This curse (first brought to light by Dan O'Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) held that the St. Louis Cardinals were incapable of winning the World Series from 1983 to 2005. Until 2006, the last time that the Cardinals won the World Series was in 1982, when Keith Hernandez was their starting first baseman. Hernandez, who was the National League batting champion and co-MVP in 1979 (sharing the honours with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Willie Stargell), was traded to the New York Mets for Neil Allen (who, after three seasons with St. Louis and a 20-16 record, was sold to the Yankees) and Rick Ownbey on June 15, 1983. Shortly after arriving in New York, Hernandez set a major league record for game-winning runs batted in (24) in 1985. The following season, Hernandez helped guide the Mets to a World Championship against the Boston Red Sox.
The Cardinals appeared in the World Series three more times (1985, 1987 and 2004) before finally winning in 2006 against the Detroit Tigers. In 1985, the Cardinals lost their base-stealing catalyst, Vince Coleman, to a freak injury when he got his leg caught under the mechanized tarp at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. As a result, he was unable to participate in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. In Game 6 of the Series, the Cardinals were holding a 1-0 led going into the bottom of the ninth, and needed just three more outs in order to win the World Championship. St. Louis closer Todd Worrell faced Royals leadoff man Jorge Orta. Orta hit a slow roller to first baseman Jack Clark, who tossed to Worrell covering first base. However, first-base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, even though instant replays and photographs clearly showed that he was out by half a step. In the next at-bat, Clark misplayed an easy foul pop-up by batter Steve Balboni. Instead of popping out, Balboni singled on the next pitch, and Onix Concepcion came in to pinch-run. With runners on first and second, Jim Sundberg then bunted into a force play at third. Catcher Darrell Porter then allowed a passed ball, allowing the runners to advance to second and third. Pinch-hitter Hal McRae was intentionally walked to load the bases, and then Dane Iorg knocked a bloop single to right that scored Concepcion and Sundberg, who avoided Porter's tag at the plate to score the winning run. In Game 7, the frustrated Cardinals (who had to cope with Don Denkinger now working at home plate) got blown out by the Royals 11-0.
When Hernandez and his Mets participated in the Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox were on the verge of a World Series title in the 10th inning with two outs and nobody on. However, the Mets eventually rallied for a 6-5 victory, ending with Mookie Wilson's routine groundball eluding first baseman Bill Buckner. They later rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Red Sox 8-5 in Game 7. While being interviewed by NBC's Bob Costas following Game 7, Hernandez revealed that during Game 6, he had already retreated to the Mets' clubhouse to drink a beer (a Budweiser, which had been manufactured by long time Cardinals owner Gussie Busch and his family) when the improbable uprising occurred.
The Cardinals returned to the World Series in 1987, facing the Minnesota Twins. The Cardinals had to deal with the absence of an injured Clark, who was their main source of power. They also had to cope with the fact that four out of the seven games were at Minnesota's loud and boisterous Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome which, naturally, gave the Twins a psychological advantage. Still, the Cards managed to win three in a row at home and came back to Minnesota with a 3 games to 2 series led. However, the Twins won Game 6 behind a grand slam by Kent Hrbek, who just happened to be a first baseman with the initials "K.H." The Cardinals ultimately lost Game 7 with the save going to Keith Hernandez' ex-Mets teammate, Jeff Reardon. The 1987 Minnesota Twins' 85-77 regular season record was, up until 2006, the worst winning percentage for an eventual World Series victor since the introduction of the 162-game schedule. That record stood until 2006, when the St. Louis Cardinals broke the Keith Hernandez curse and won the World Series after winning just 83 games in the regular season.
In 1996, the Cardinals blew a 3 games to 1 lead against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. Game 7 involved the Cards getting destroyed by Atlanta, 15-0. 1996, by the way, was the beginning of Tony La Russa's tenure as manager of the Cardinals. In practically all of the Cards' subsequent postseason appearances, they lost a key player to injury (i.e. Mark McGwire, Mike Matheny, Scott Rolen, and Chris Carpenter). For instance, in 2002, the team lost Scott Rolen during a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks (who defeated the Cardinals in the Division Series the year before) in the division series before losing in the NLCS in five games to the wild-card San Francisco Giants. Keith Hernandez, incidentally, was born in San Francisco (although the Cardinals did beat the Giants in the 1987 NLCS in seven games).
While not related to the World Series, in 2002, Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile died of a heart attack in his hotel room at the age of 33.
In 2004, the Cardinals lost the World Series in four games against the Boston Red Sox (who won their first World Championship since 1918). During the first two games of the World Series, the Cards walked 14 Red Sox batters and hit three others. Meanwhile, the Red Sox plated 17 base runners, while stranding 21 base runners. The closest the Cardinals ever came to possessing the lead in the Series was on two different occasions in Game 1. The Cardinals tied the game at 7 in the top of the 6th inning, but the Red Sox regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the 7th. The Cardinals responded with two in the top of the 8th to tie the game at 9, but the Red Sox again replied with two in the bottom of the same inning. In Game 3, Cardinals threatened in the top of the 3rd inning, as starting pitcher Jeff Suppan beat out an infield single to third base and Edgar Rentería delivered a double to right-center field, putting Suppan on third. But Larry Walker grounded to first, and Suppan hesitated in his attempt to score. David Ortiz, making a rare appearance at first base (as there is no designated hitter in the National League), took the throw from second baseman Mark Bellhorn, retired Walker, and threw to third, where Bill Mueller tagged Suppan for a double play. What's significant about Jeff Suppan's base running blunder was that he wore number 37, the same number that Keith Hernandez wore during his time as a St. Louis Cardinal.
The Cardinals ended this curse by defeating the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series, four games to one.
Sports-related curses. (2009, January 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:35, January 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sports-related_curses&oldid=264598455
