Long before Saturday night’s grand slam by Philadelphia’s Raul Ibanez off St. Louis Cardinals reliever Octavio Dotel clinched the 2011 National League Eastern Division crown for the home Phillies, the poor late-season results by the teams employing the right-handed pitcher had been a point of discussion, and often consternation.
Specifically, during a recent radio appearance on KXnO FOX Sports Radio in Des Moines, I was asked if I knew about the curse that has fallen upon every major league team that acquired Dotel via an in-season trade.
The view is that the reliever is the patron saint of deadline deals gone bad, a player to add if a club wants to create the appearance that it is trying to close the gap, but yet, it always ends up falling short.
I admitted that I was not aware of this. I had heard of the Cubs’ “Curse of the Billy Goat” and the Red Sox’ “Curse of the Bambino,” which the Cardinals unfortunately helped remove in 2004. Those are team curses, not ones following indi...
Original Story:
