Curse of Rocky Colavito

The Curse of Rocky Colavito is a phenomenon that supposedly prevents the Cleveland Indians baseball team from winning, be it the World Series, the American League pennant, reaching postseason play, or even getting into a pennant race. Its origin is traced back to the unpopular trade of right fielder Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn in 1960.

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Origins

The 1960 trade between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians sent "The Rock," the home run champion of 1959 to the Tigers for Harvey Kuenn, batting champion of 1959. It was a unique trade between a home run champion, 42 home runs in '59, and a hitting champion, .359 batting average in '59. Fans in Cleveland were outraged by the betrayal of their GM Frank "Trader" Lane. In only 2 years at the Indians Lane had taken a mostly successful 40-man roster and had traded every single player he had inherited away. Fans in Detroit were mostly happy about the trade.

Birth of the Curse

The idea of the curse was first presented in print by Terry Pluto, who had previously covered the Indians for The Plain Dealer. In his 1994 book The Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a 33-Year Slump, Pluto suggested that the trade, made by Indians general manager Frank Lane to blunt Colavito's popularity and salary demands, led to a stretch where the Indians did not even come within 11 games of first place from 1960 to 1993. By 1994, the team had not won a pennant since 1954 or a World Series since 1948.

In The Curse of Rocky Colavito, Pluto writes of many of the misfortunes that struck the Indians following the Colavito trade:

Since the book's publication in 1994, Pluto has written two sequels: "Burying the Curse" in 1995 and "Our Tribe" in 1999, the latter insisting the curse was still in place.

Despite the "evidence" of a curse on the team, Colavito has denied ever placing one.

Another Curse?

Prior to the publication of Pluto's book The Curse of Rocky Colavito, there had been another explanation for the Indians' difficulties, one that came after the 1954 World Series but preceded the 1960 Colavito trade. The Indians fired manager Bobby Bragan in 1958. According to the story, Bragan walked out to the pitcher's mound at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and placed a curse on the Indians, saying they would never win another pennant. Bragan, however, always denied that such a thing happened.

Recent years

In 1994, the year Pluto's book was published, the Indians moved out of aging, crumbling Municipal Stadium and into the brand-new Jacobs Field. They were just one game behind the White Sox in the newly-created American League Central Division when a strike put an end to the season. Despite the abrupt end, this was the first time the Indians had genuinely been in a pennant race since 1959, Colavito's last season before being traded away.

In the years since, the Indians have enjoyed tremendous success: 7 division titles (including 5 in a row) and 2 American League pennants. However, disappointing failures in the post-season have demonstrated that a curse may still loom over the ball club.

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