Afternoon Baseball

This is a theory I wrote about more than two years ago (and I believe had in my head even longer).

Yes, it's silly, but so was the idea that Babe Ruth cursed the Red Sox or that a goat or Steve Bartman cursed the Cubs. And those were/are popular curses.

Why might it be over, or at least, not a viable excuse? Don Mattingly is gone. He was the last connection to it -- the gist being that guys who were on the 1995 team but not on the 1996 playoff roster (to include the traded Ruben Sierra) but who later came back doomed the team. Why? Who knows. I guess their bad vibes from the 1995 collapse outweighed the fairy tale 1996 run.

Here's the list, and note none of these guys were on the 1996, 1998, 1999 or 2000 clubs:

1997: Mike Stanley (left as a free agent after 1995, re-acquired via trade midseason)
2001: Randy Velarde (left as a free agent after 1995, apparently to find steroids, and was re-acquired via trade midseason); Sterling Hitchcock (traded after 1995, re-acquired via trade midseason); Gerald Williams (traded midseason 1996, re-acquired midseason via free agency).
2002: Hitchcock; Williams (until midseason).
2003: Hitchcock (until midseason); Ruben Sierra (traded midseason 1996, re-acquired midseason via trade); Don Mattingly (retired after 1995; became hitting coach, later bench coach).
2004: Sierra; Mattingly.
2005: Sierra; Mattingly.
2006: Mattingly.
2007: Mattingly.

In 2008, there's no Mattingly, but there is the return of 1996er Joe Girardi.

If you're looking at the current turmoil of this club and grasping for a straw on which to place confidence, why not try this one?