Billy Joel performing the national anthem is bad luck for the Mets

Noted New Yorker Billy Joel will sing the national anthem at Game 3 of the World Series in Queens on Friday, which might be bad news for the Mets.

Noted New Yorker Billy Joel will sing the national anthem at Game 3 of the World Series in Queens on Friday, which might be bad news for the Mets. 

This will be Joel’s third time singing the anthem at a Mets World Series game. They’re 0–2 so far. Joel did the anthem at Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, which the Red Sox won 9–3, and at Game 1 of the 2000 World Series in the Bronx, won 4–3 by the Yankees. 

The Mets don’t even have to be playing in the same stadium as Joel for him to put the Star Spangled hex on them. Back in 2008, he played two shows at Shea Stadium, the last concerts in the ballpark before it was demolished. The final show was on July 18. He opened the night with the anthem. The Mets were playing in Cincinnati. They lost.

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[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3nz0svfKgA]

The problem is genetic, apparently. Joel’s daughter Alexa sang the anthem before the Islanders’ first regular-season game in Brooklyn earlier this month. They lost that one, too. 

- Dan Gartland