The Curse of the Papal Mass

As Yankee Stadium is set to host another Papal,Mass, I have resigned myself to kiss the season goodbye. While God might be a Yankee fan, the Papal Mass brings a hex to all who play where his holiness has prayed.

Don't believe me go back and look as the records for all Papal Masses and see what happened to the teams whose stadiums hosted them. All but one, the San Francisco Giants never saw the playoffs.

When Pope Paul VI held a Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium in 1965, the first; it tossed the Yankees into the middle of the pack. The Yankees had finished first in the AL in 1964 but lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. In 1965 they finished 6th behind: [Minnesota Twins (102-60), Chicago White Sox (95-67) , Baltimore Orioles (94-68), Detroit Tigers (89-73), Cleveland Indians (87-75), NY Yankees (77-85)].

In 1979, Pope John Paul II celebrated masses at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.

• The Mets finished in the cellar, and the Yankees tanked and finished 4th, never making the playoffs.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass September 16 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and September 18 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

• The Dodgers finished 4th in the NL West and the Giants, the favorite to win the World Series went down 4-3 to the Cardinals who went on to lose 4 games to 3 in the Fall Classic.

In 1993 Pope John Paul II held a youth rally at Mile High Stadium where the fledgling Rockies played. The Rockies finished 6th with a 67-95 record. The Denver Broncos finished 3rd and never made the playoffs.

• In 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Orioles have done miserably until late last year.

So the New York Mets should thank their lucky stars Pope Benedict XVI passed them by. They have enough issues, they don't need a Papal Mass to add to them. As for the Yankees and Nationals, better get those rabbit feet going now. Both are having problems, for the Yankees it's a typical April, but if things don't improve, maybe George can blame it on the Vatican.