The Dragon Curse
Posted on August 22, 2021 Posted by John Scalzi 19 Comments
Krissy and I went to a Dayton Dragons game today (the Dragons being Dayton’s minor league baseball team), and something happened that always happens whenever I come to see a Dayton Dragons game at the field: They lost. And, this time, not by just a little. The final score was 8-3, after a particularly disastrous second inning in which the opposing Lake County Captains put up six runs, staring with a home run and then all sorts of singles and doubles. It was a real mess and while the Dragons did all right in the rest of the game (not counting the second inning, they outscored the Captains 3-2), that’s an inning that’s very hard to come back from. The Dragons did not.
I was sad but not surprised. I go to a Dayton Dragons game once every couple of years, and over the twenty years of being in Ohio, I have yet to see them win a game. I show up, they lose. Every single time. Which purely as a matter of statistics shouldn’t happen — The Dragons win roughly half the games they play so just as a matter of a coin flip I should have seen a couple wins by now. But, nope.
Therefore: Clearly I am a curse to the Dayton Dragons and should stop going to their games, or at least never go to games that are critical, like playoff games or the final game of a league championship. This is a heavy responsibility and I will endeavor to live up to the challenge. Unless whoever is opposing them wants to bribe me, in which case, I am listening.
— JS
That’s nothing. I had that effect on the Montréal Canadiens in the 70s when they ONLY lost if I was there. I wasn’t allowed by my friends to go often.
Aww, you blew it, now you can’t use ‘I was at the Dragons game’ as an alibi on days they win.
For their entire existence (since 2000), the Dragons have gone 1348-1529, which is pretty lousy, so there might be factors other than bad luck at work here.
I can’t take my dad to Cubs games for the same reason.
[ when a game –> win a game ]
Have you tried supporting the visiting team?
Please Mr. Scalzi, no Sox games if you’re traveling to Chicago. Stick with the Cubs.
Think more positively (by comparing to where I live): your home team could be the Arizona Diamondbacks….
Yes you could take the bribe, then the Dragons would send you a hit team, it’s not if their short of a baseball bat or two 😀
It’s perfectly ethical to take bribes as long as you don’t keep them secret or alter your decisions that effect other people. So that’s all good, since no one cares about baseball, right?
My wife and I feel the same way about Syracuse Orange basketball. If we watch on TV or, heavens forfend, attend a game, they lose. For the sake of the team, we avoid either and must be satisfied with televised highlights.
Minor league games are fun. Unfortunately, the closest teams are 50 miles away from me.
If some cosmic force is telling you not to attend a baseball game, I see that as an unmitigated win. I can’t think of much I’d like to do less.
Your only hope is to embrace the situation fully and offer to throw out the first ball on opening day. Then you can take credit for all wins that season regardless of whether you show up.
Am I the only one who read the title and subsequently got very disappointed because it was NOT the name of a new fantasy series authored by our esteemed host?
The baseball fairy can tell you’re not a true fan. You can turn this around by going to 3 consecutive games and buying a very expensive MLB-approved cap. If this doesn’t work, email me and I’ll reimburse for the cap.
I gave up wanting to go to rock concerts in college, after three in a row cancelled (U2, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode). I mean I hadn’t even gotten tickets yet to a couple of them before they cancelled, just thinking about going did them in. So I did my friends and classmates a favor by stopping all such plans to go.
The first year that my home town team, the San Francisco Giants, won the World Series they beat Texas 4 games to 1. Guess which of the games was the one I happened to watch on TV.
Our minor league team, the Seattle Mariners, got whacked 15-1 on Saturday, John, so it could be worse.