In the world of curses, not every curse is the Curse of the Bambino. Some are more subtle. You need a magnifying glass and a fine tooth comb to figure out what is currently ailing the team. Well, maybe not a magnifying glass but definitely the ability to skillfully navigate baseball-reference.com....with a fine-tooth comb.
Notwithstanding my killer research skills with these sort of things, I can see Cardinal fan sitting there saying "Cursed? What are you talking about? We just won the World Series in '06. How can we be cursed?" Well, my response would be unless you won it this year something eerie is afflicting your franchise. Which leads me to...
THE CURSE OF THE DREAMWEAVER
Before the Curse: 10 World Series Championships ('26, '31, '34, '42, '44, '46, '64, '67, '82, '06) Won the 2006 World Series in 5 games.
After the Curse: Made the playoffs once in 4 seasons. Swept in 2009 Division Series by the Dodgers.
THE CURSE: I know what your saying. Jeff effin' Weaver? That's the best you've got? Well, yes. It is. Sure, he has a pretty mediocre career record of 104-119 in 11 seasons with 6 mlb teams. Sure, baseball reference finds him similar to such megastars as Ishmael Valdez, Andy Ashby and Sidney Ponson. And sure he "sat out" the whole 2008 season because he did not want to toil in the minor leagues for the Brewers. So why does this journeyman get the honor of cursing one of baseball's classiest franchises? Because in the 2006, the dude just brought it.
Acquired in July 2006 from the Angels for a bag of balls named Terry Evans, the Dreamweaver brought his usual averageness to the Cards going 5-4 with a 5.18 era and 45 Ks in 15 starts. 45 Ks in 15 starts?!? Sweet Jesus. But luckily for the Cardinals, Weaver inked a sweet deal with the devil in time for the playoffs. In the Division Series against the Padres, Weaver went 5 strong inning giving up only 3 hits and no runs. 1 win. In the NLCS, he went 1-1 with a 3.17 era winning game 5. But it was the Series where he really brought his A game. Even after losing Game 2 to the Tigers, Weaver dominated in the clinching Game 5 throwing 8 innings while only yielding 4 hits. On top of that, he had 9 Ks. Overall Series stats: 1-1, 13 IPs, 14 Ks. Not too shabby.
And how did the Cards reward this workhorse that helped them through the playoffs? By allowing him to sign a 1 year, 8 million contract with the Mariners. Is this fair? Should a team be punished for not wanting to overpay an extremely average pitcher after a pretty good two week stretch at the end of the season? No, it probably isn't fair. But as I have discovered in my research, the Baseball gods are very fickle. Karma is all-around the baseball diamond so you best not eff with it. If that means keeping an innings-eater, who would ultimately end up going 7-13 with a 6.20 era in 2007, on your roster for another year then so be it.
EVIDENCE OF THE CURSE:
- Finished 3rd in division in 2007
- Finished 4th in division in 2008
- Wins division in 2009. Swept by the Dodgers in NLDS.
- Finished 2nd in 2010. Faded big time after leading the division in August.
- Signed Kip Wells to replace Weaver. It did not go well. 7-17. 5.70 era
- Has Tony LaRussa as manager.
CONCLUSION: merely a mild case of being CURSED.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF: It is tough to say that any team with Albert Pujols can be considered cursed. But if he leaves the Cards next year and/or is found to be juicing then I think this curse can and should be revisited. In the meantime, it may not hurt to try and make a play for Jeff's little bro, Jered. Jered is waaaay better than is big brother and could smooth over any
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