Satan (portrayal)

Just when the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox thought they had eluded their respective decades-long curses, Satan reared his ugly head again, sending both teams to agonizing defeat and another year of wondering what World Series success would mean to the beleaguered cities of Boston and Chicago. This is the first time in baseball history that satanic curses have taken place in each league championship series during the same year.

After taking a 3-1 lead in the best of seven National League Championship Series and a 3-0 lead in game six, the Cubs failed to clinch and lost in seven games to the Florida Marlins, a team with only one previous visit to baseball's postseason. And the Red Sox, leading 5-2 in the seventh inning with their ace pitcher on the mound, couldn't finish against the New York Yankees, losing the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning on a walk-off home run by Aaron Boone.

For the Cubs, Satan attacked first by causing a fan to reach for a foul ball that could have been caught by Chicago's Moises Alou, thus extending the at bat of Marlins' second baseman Luis Castillo. Next, the prince of darkness forced the Cubs' usually steady-handed shortstop Alex Gonzalez to misplay an easy grounder. The Marlins went on to score eight runs in the ill-fated inning, during which Satan prevented Cubs manager Dusty Baker from making a timely pitching change. Finally, the curse came to completion when the Marlins won game seven, sending the Cubs back to Chicago to watch the World Series on television.

The Red Sox, cursed since the 1920 sale of Babe Ruth to the rival Yankees, faced similar drama in their own league championship series. Satan powered professional sports' most storied franchise to its 38th American League pennant with a variety of evil approaches. After causing the Sox to commit crucial errors early in the series and powering the arms of Yankees starters for several of the games, it appeared Satan had finally relented and loosened his grip in game seven. But after allowing the Red Sox to take an early commanding lead, the evil one forced Boston's manager Grady Little to leave his starting pitcher in well past the point of fatigue. That pitcher, Pedro Martinez, then surrendered three runs on four consecutive Yankee hits. The game went to extra innings, during which the devil allowed Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to pitch a rare third inning. The final nail in the coffin for the cursed Red Sox was a home run by Aaron Boone, sailing deep into the Bronx night in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Satan's work was done, the cycle of cursing once again complete.

Although both losing managers insist that their heartbreak was the result of on-field circumstances and not a curse, we at The Holy Observer know better. As anyone with spiritual insight could tell you, this year's baseball postseason proved once again that Satan prowls like a roaring lion, looking for athletic teams to devour (1 Peter 5:8).