How We Got the Star Spangled Banner

The fifth game of the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs was held up over an hour as players refused to play unless given more money for the series. The owners appealed to their patriotism: the stands were filled with veterans from the Great War. The players gave in, and the owners played the “Star Spangled Banner” as a tribute to the soldiers. It was the first time this had ever occurred, and was the headline in the papers the next day. The song was not yet even the national anthem. Oh yeah, for sports fans: Boston won the series, their last of the century, and since they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees (for $250,000, so the owner could finance a Broadway play, which failed), this became known as “The Curse of the Bambino”. The Red Sox wouldn’t defeat the curse until the next millenium, in 2004. (Several players got traded there on purpose, pitcher Curt Schilling publicly stating that “I’d like to help get rid of the curse, because it doesn’t exist.”)