(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The curse of Ted Cruz: Astros lose after senator ignores fans' pleas to stay away from ALCS Game 7 [1] [] Date: 2023-10-24 Boston Red Sox fans remember the “Curse of the Bambino”—which supposedly began when team owner Harry Frazee traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to help finance a Broadway musical. And Chicago Cubs fans won’t forget “The Billy Goat Curse,” which began in 1945 when team owner P.K. Wrigley refused to allow tavern owner William Sianis to bring his pet goat to Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Now Houston Astros fans have a new curse to worry about: “The Curse of Ted Cruz.” RELATED STORY: Here’s who gets money from Defend Texas Liberty, the PAC whose leader met with a white supremacist x The Chicago Cubs had the Curse of the Billy Goat The Boston Red Sox had the Curse of the Bambino … and the Texas sporting world has the Curse of Ted Cruz pic.twitter.com/iBy1vSraYK — Progress Texas (@ProgressTX) September 10, 2022 Going into Monday night’s Game 7 of the American League Championship series against the Texas Rangers, the Astros had lost four straight playoff games at Minute Maid Park with Cruz in the stands. Fans pleaded with Cruz not to jinx the team by attending Game 7, but Cruz did show up and the Astros were sent packing, losing to their cross-state rivals in a blowout defeat, 11-4. During the game, a user named Tom posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: x This game is such a disaster for the Astros that Ted Cruz just left to go to Cancun — Tom (@TQSherwood) October 24, 2023 Astros fans could not bear to wait for the grim finale. x “Have a good night!” Astros employees tell their fans as they pile toward the exits in the 6th inning, with their team down 10-2. pic.twitter.com/c7x4azhjjj — Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) October 24, 2023 And now Astros fans can be added to the lengthy list of people who hate Cruz, which includes Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle. As former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken once said: “You have to understand that I like Ted Cruz probably more than my colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz.” Houston did manage to win Game 1 of the Division Series, 6-4, against the Minnesota Twins behind the pitching of future Hall-of-Famer Justin Verlander. But the Cruz Curse began in Game 2, which Houston lost 6-2. Then the Astros won the next two away games at Target Field, to win the series 3-1. But then the Cruz Curse resumed when the Astros lost Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS to the Rangers at Minute Maid Park. And guess who was there? Rangers fans were already getting hip to the Cruz Curse. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Cruz in 2024, posted on X: x No matter which team you support in the all-Texas ALCS, you definitely don’t want @tedcruz near your team. But if you’re a #Rangers fan you might just want him to keep showing up to #Astros games 😂 https://t.co/BMTm3iuRGB — Senator Roland Gutierrez (@RolandForTexas) October 17, 2023 The Astros then managed to sweep the next three games at Globe Life Field in Arlington to take a 3-2 lead in the series. But Cruz showed up for Game 6 on Sunday night at Minute Maid Park. Instead of clinching a World Series berth, the Astros were routed 9-2. And Cruz left the ballpark with other dejected fans. x 0-4 at home this postseason when Ted Cruz is at the game https://t.co/9x372i0sv8 — Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) October 23, 2023 And that prompted a wave of social media posts from Astros fans imploring Cruz to stay away from Game 7. A fan named Andrea wrote on X: “I appreciate that Ted Cruz, as a dad, loves taking his kids to the Astros games. But for the love of all things Houston, let Heidi take them! Send them with friends! It's game 7 man. We can't risk this. The whole city is asking you.” And there was this post: x The only Astros fans who don’t want Ted Cruz to stay home are his wife and daughters. — The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) October 24, 2023 The clamor for Cruz to skip Game 7 grew so loud that Rolling Stone mixed Cruz among the pop stars. The story began: The Houston Astros are on the brink of returning to the World Series for the fifth time in the past seven years — which means they’ve had a pretty good postseason. Ted Cruz wouldn’t know it, though, at least not based on what he’s seen in person. The Astros haven’t fared well in games the Texas senator has attended, the latest of which was their Game 6 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday night, forcing a seventh and deciding game on Monday. ... A spokesperson for Cruz confirmed to Rolling Stone that he will be in attendance on Monday night, while citing several games Cruz has attended that the Astros have won dating back to the ’80s and noting that attending games is a tradition he shares with his daughter. Rolling Stone added that this isn’t the first time Houston sports fans have been upset at Cruz for showing up to root for their teams. Cruz was courtside for the NBA Rockets’ Game 7 loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2018, during which the Rockets missed a record 27-straight three-point attempts. So do you think Cruz listened to his constituents? Of course not. He replied with a post on X calling Rolling Stone “lying hacks.” x Lying hacks @RollingStone: For 7 years, Catherine & I have attended nearly EVERY Astros home playoff game. If they’re going to blame me for our recent home losses, pls also credit us for TWO World Series Championships & SEVEN consecutive ALCS’s—we were there cheering Stros on! https://t.co/fkk992f1am — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 23, 2023 Of course, the Astros offset any Cruz Curse in the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers by cheating using a sign-stealing scheme, where they used a camera to decode catchers’ signs and communicate to their own team what pitch the batter should expect. The Astros did win two home games as they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in last year’s World Series. At Game 7, Cruz tempted the fates by posing for this photo with a MAGA cultist. Did this draw the wrath of Dark Brandon to smite the Astros? x The Astros went 0-4 this series with Ted Cruz in attendance. pic.twitter.com/5DAlHY3uZt — sky (@GonsolinRBW) October 24, 2023 And there was even more bad karma for the Astros because another MAGA GOP extremist also attended the game: impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. x Astros took a DOUBLE-CURSE gut punch last night — as if Ted Cruz once again at Minute Maid weren’t bad enough, Ken Paxton’s presence sealed the toxic Texas MAGA Republican JINX for Houston. #MuyMalaSuerte #HoustonAstros pic.twitter.com/71aKTFDeAh — Kathleen Vale (@SanAntoGuera) October 24, 2023 After the game, Houston’s City Controller Chris Hollins, a Democrat, posted on X: x Houston loves you, @astros. Sorry about Ted Cruz ruining the series. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #ready2reign — Chris Hollins (@CGHollins) October 24, 2023 So it’s wait until next year for the Astros. And next year Cancun Cruz is up for reelection. Hopefully Astros fans will remember the curse and vote for the Democratic Senate candidate. x Normally an October surprise drops right before the election, not 13 months out, but if all of these people vote against Ted Cruz after believing he cursed the astros...politics may be forever altered https://t.co/ftbawmUEmZ — katya (@EhresmanKatya) October 24, 2023 And there was this post from another X user named Sam Alberti: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/24/2201315/-The-curse-of-Ted-Cruz-Astros-lose-after-senator-ignores-fans-pleas-to-stay-away-from-ALCS-Game-7?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_9&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/