On Monday a new statue of Colonel Sanders was unveiled at the Koshien Stadium branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Hanshin Tigers are hoping that this will eradicate a curse that started back in 1985. “What!”, you say. How does Colonel Sanders have anything to do with baseball and how could erecting a new statue of him eradicate the supposed curse?

When the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan series in 1985 the fans went crazy and in celebration they started yelling out the names of the players on the roster. Someone who resembled each player would then jump into a river in downtown Osaka. All went well until they got to Randy Bass who was an American with a beard and the MVP that year. Needless to say no-one looked like him so some overly enthusiastic fans decided that a nearby statue of Colonel Sanders bore a close enough resemblance so they tossed it into the river. The statue has never been found despite several searches and the Tigers have never been able to win the Japan Series since.

So that’s how the “Curse of Colonel Sanders” was born and the Hanshin Tigers and their fans hope that by erecting a new statue of Colonel Sanders that they will be able to shake off this curse of 23 years and will again be able to win the Japan Series. Take a moment to check out this photo of the Colonel Sanders statue and the real live Japanese Colonel at Sponichi Annex (the story is in Japanese but you need to click the photo to see a larger version).