The Curse of the Ghost of Colonel Sanders and the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team
Then This Happened: Musical Stories
English - January 18, 2023 05:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MBComedy Music musical comedy storytelling songs comedy music musical comedy improv improvised musical improv historical Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
The Curse of the Colonel refers to a 1985 Japanese urban legend regarding a reputed curse placed on the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team by the ghost of deceased KFC founder and mascot Colonel Sanders.
The curse was said to be placed on the team because of the Colonel's anger over treatment of one of his store-front statues, which was thrown into the Dōtonbori River by celebrating Hanshin fans before their team's victory in the 1985 Japan Championship Series. As is common with sports-related curses, the Curse of the Colonel was used to explain the team's subsequent 18-year losing streak. Some fans believed the team would never win another Japan Series until the statue had been recovered. They have appeared in the Japan Series three times since then, losing in 2003, 2005 and 2014.
Comparisons are often made between the Hanshin Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, who were said to be under the Curse of the Bambino until they won the World Series in 2004. The "Curse of the Colonel" has also been used as a bogeyman threat to those who would divulge the secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices that result in the unique taste of his chicken.
STORYTELLER
BAND
Fiddle - Laurel Scott Piano/Harmonica - GriffoDrums - Mike AmandesBass - Tom Urwin Acoustic Guitar - Arne Parrott Saxophone - Eli WilsonVOCALS
Matt GriffoDrake Shrader Lexi AliotoSupport the show via Matt Griffo's Patreon page at Patreon.com/mattgriffo