Sports Illustrated has made its official prediction for the 2018 World Series as baseball season draws nearer. The magazine picked the Washington Nationals to beat the New York Yankees.
“Adam Eaton, last winter’s big acquisition, is back after tearing his ACL in April and should be an upgrade over Jayson Werth in left field,” the staff wrote. “Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler, acquired midway through last season to prop up the perpetually beleaguered Nats bullpen, will have a chance to make a greater impact in a full season.”
Some Nationals fans may be excited about this coming off what happened last year. The Houston Astros won the World Series, fulfilling a three-year-old prophesy Sports Illustrated made when it called Houston “Your 2017 World Series Champs” for a cover story about the team’s rebuild in 2014.
The sports world used to be convinced of a Sports Illustrated cover “jinx” or “curse,” as teams featured on their covers ahead of big games often lost. In more recent years, the magazine hedged its bets, often by releasing multiple covers for different regions of the country.
Sports Illustrated picked the New England Patriots to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-16 in Super Bowl LII, which turned out to be a faulty prophesy. And three of the four college basketball teams featured on the covers the week of the NCAA Tournament — Virginia, Arizona and Michigan State — lost in the first or second round.
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