Finger Lickin' Good Riddance! The Curse of Colonel Sanders Is Lifted
The strangest curse in all of sports was finally vanquished last week in Osaka
In America, we have Curses of Billy Goats and Bambinos, superstitions, and beliefs about our favorite teams that border on the supernatural. But until last week, I had never heard of what might just be the strangest curse in all of sports.
Well, at least it used to be a curse. Because after decades of torment, fans have flooded the streets of Osaka, Japan last Sunday to celebrate the Hanshin Tigers’ victory in the Japan Series—and the end of the Curse of the Colonel.
Which Colonel cursed this Japanese baseball team, you ask? None other than Colonel Sanders himself.
To understand the curse, you’ve got to understand the team. Think of the Hanshin Tigers as Japan’s version of the Boston Red Sox: There’s a storied history, rabid fans, big market, and not a whole lot of winning. But in 1985, for the first time since the team was founded in 1935, they won the Japan Series (the country’s version of the World Series).
After that, it seemed at times as if they could barely win a game.
Fans knew just who to blame. During the 1985 championship run, after the Tigers had clinched the pennant, fans had gathered at the Dotonbori River to celebrate. They would yell a player’s name and then one by one, all the way through the lineup, a fan would jump in who vaguely resembled that player.
There was one problem, though. The team’s MVP that year was Randy Bass, an American slugger with a big gut and beard. Nobody in the crowd was Caucasian. Nobody had a beard. So, as fans looked for someone to jump in his place, they spotted the next best thing standing outside the KFC: a statue of Colonel Sanders that checked every box: white, bearded, and beer bellied. The fans took the statue and threw the Colonel in the river.
As the losses piled up in the ensuing years, the paranoia spread. Star players suffered debilitating injuries out of nowhere. Seemingly sure-thing draft picks never developed. Many believed that the team would never win again until they returned the Colonel. Fans bought SCUBA gear but came back empty handed. Boats used radar but couldn’t see anything. The city even dredged the river, but nothing came of it.
All the while, the Tigers kept failing spectacularly. They would make a playoff run—only to be swept in the league finals. They even made it to the Japan Series…and were promptly humiliated by their opponents.
In 2009, finally, progress. Divers in the river found what they first believed to be a barrel, though upon closer look, they thought it might be a corpse. But when they dragged the body to the surface, a Tigers fan passing nearby recognized it immediately: the Colonel had been found. Not long afterwards, they returned him to KFC.
This year, it all came together. The Tigers hired Akinobu Okada, who had played on the 1985 championship squad, to manage the team. They retooled their roster. Finally, they made it to the Japan Series against the Orix Buffalo. The series went the distance, to the 7th game, and many Tigers fans braced themselves for heartbreaking defeat one yet again.
Not this time, though. Sheldon Neuse, a big, bearded American player who had only hit nine home runs the entire season, channeled the power of the Colonel and swatted a three-run bomb. The Tigers never looked back. They won 7-1.
"I was 27 the last time," Okada, the 65-year-old manager and former player, said afterwards. "It's been a long time.
Fans poured into the streets of Osaka, and eventually, they made their way down to the river. They chanted names, and people jumped into the water. There was one final guest of honor: one man, dressed exactly like Colonel Sanders, jumped in too.
The crowd roared, and then the Colonel climbed out of the water, where he would remain. The curse had been lifted at last.
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