The Curse of the O.C.

Former Red Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera has an interesting, and somewhat odd, reason for why the Sox have failed to win a World Series, in the last oh, two-and-a-half years or so. They gave his number to someone else. First, to Jay Payton, who as our friend Seth Mnookin has pointed out, probably should have made Keith Olbermann’s Worst Person list at some point. No. 44 currently belongs to rookie outfielder Brandon Moss, whose cup of coffee in the Bigs is about to get cold.

“He told me to tell (equipment manager) Joe Cochran that they should retire that number,” said a somewhat surprised Moss. “I didn’t pick it, they just gave it to me.”

“As soon as I saw him, I’m like, hmm . . . that’s not good,” Cabrera said. “I asked him what number he wore in the minor leagues. Then I told him, tell Joe (to) go get him another number – that’s the number I wore. That’s bad luck right there. So I don’t know.”

Now, we all loved the O.C. when he was here, what with his awesome 10-minute hand-shake routines, silky defense and better-than-average offense. And, while it’s true that the Sox have gone through shortstops the way Mitt Romney goes through campaign positions, it’s hard to fathom that a guy who played a whopping 72 games (including playoffs) for the Old Towne Team leaving that kind of a legacy. But then again, it’s hard to fathom why anyone would have signed Julio Lugo for four years, either.

Protective Cabrera knows number is up [Herald]