On a cool October night seven years ago, the Boston Red Sox and General Manager Theo Epstein took down a legendary curse which had hunted a city and a ball club for nearly a century. And on Wednesday, Twitter users and baseball fans hypothesized he could do it again as reports leaked of a possible deal between Epstein and the Chicago Cubs.
MLB.com was reporting Wednesday afternoon that Epstein, who has been with Boston since 2002, was close to signing a three to five year deal with the Chicago club for more than $15 million.
The news spread quickly and according to the social media analyst site Topsy, Twitter mentions of Epstein went from a mere 292 on Monday afternoon to 14,916 by Tuesday. The numbers were likely be even higher for Wednesday.
Mentions and emotions were mixed, but many Chicago fans were elated at the prospect of Epstein coming to the Windy City. Some Cub fans were even utilizing hash-tags like #worldseriesherewecome and #nextyearisouryear.
Yet not all Cubs fans were as hopeful, including Connor Gifford “As a lifelong Cubs fan, I offer my deepest sympathies to Theo Epstein. This will end in tears, Theo. It always does.”
Others however noted the historic possibilities of Epstein joing the Cubs, who haven’t won a World Series Championship since 1908.
“Now if Theo Epstein wins a world series with the Cubs, he will be a legendary GM. Ending curses in 2 cities is asking a lot”, tweeted Dan_Dorazio.
Yet some Boston fans weren’t as excited about the possibilities for an historic World Series appearance or Epstein’s new home, eeksta1 wrote “#Theoepstein sux. That is all.“