The Curse of the Colonel

This post really has nothing to do with anything, but I was reminded of it earlier and thought that it was interesting enough to share.  Many people are familiar with the Curse of the Bambino, dooming the Red Sox after trading Babe Ruth.  Well, sports superstitions exist here too.

Back in 1985 the Hanshin Tigers won their very first victory in the Japan Series, the much more accurately named Japanese version of the World Series.  The Tigers have a rather rabid fanbase, and when the eternal underdogs of Japanese baseball emerged victorious celebration was clearly in order.  A large group of fans gathered at the Ebisubashi Bridge in Doutonbori, Osaka.  The mob called out the names of the players and for each name someone who resembled that player jumped into the canal below.  However, none of the gathered fans really resembled the series MVP Randy Bass as he was not Japanese.   

In their, likely drunken, frenzy they must have decided that since Bass was a foreigner and had a beard he looked exactly like Colonel Sanders.  Pretty much every KFC in Japan has a plastic statue of the Colonel outside to greet customers, so they seized the nearest one and threw it into the canal.  And while all the people swam out of the canal the Colonel could not be found.

Apparently Colonel Sanders does not appreciate being thrown into a watery grave and so the curse began.  After their thrilling success the Tigers spiraled into an 18 year losing streak and were second to last in the league.  Although there were some minor rallies during this time they were short lived and the hopes of the fans were dashed.

The legend maintained that the Tigers would not win the championship again until the statue was recovered.  So lots of people went looking for it.  It was popular on variety TV shows to send celebrities down into the canal to look for the Colonel.  Serious divers were also dispatched and the river was dredged, but all attempts failed.  Fans apologized to the store manager, hoping to lessen the Colonel’s wrath, but to no avail.

In 2003 the Tigers had a strong season.  They won the Central League and qualified for the Japan Series and many speculated that the curse had been broken.  With their victory in the Central League more celebrations were in order.  Perhaps it had been so long since the Tigers’ fan had had a reason to celebrate but they decided to repeat the whole jumping off of the bridge into the canal thing.  There would be no Sanders statue thrown in this time as the replacement statue in Doutonbori had been bolted down and most KFCs in the area hid their statues inside for protection.  And this time instead of sending representatives of the players into the canal over 5,300 fans made the leap.  Celebration turned to tragedy though when a 24 year old fan drowned in the canal.  The Tigers lost the series, proving the curse to still be intact.

Responding to the fan drowning the Osaka city council went to work on the bridge to prevent future fan jumping and statue throwing, just in case the Tigers ever win again. 

Finally, on March 10^th, 2009 the statue of the Colonel was finally discovered.  First mistaken for a barrel and then for a human corpse it was soon identified as the upper body of the long lost statue.  The right hand and lower body were found the next day, but the left hand and glasses are still missing.  I totally saw this on the Japanese news when it happened and was really excited that I knew what they were talking about.

So has the curse been broken?  Well, the Tigers have not won yet, so it is hard to say.  The statue has been recovered, but not entirely, and who knows what will appease the mighty franchise founder’s spirit?

This isn’t the only example of Colonel Sanders statue mistreatment though.  In 2002 Japan beat Tunisia in the World Cup.  About 500 fans jumped into the canal to celebrate.  And in nearby Kobe a statue of the Colonel was stolen and its hands were cut off.  I’m honestly surprised by this, as you would think that after the Tigers curse the Colonel would be the most revered mascot ever.  But I suppose drunken celebratory logic doesn’t really consider such things.

 

I remember in the anime When They Cry one of the characters is set on digging a Colonel statue out of the dump.  If you are familiar with the anime then you know that it’s a giant creep fest and so I guess the cursing Colonel is appropriate in the setting.  I’ll admit that the plastic statues are a bit creepy.

Our local Colonel Saunders, ready to celebrate summer