Why a Phillies World Series win could spell disaster for Wall Street
Wall Street is likely rooting for the Houston Astros to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the upcoming World Series since the markets have historically crashed whenever a baseball team from the City of Brotherly Love has taken the crown.
On Sunday, the Phillies — who qualified for the playoffs by clinching a wild card spot — advanced to the World Series after dusting off the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series.
Astute observers on Twitter noted over the weekend that the biggest economic downturns in our nation’s history have coincided with a Philadelphia baseball team capturing the top prize.
“The Phillies winning the World Series will be the trigger for a stock market collapse … historical fact,” a user with the handle Wall Street Silver retweeted early Monday.
The city has won three World Series titles — one by the Athletics in 1929 and two by the Phillies, in 1980 and 2008.
The 1929 title coincided with the worst stock market collapse in US history, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression. The A’s — who also won in 1910, 1911 and 1913 –moved to Kansas City In 1954, leaving the Phillies as the sole professional baseball team in town.
The Phillies won their first title in 1980 behind Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Pete Rose. That also happened to be the year that the US economy went into what was at the time considered the worst recession since the World War II era.
The sharp economic downturn was in part triggered by the 1979 energy crisis, which saw oil production tank due to the Iranian revolution after the overthrow of the shah and the birth of the Islamic Republic.
It would take the Phillies nearly 30 years to win another World Series title when they prevailed over the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.
While Philadelphia celebrated its heroes, the nation was in the throes of the Great Recession — the global economic meltdown that was caused by the bursting of the US housing bubble.
The Phillies’ success this postseason coincides with a turbulent economic environment characterized by record levels of inflation, high gas prices, surging interest rates, and a downturn in the stock market.
Since the start of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost more than 14%.
Economic experts are growing more convinced that the US is facing the prospect of a recession within a year.
The Phillies visit Houston to play the first game of the Fall Classic on Friday.
The Astros earned their World Series berth after dismantling the New York Yankees in a four-game sweep to take the American League Championship Series.
