The Angels have gone undefeated since Pope Francis came to visit
It makes sense that Pope Francis would be a fan of the Los Angeles Angels, and now we have our proof. During the Pope’s most recent visit to the United States, the Angels did not lose a game.
It could not have come at a better time. The Angels were 76-74 prior to the Pope’s visit. The team was not only 3.5 games out of the second wild card spot in the American League, but trailed both the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins in the race.
Fast forward to today, and their fortunes have changed. With the five-game win streak, Los Angeles passed the Twins, and are now just a half-game behind Houston in the wild-card hunt.
Now, the team will have to see whether the Pope’s blessing still applies even after he’s left the country. The team may not have lost a game when he was in the country, but things could be different now that Pope Francis has gone home.
The Angels getting a boost from His Holiness could be a trend. As Sports Illustrated writer Kenny Ducey points out on his personal blog, the Angels went 4-2 when Pope Benedict visited in 2008. That’s not undefeated, but we’re guessing they’ll take it.
[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]
Less than a week ago, the Angels faced an uphill battle in order to get themselves back into the playoff race. After their Pope Francis surge, the club is on the verge of completing that comeback.
It’s easy to point to a turnaround like this and say “divine intervention” played a role. In the Angels’ case, that might actually be what happened.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
