M: Moi.
D: Demon.
Clearly.
M: Wild Card Playoff Game Demon, don’t tempt me with your ease:
D: You’re already in the playoffs! Rest your starters! Eat, drink and be merry!
M: Oh, I know, as sure as I know the rest of it, that to toss an ace in a one-game playoff means I’ve got to begin the wild card round with my second, third and fourth-best pitcher.
D: But it’s only the Cubs.
M: You’re lucky it’s not the Sabbath with that talk. But since you brought it up: they’re good.
D: But I cursed them with a billy goat named Murphy in 1945, and they haven’t been back to the Series since!
M: Someone ate a goat in order to rid the Cubs of the curse. They’re animals, all of them.
D: (Pauses.) Surely you’ll think of some way to bring St. Louis its own luck to compensate.
M: Wild Card Playoff Demon, I wrapped myself in Cardinal cloth to resemble a goddess during the playoffs last year. It didn’t work.
D: So you’re the curse.
M: No. The curse is losing another starter in September.
D: Sounds like St. Louis could use some … rest. Some … peace.
M: Don’t start. It’s almost October.
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