Lore 267: Curveball (ad-free)

Folklore is often grown in the fertile soil of doubt and a lack of control. And within one specific national pastime, those elements have allowed some wild and unusual stories to take root and grow.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Sam Alberty, and music by Chad Lawson.

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Sources:

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• “The Billy Goat Curse”. Billy Goat Tavern & Grill. https://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/curse/. 

• “Billy Sunday: Salty Evangelist.” Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/billy-sunday.html. 

• Bradley, Mickey, and Dan Gordon. Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2007. 

• Carrol, Brian D.  “Whiskerinos at the Plate: The House of David’s Baseball Teams.” Michigan History (May/June 2023). 

• “The Deadball Era: Baseball’s Early Strategies”. Historic Baseball. https://historicbaseball.com/the-deadball-era-baseballs-early-strategies/. 

• “Edward Mujica #49”. MLB. https://www.mlb.com/player/edward-mujica-465629. 

• Fallon, Cory. “Mark Fidrych: The Story of the Bird”. Baseball Essential. 11/28/2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20220301172512/https://www.baseballessential.com/news/2016/11/28/mark-fidrych-story-bird/. 

• Ferguson, Harry. “Bettina and Magician Put Evil Eye (Gloves) on Fox.” The News-Herald. 2/4/1939. Page 8. 

• Ferguson, Ryan. “The Religious Sect That Became Baseball’s Answer to the Harlem Globetrotters.” The Guardian. 9/21/2016. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/sep/21/house-of-david-baseball-religious-sect. 

• Gmelch, George. “Baseball Magic.” Revised 2/19/2017. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322632094_Baseball_Magic_revised_2017.

• Griffioen, Amber L. “‘Don’t Step on the Foul Line’: Baseball and the (Ir-)rationality of Superstition in Sports.” Logique & Analyse 223 (2013), 319-332. 

• Hatch, Richard. “Jimmy Grippo, A Real Mystery Man”. Conjuring Arts. https://conjuringarts.org/exhibitions/jimmy-grippo-a-real-mystery-man-by-richard-hatch/. 

• Hider, Anna. “The House of David Baseball Team.” Mashable. https://mashable.com/feature/house-of-david-baseball-team.

• “House of David Baseball Team Research Project.” House of David Baseball. http://www.houseofdavidbaseball.com/history.asp. 

• “Jason Giambi #16”. MLB. https://www.mlb.com/player/jason-giambi-114739.

• “Julio Gotay #19”. MLB. https://www.mlb.com/player/julio-gotay-114991. 

• Knickerbocker, Wendy. “Billy Sunday.” Society for American Baseball Research. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/billy-sunday/. 

• Kurkjian, Tim. “It’s Friday the 13th. Be Afraid Amused”. ESPN. 9/13/2013. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/9664251/trifle-superstitions-which-mlb-players-believe. 

• Langer, Adam. “The Last Days of the House of David.” Chicago Reader. 6/30/1994. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-last-days-of-the-house-of-david/. 

• “Mark Fidrych #20”. MLB. https://www.mlb.com/player/mark-fidrych-114102. 

• Martin, Robert F. Hero of the Heartland: Billy Sunday and the Transformation of American Society, 1862-1935. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002. Accessed https://archive.org/details/heroofheartlandb0000mart/page/n9/mode/1up?view=theater. 

• “Moises Alou #18”. MLB. https://www.mlb.com/player/moises-alou-110189. 

• Murphy, Ryan. “10 Most Superstitious Athletes.” Men’s Journal. 4/23/2018. https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/10-most-superstitious-athletes.

• Ortiz, Eric. “Weirdest Baseball Superstitions.” Stadium Talk. 5/31/2019. https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/baseball-superstitions-d9c0c745732c4d9f. 

• “Remembering John ‘Tiger Jack’ Fox, the Heavyweight Boxer.” How Africa. 10/25/2022. https://howafrica.com/remembering-john-tiger-jack-fox-the-heavyweight-boxer/. 

• “'Sailor Jack' On The Cracker Jack Box Was A Real Boy From Chicago.” DNAINFO.com. November 1, 2016. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161101/west-ridge/take-me-out-to-the-ball-game-cracker-jack-boy-real-story-chicago/

• Schaefer, Robert H. “Cap’s Bats: The Baseball Bats of Captain Adrian C. Anson”. Society for American Baseball Research. https://sabr.org/journal/article/caps-bats-the-baseball-bats-of-captain-adrian-c-anson/. 

• Skirboll, Aaron. “When a Magician’s Curse Swung Boxing’s Biggest Bout”. Narratively. 11/29/2017. https://www.narratively.com/p/magicians-curse-swung-boxings-biggest-bout.

• Smiley, Brett. “Michael J. Fox on ‘Back to the Future’ Cubs Prediction: ‘Only Off By a Year, Not Bad.” Fox Sports. 11/15/2016. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/michael-j-fox-on-back-to-the-future-cubs-prediction-only-off-by-a-year-not-bad. 

• Thompson, Joseph L. “The White Stockings’ Fleet-Footed Preacher: Billy Sunday vs. the Alcohol Machine.” Society for American Baseball Research. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-white-stockings-fleet-footed-preacher-billy-sunday-vs-the-alcohol-machine/. 

• “Tiger Fox is Stabbed; In Serious Condition”. Sioux City Journal. 12/9/1938. Page 22. 

• “Tiger Jack Fox Stabbed, Bettina Bout Not Likely.” The Kingston Daily Freeman. 12/10/1938. Page 11.