The Fellowship of the Miserable, 10:16

   One of the great things about having a national platform is the opportunity to use it as a weapon against whatever has crossed my bad side. This is tempting when you live among the Fellowship of the Miserable, as the sports fans of New England are called after the hockey/basketball seasons have ended. Baseball can be maddening.

   We have the Red Sox, who have spent $120 million on their team this year, and who generally put on a pretty good show. For those of you who don't follow a Cursed franchise, I can assure you that there is a certain horror/wisdom that goes with it.

   The Horror is known to all- Grady, Buckner, Ruth, and the despicable Mr. Dent are names that are synonymous with a feeling not at all unlike evisceration. The Wisdom comes from knowing you will fall into the same trap next summer.

   Once you accept the Curse, you can sit back and see the pattern. There is beauty in it, and proof that Whoever really runs things has a fine sense of humor. Plenty of teams don't win the World Series. Boston just does it in such epic style.

  What other teams can boast of Karma Destroyers like these?

- some miscreant named Ed Armbrister drops a bunt and gets in the way of Carlton Fisk as he tries to field it. The Reds eventually win the game, and the series. On this day, October 16th, a nor'easter formed off the New England coast, causing a 3 day delay that helped the Big Red Machine rest their pitchers.

- the greatest player in team history spends the prime of his career in combat.

- Jim Rice and Tony Coligniaro- two powerhouse young sluggers- both get beaned during seasons(1967 and 1975) that the Red Sox go to the World Series and lose. Jim Ed breaks his hand, and the late Tony C gets his career ended.

- the Red Sox lose the 2003 ALCS to the Yankers on October 16th. October 16th is the date that Marie Antoinette was executed, as well as the date that Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena. It was also the date that Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burnt at the stake for Heresy. If you really research it, nothing good has happened on October 16th, and this pattern continued in the 2003 ALCS.

- Ted Williams made it to his only World Series in 1946. He faced Stan Musial (who, in an era of pretty tough guys, was known as "The Man") and the Cardinals.Ted responded with a .200 batting average, and the Red Sox lost in a seven game thriller.

Ironically, a poor relay throw by Johnny Pesky(the man the right field foul pole in Fenway is named after) allowed the winning run to score. Imagine a fielding error by a steady veteran infielder costing Boston a World Series...what are the chances of that happening again?

This game was played in St. Louis, and ended after midnight EDT, on- you guessed it- October 16th. This date also holds a 6-2, Red Sox loss in 1975, to the Big Red Machine, and was the night that the rains began off the New England coastline.

- In 1967, game 7 features a matchup of Jim Lonborg and Bob Gibson. Lonborg is throwing on 2 day's rest. Gibson out-duels him, and cursifies Boston by bashing a home run off Boston's ace. This series didn't make it to October 16th.

   The sad part here is that these events don't even make it into the discussion when Boston fans moan about the past. They weren't devastating enough to our collective psyches. Johnny Pesky is quite popular in Boston, although someone from the Red Sox will have to faint at the sight of a ground ball in a future World Series before Buckner can show his face around here again.

   Even then, he might want to disguise his appearance. I'd go for a nice Pesky look...