Cinderella (baseball)

The Cinderella team relates to the situation where one competitor gains more success than expected. Its origin brings us to European fairy-tale Cinderella, where the beautiful, careful girl gets the triumphal reward – the visit to the king’s dance after oppression. The first usage of this term in the sporting context dates up to 1950 when a Disney movie appeared on screens and unexpected City College of New York as champions of NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.

There were several cases of baseball cinderellas. The first one in Major League Baseball happened in 1969. The Baltimore Ravens passed the regular games without defeats. They were motivated and highly favoured before the World Series. However, the New York Mets wanted to rehabilitate in front of their fans and sports for previous failure. That desire helped them to win and open the history of fairy-tale outcomes. Their frequency isn’t high yet. They heat the interest to the competitions together with the fans’ hopes.

Fresno State cinderelled in the 2008 Men’s baseball tournament. They won for the first time in the NCAA. This triumph is the most memorable for local fans. The Nippon League has the single example of the Cinderella story. Tohoku Rakuten Eagles demonstrated poor statistic during the 2005-2012 seasons. Nobody trusted that this team will blossom next season. 2013 was a phenomenon for them. They released the 24-0 season record in regular matches. The final Japan Series was extremely difficult for Tohoku, as their competitor, Chiba Lotte Mariners, was highly favored and intruded on their force game. But the seventh game showed that Tohoku is the champion.