Sound the alarm! Fire the manager! The new stadium is cursed!
Major League Baseball's first week has been a crazy one. The Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres all have better records than the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays. It's even crazier to believe that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse is on pace to win a Cy Young award while Evan Longoria is in contention to win the Triple Crown. Crazier still is that after just seven games, a manager can already have his job in question. But it's happening; the Cleveland Indians have started the season 1-6 and manager Eric Wedge is on the hot seat.
It appears that baseball world is being flipped upside down. Managers are worried about their jobs. Defending division champions are in last place and worried about the first-place teams that were "supposed to suck." Fantasy gems have been fantasy busts.
But could these worries be justified? Talk shows nationally were making "imagine that" jokes when the Tampa Bay Rays started strong last year. Well, jokes became reality. The Rays won the American League Championship and made a trip to the World Series.
We have also seen cursed stadiums in the past. The black cat's appearance at Wrigley Field will be a moment that no fan would ever forget. The Chicago Cubs still have not won a World Series since that incident. The organization even tried to Christen their ballpark by splashing holy water on the dugouts before last year's National League Division Series. The team subsequently lost three straight games and was eliminated from the postseason. God is apparently not a Cubs fan.
The success of many pitchers, even lesser known ones such as Kyle Lohse and Kansas City's Zack Grienke, can be attributed to the beginning of a season. Generally, pitching is a head of hitting to begin a season. Then, as hitters get warmed up to the everyday schedule, they become evenly matched.
This theory makes the ridiculous start by Evan Longoria and Albert Pujols even more terrifying. Longoria is hitting .467 with five home runs and 12 Runs-Batted-In during his first eight games. Those numbers will be through the roof when he gets warmed up. Pujols is not looking too shabby either with four home runs and 10 runs batted in.
Slow starts by the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, and Boston Red Sox should also be looked into with more concern. Only three teams that started 1-6 over the past thirteen years finished with a winning record and none of those teams made the playoffs. The Nationals have started 0-7, the Indians have started 1-6 and the Red Sox have started 2-6. These teams could face some big problems. Also, since 1983, only two teams that started 2-5 ever went to the playoffs. Although these two teams did end up making World Series appearances with the 1991 Minnesota Twins winning the series. Hope is not gone yet!
No matter how much importance is given to the first week, the numbers don't lie. It's tough to dig out of a deficit, teams that start hot could have started that way because they actually are good teams, and it is entirely possible for stadiums to become cursed when cats are let loose. For the Mets' sake, they better hope God is not a Phillies fan.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
