six games they played against New York.
    • In 1972, with two games remaining, the Red Sox needed to win against Detroit in order finish first in the AL East. Boston’s Luis Aparicio tripped coming around third and was tagged out. They ended up losing their Division by half a game.
    • In 1978, Red Sox’ 14-game lead over the fourth place Yankees was broken after the latter went on to win the playoff game 5-4.
    • In 1991, the Red Sox were within a half game of leading the AL East. However, in the next 14 games, they lost 11, putting them 7 games behind Toronto.
    • In 2003, Game 7 of the AL Championship Series between Boston and the Yankees was decided by Aaron Boone’s lead-off homerun, which was enough for New York to win the game and go on to the World Series.
  • The Curse on the World Series
    • On 1946, Game 7 of the World Series stumped the Red Sox fans as shortstop Johnny Pesky failed to throw an out against Cardinal’s Enos Slaughter hussle for the winning run.
    • The same loss against the Cardinals was suffered by the Red Sox in the 1967 World Series.
    • In 1975, even with a better team, ERA, batting average, and more runs played, the Cincinnati Reds outperformed the Red Sox in Game 7, scoring 4-3.
    • In Game 6 against the New York Mets, the Red Sox were one out away from winning the 1986 World Series – four times.
    • An error by Ray Knight however forced the Red Sox to Game 7.
    • The next game, the Red Sox had a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning of the game, but gave up eight runs in the final three innings to lose the game, 8-3, and the Series as well.

Curse of the Bambino Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Curse of the Bambino across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Curse of the Bambino worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Curse of the Bambino which is one of the legendary myths in all of sports and possibly all of American culture. It ignited a spark of fun in the minds of baseball fans for many years.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Bambino
  • The Game
  • The Players
  • Boston Red Sox
  • The Rivals
  • Breaking the Curse
  • The Golden Year
  • Nine Rings
  • Superstitions and Unwritten Rules

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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