Curse of the Cover:2004

Posted by The Baseball Spin on 10 Mar 2010 | General Baseball

Over the years, baseball players have graced the covers of Sports Illustrated, MLB The Show, and MLB 2k Sports. Today, we examine 2004 and which particular cover (if any) can ‘curse’ a player.

S.I. covers feature 8-15 baseball players a year. We will not include team shots or Hall of Fame issues where the feature athlete is no longer active. If the article was published before June 31st, then we will use the stats for that year compared to the previous season. Published after July, and we will compare the stats from the current season to the season after.
MLB The Show and MLB 2k Sports are games released in the spring before a season begins. For example, Joe Mauer will be the cover athlete for MLB The Show 2010 for his 2009 season. For scoring purposes, we will examine their statistics for the year they were on the cover to the season previous; i.e. Dustin Pedroia was the 2009 MLB The Show cover and we’ll use his 2009 statistics compared to his 2008 campaign.

SCORING:

(-1) If the player had a declining year or other circumstances reflected poorly on the athlete
(0) For no change or a mediocre season
(+1) If the magazine or game chose an athlete that improved their game and kept a ‘clean’ reputation
Bonus points awarded or deducted for breaking records, suspensions, etc.

We begin in 2004:

Sports Illustrated:

2/04: Alex Rodriguez: Signed with the New York Yankees and the legacy continued. A-Rod went on to hit .286/36/106 with the Yankees, a fall from .298/47/118 and an MVP season with the 2003 Rangers. Still good numbers, but (-1).
3/04: Barry Bonds: As the steroid issue raged on around the majors, Bonds hit .362/45/101, up from a 2003 season of .341/45/90. He was the MVP and All-Star in both years and his OBP went from .529 to .609. His stats earn him a point, but there are way to many questions. Wash: (0).
4/04: Kerry Wood: The Cubs looked poised to make a run, but it was not meant to be. In 2004, Wood went 8-9 with a 3.72 e.r.a. along with 144 strikeouts. This was a sharp decline from his 03 All Star campaign, where he went 14-11 with a 3.20 e.r.a., 266 strikeouts, 4 complete games, and 2 shut-outs (-1).
5/04: Roger Clemens: With the 2003 Yankees, Clemens gained himself another All Star season with a 17-9 record, 3.91 e.r.a., and 190 strikeouts. After signing as a free agent with the Astros, Clemens improved to 18-4, 2.98 e.r.a., and 218 strikeouts during his Cy Young year. This may be due to the American League line-ups to National League line-ups, or even rumored P.E.D. use, but I think the cover helped (+1).
6/04: Derek Jeter: A slow start to the 2003 season (dubbed ‘The Slump’ by S.I.) ended with a .324/10/52 2003 season with 11 SB and 87 runs. He managed to regain Jeter status and finished 2004 with .292/23/78 All Star and Gold Glove year along with 23 SB and 111 runs. The cover was the key (+1).
6/04: Ken Griffey Jr.: While in the middle of his 500 home run quest, Junior’s injuries kept sneaking up him. In 2003, Griffey hit .247/13/26 in 166 at-bats. In 2004, he improved to .253/20/60 in 300 at-bats and gained an All-Star nod (+1).
7/04: Manny Ramirez: These few years were some of Manny’s best, as he went .308/43/130 in 2004 and continued to mash the ball in 2005 at .292/45/144. Both of these seasons gained Manny All-Star berths and Silver Slugger awards. Wash: (0).
9/04: Curt Shilling: 2004 was arguably Shilling’s best year at 21-6, 3.26 e.r.a., 203 strike-outs, and 226.2 innings pitched. He finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting and gained a spot on the All Star team. In 2005, Shilling saw some bull-pen time and earned 9 saves and a 8-8/5.69/87 line over 93 innings pitched. Not the same after 2004 (-1).

According to Curse Meter, Sports Illustrated netted a 0 in 2004.

MLB Baseball 2005 (to be known as “The Show” after 2005-2006)

Released 3/2004 with Eric Chavez on the cover, so we’ll examine the season before his cover debut (2003) to the season after (2004).

Eric Chavez earned his cover with a 2003 season that consisted of a .282/29/101 line, 94 runs, and 166 hits over 156 games with the Oakland Athletics. His 2004 season saw a drop in some statistics (average dropped to .276, R.B.I.s went to 77, and runs declined to 87) but a rise in walks, OBP, and OPS. He only played in 125 games in 2004 too, so keeping his stats level while missing some time earns Chavez and MLB Baseball a wash: (0).

MLB 2k Sports 2004

Released 3/2004 with Jason Giambi on the cover, so we’ll examine the season before his cover debut (2003) to the season after (2004).

In his second full season with the New York Yankees, Giambi managed a .250/41/107 powerful season to match his 129 walks and All-Star season. However, in 2004 he only played in half the games (80) and saw a sharp drop to .208/12/40. In July of 2004, he was diagnosed with a benign tumor that caused him to miss most of this season and did not see a resurgence in his career until late 2005. Thankfully he recovered his career, but MLB 2k Sports earns a (-1).

2004 Curse of the Cover Review:
S.I. (0)
MLB Baseball (0)
MLB 2k Sports (-1) *Bonus for almost killing a guy= (-2)

Tomorrow: 2005

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