Top 10 Legendary Baseball Curses

Curses exist across all cultures. Ancient Egyptian priests crushed and melted wax figures of the chaos serpent Apophis to invoke curses. The biblical figure Noah placed a curse on his son, Ham, after an unfortunate incident involving his father's drunken state. Irish pagans whispered curses while turning bullaun stones to bring misfortune to their foes. Voodoo practitioners used cloth dolls with pins to inflict pain on their enemies. In the 16th century, witches were executed for supposedly casting hexes. Even on American television, the classic show "The Brady Bunch" featured an episode where a cursed Tiki amulet brought a series of misfortunes to the Brady family.

Baseball, too, has its own fascinating history of curses. Alongside uplifting stories of underdog victories, there are dark tales of individuals casting the malocchio (evil eye) on players or entire teams, leaving a lasting mark on the sport.

In this article, we’ll explore baseball’s 10 most infamous curses. First up is a curse tied to bobblehead figurines and a team that hasn’t clinched a World Series title in over 25 years.

10: The Mets Bobblehead Curse

For years, whispers of a curse have haunted the Mets. It wasn’t until 2002, when Gold's Horseradish started creating Mets bobblehead dolls, that fans found a tangible target to blame for their team's misfortunes.

As reported by Ken Belson of The New York Times, almost every Mets player immortalized as a bobblehead has seen a dramatic decline in performance the next season. Mike Piazza, the first Met to receive a bobblehead, saw his home runs drop from 33 to just 11 the following year. John Franco (2003) suffered injuries, while Kazuo "Kaz" Matsui (2004), Pedro Martinez (2005), Paul Lo Duca (2007), and Jason Bray (2010) all fell short of expectations after their bobblehead debuts. Francisco Rodriguez (2009) injured his hand in an altercation, and Ike Davis (2011) was already sidelined when his bobblehead was announced [source: Belson].

Yet, the bobbleheads might not be the Mets' biggest problem. Many fans are convinced the team is under a broader, more insidious curse. How else can one explain why such a talented team has consistently underperformed and lingered at the bottom of the league?

However, there’s hope that the Mets' curse is fading. In June 2012, pitcher Johan Santana, the bobblehead honoree that year, made history by pitching the first no-hitter in Mets franchise history. While some argue the curse persists until the Mets win another World Series, our next curse has already been broken.

9: The Curse of A-Rod

By 2003, Alex Rodriguez, the Texas Rangers' third baseman, had established himself as one of baseball's most valuable players. His batting averages ranked among the highest in the league, he had earned the American League MVP title, and his career was on a meteoric rise.

However, in a groundbreaking move (no reigning MVP had ever been traded before), the Rangers struck a deal to trade A-Rod to the Red Sox. The trade included a voluntary pay cut by Rodriguez, which led Major League Baseball to block the agreement. In a twist reminiscent of the infamous 1918 Babe Ruth trade, the Yankees swooped in and secured the superstar.

Despite being one of the game's most dominant players, Alex Rodriguez had never clinched a World Series title before the trade. Yankees fans were convinced that would change after acquiring him. Yet, when 2004 ended without a World Series win, fans began scrutinizing Rodriguez's career. "Teams that signed A-Rod seemed to falter," they murmured, suggesting he might be cursed. By 2005, sports media drew comparisons between the A-Rod and Babe Ruth trades, theorizing that the broken Curse of the Bambino in 2004 had transformed into the Curse of A-Rod. As years passed without a championship, the legend of A-Rod's curse grew.

In 2009, the Yankees finally secured a World Series victory. Today, opinions are divided: some argue the curse of A-Rod was never real, while others attribute the Yankees' losing streak to a coach's influence.

8: The Curse of Donnie Baseball

Before Alex Rodriguez made his mark, baseball legend Don Mattingly dominated the sport. His immense popularity earned him two iconic nicknames: "Donnie Baseball" and "The Hit Man." By the time he retired in 1996, fans were already speculating about his inevitable induction into the Hall of Fame.

