The World Series of Baseball was inaugurated in 1903 and by the end of World War I the Boston Red Sox had already won the championship five times. However, on Boxing Day, 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the talismanic George ‘Babe’ Ruth, a.k.a. ‘The Bambino’, to arch rivals the New York Yankees, leading to a popular superstition, which became known as the ‘Curse of the Bambino’.
Boston Red Sox did not appear in the World Series again until 1946 and, when they did, committed a series of fielding error that led to a play, known for all time as ‘Slaughter’s Mad Dash’, which allowed Enos Slaughter to score the winning run in the decisive seventh games against St. Louis Cardinals. In 1967, the Red Sox defied expectations and achieved what became known as the ‘Impossible Dream’, by reaching the World Series, where they once again faced St. Louis Cardinals. The World Series once again went to the seventh games, which the Cardinals won 7-2.
Eight years later, in 1975, the Red Sox once again appeared in the World Series, this time against Cincinatti Reds, but their luck did not improve. In the sixth game, at Fenway Park, catcher Carlton Frisk hit an oft-replayed game-winning home run, in the twelfth innings, to extend the series to seven games, but the Red Sox lost the decisive seventh game 4-3. In 1986, a fielding error by first baseman Bill Buckner handed game six to the New York Mets and the Red Sox lost the decisive seventh game, yet again, despite leading 3-0 at the bottom of the sixth innings. Finally, after a championship drought of 86 years, the Boston Red Sox won their sixth World Series, beating their old rivals St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 in 2004.