Yet, year after year, Mattingly has been overlooked for the Hall of Fame. According to New York Post writer Robert A. George, this is due to a curse. Despite Mattingly's stellar career with the Yankees, the team never won a World Series during his tenure at first base. However, after his retirement, the Yankees clinched four World Series titles. When Mattingly returned as a hitting coach in 2004, the Yankees suffered a dramatic collapse, losing the last four games of the Series to the Red Sox. Adding to the curse theory, the Yankees won the 2009 World Series shortly after Mattingly left the team. As Robert George puts it, "In a game steeped in superstition, Don Mattingly embodies the black cat, the broken mirror, and the sidewalk crack all in one" [source: Suellentrop].

However, players and coaches aren't the only ones linked to baseball's infamous curses. Japan's Hanshin Tigers, for instance, attribute their curse to their own fans. Discover why next.

7: The Curse of the Colonel

While most curses on this list stem from greed, disrespect, or poor decisions by baseball players, coaches, or owners, the Curse of the Colonel is unique. This one is entirely the fault of the fans.

Nearly three decades ago, the Hanshin Tigers clinched the Japan Series in a stunning upset victory over the Seibu Lions. Overjoyed fans flooded the streets to celebrate. The festivities led to a bridge over a canal, where supporters began jumping into the water, each shouting a player's name as they leaped. When they ran out of willing jumpers, the crowd turned to a nearby life-sized statue of Colonel Sanders outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken. They tossed it into the river to honor MVP Randy Bass, unknowingly sparking a curse that haunts the team to this day.

In 2009, a body was spotted in the canal, prompting divers to investigate. Instead of a corpse, they recovered the torso of the long-lost Colonel Sanders statue. Fans hoped its return would end the curse, but the Tigers' losing streak persists — at least for now.

While fans may have caused the Curse of the Colonel, our next story involves a memorial statue that harbored its own resentment.

6: The Curse of Billy Penn

In 1901, Philadelphia City Hall, crowned with a statue of city founder William Penn, stood as the world's tallest building. For decades, no one linked the statue to the fortunes of the city's sports teams. That changed in March 1987, when One Liberty Place, a new skyscraper, was built, towering over Billy Penn's statue by nearly 400 feet. From that moment, Philadelphia's sports teams entered a prolonged period of failure.

The Curse of Billy Penn didn't just haunt the Phillies, Philadelphia's baseball team. It also plagued the city's other franchises. While One Liberty Place overshadowed William Penn's statue, the Flyers lost the Stanley Cup finals, the Eagles faltered in the NFC Championships, and the 76ers collapsed in the NBA finals. Even a Pennsylvania racehorse failed miserably at Belmont.

Some dismissed the idea that a statue could curse an entire city's sports teams. However, skeptics were proven wrong when the Phillies triumphed in the 2008 World Series. The turnaround came after resourceful ironworkers secretly placed a small William Penn statuette atop The Comcast Center, which had overtaken One Liberty Place as Philadelphia's tallest building in 2007.

The Curse of Billy Penn isn't the only baseball curse tied to an inanimate object. Up next is the Curse of Captain Eddie!

5: The Curse of Captain Eddie

In 1918, New York Giants player "Captain Eddie" Grant became the first major league ballplayer to perish in World War I. The team honored him with a plaque placed in center field at New York's Polo Grounds. Under Captain Eddie's symbolic watch, the Giants won the World Series in 1921, followed by victories in '22, '33, and '54.

However, in 1957, dissatisfied with the deteriorating state of the Polo Grounds, the Giants moved to San Francisco. Captain Eddie's plaque vanished. Some believe it was stolen by fans during the chaos after the team's final game at the Polo Grounds, while others think it was misplaced during the relocation. Regardless, the Giants seemed to lose their winning spirit after the move. As years turned into decades without another World Series win, rumors spread that Captain Eddie had cursed the team.

Eventually, team owner Peter Magowan commissioned a new plaque. It was placed in AT&T Stadium in 2006, and by 2010, the Giants clinched the World Series. While the plaque's restoration might have lifted Captain Eddie's curse, the Red Sox faced nearly a century of despair under their own curse. Want to know more? Keep reading.

4: The Curse of the Bambino

The Curse of the Bambino is arguably the most famous curse in baseball history. It began when the Red Sox, a dominant team in the early 1900s, won the first World Series in 1903 and added five more titles in the following decade. Much of their success was credited to their star player, Babe Ruth, known as "the Bambino." However, in 1919, the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to their rivals, the Yankees. This marked the start of an 86-year drought, ending only when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, finally breaking the curse.

Over its 86-year span, countless efforts were made to break the curse. In the early 1990s, fans famously changed a "Reverse Curve" sign to read "Reverse the Curse." In 1992, a Boston radio station conducted an exorcism outside Fenway Park. In 2001, superfan Paul Giorgio climbed Mount Everest and left a Red Sox cap on a summit altar. Even Ford Motor Company joined in, airing a commercial featuring a hitchhiker heading to Boston to "break a curse" before the 2004 victory.

While the Red Sox's 86-year curse seems harsh, many would argue they didn't deserve such a fate. However, the team in our next story might have earned every bit of their curse.

3: The Curse of the Black Sox

In 1919, frustrated by salary disputes, eight White Sox players devised a plan to secure the money they believed they deserved. Their scheme led to one of the most notorious scandals in baseball history.

As ringleader Arnold "Chick" Gandil revealed in a 1956 Sports Illustrated article, he was approached by two men, "Sport" Sullivan and Arnold Rothstein, who proposed a plot to fix the 1919 World Series. Another gambler, Bill Burns, learned of the plan and offered a better deal. Instead of choosing between the two, the eight players decided to profit from both. They accepted upfront payments and sealed the deal.

Before they could execute the plan, reporters began investigating. Rumors of conspiracy spread, and some players backed out. Chick admitted to the scheme and taking $10,000 in advance but claimed the players didn't actually throw the games. Despite being acquitted in court, the eight players were banned from baseball for life. For the next 86 years, the White Sox endured the Curse of the Black Sox, which was finally broken when they won the 2005 World Series.

Unlike the Curse of the Black Sox, the top two most legendary baseball curses remain unbroken to this day.

2: The Curse of Rocky Colavito

The White Sox weren't the only team cursed by greed. The Curse of Rocky Colavito is often attributed to the penny-pinching decisions of Cleveland Indians' general manager, Frank Lane.

Rocky Colavito, a standout right fielder and prolific hitter, led the American League in home runs for two seasons before his 1960 trade. Believing his performance warranted a raise, Colavito was instead traded to the Detroit Tigers by Frank Lane. The abrupt manner in which manager Joe Gordon delivered the news—telling Colavito on the field, "That's the last time you'll ever bat for the Indians"—left a lasting sting. In a 2010 Cleveland Plain Dealer article, Colavito expressed his lingering resentment, saying, "I loved Cleveland and the Indians. I never wanted to leave" [source: Pluto].

The Indians reacquired Colavito in 1965, but the curse persisted. Colavito insists he didn't curse the team; Frank Lane did. Regardless, the curse remains unbroken. The Cleveland Indians haven't won a World Series since 1948. However, 2016 might bring a change. Our next curse has lasted even longer. Discover which team holds the record for the longest-running curse in baseball history next.

1: The Curse of the Billy Goat

In the early years of baseball, the Chicago Cubs were a dominant force, winning the World Series in 1907 and 1908. In 1916, wealthy industrialist William Wrigley purchased the team and brought in sports writer William Veeck to help manage it. Under their leadership, the Cubs secured the National League pennant four times.

After their 1938 pennant win, the Cubs experienced a few lean years, but no one spoke of a curse. That changed in 1945 when William "Billy Goat" Sianis attempted to bring his pet goat, Murphy, into Wrigley Field for Game 4 of the World Series. Sianis and Murphy were ejected by P.K. Wrigley, who claimed the goat smelled. Enraged, Sianis cursed the team as he left. Since then, the Cubs' fortunes have declined dramatically.

In 1969, the Cubs were on the verge of winning the pennant and advancing to the World Series when a black cat ran across the field. They not only lost that game but also faltered in 1984, 1989, and 2003. Today, the Cubs hold the record for the longest championship drought in American sports history. However, this year could mark a turning point as the Cubs face the Indians.

Sports fans can be incredibly passionate about their teams. Before you consider cursing your favorite team, recall the Curse of the Billy Goat and think carefully about where you direct your ill wishes!