There’s a saying that you should be careful what you wish for because it just might come true. A day after watching his Phillies lose the World Series in six games to the Yankees, Jimmy Rollins may want to think twice before making a prediction in the future because it might not come true.

In the past few years, Rollins has become a present-day Nostradamus of baseball. Never shying away from the pressured spotlight of having to live up to his word, Rollins has assumed a prophet-like role forecasting the triumph and success that he expects his Phillies to accomplish. Prior to the 2007 season, he declared the Phillies as the “team to beat” in the NL East over the New York Mets. Not only did the Phillies use a late-season surge to take the division during the Mets’ titanic September collapse, but Rollins walked away with the NL MVP award as well.

In the months leading up to the 2008 season, Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran attempted to one-up Rollins by noting that New York and not Philadelphia was the team to beat after the Mets acquired left-handed ace Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

Beltran’s comment struck a nerve with the overly confident shortstop as Rollins once again stepped up to the plate by publicly announcing that the Phillies would win 100 games in 2008, accusing Beltran of plagiarism along the way. Rollins stayed true to his word as Philadelphia went on to win the 2008 World Series, carrying with them 103 victories (including the 11 games they won in the postseason).

Rollins continued to bat 1.000 on the prediction scale when he prophesied that the Phillies would meet the Yankees in the 2009 World Series. After the two teams squared off in a three-game interleague set in May, Rollins told Playboy magazine that he expected to see the highest-paid team in baseball face off against the defending champion Phillies in the Fall Classic. So it was said, so it was done.

Fast forward to Oct. 26, when Rollins appeared on “The Jay Leno Show” and made his notorious nationwide prediction that the Phillies would be the victors in five games, or six if they were feeling generous. Unfortunately (at least for the Philadelphia shortstop), Rollins’ legacy as a faultless fortune-teller came to an end when the Yankees sealed their 27th championship with a 7-3 win over the Phillies in Game 6.

After batting a mere .217 in this year’s six World Series games, Rollins may have learned if he is going to play Joe Namath, he needs to be prepared to face the music if he is unable to back up his claim. (At least he can take anything thrown in his way.)

Rollins certainly isn’t the only athlete to be audacious enough to guarantee a title or victory and fall short of turning their opinion into a cold, hard fact. Last March during the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, Oklahoma center Courtney Paris promised that if the Sooners did not win a national title, she would pay back the entirety of her four-year scholarship to the school. For a while, it seemed like Paris might be able to keep her piggy bank full until the Sooners lost in the Final Four to Louisville in a 61-59 contest.

Then-Steelers safety Anthony Smith guaranteed a Pittsburgh win over the undefeated Patriots when the two teams met on Dec. 9, 2007. New England ensured that Smith would be incorrect in his assessment as the Patriots offense totally dismantled the Pittsburgh defense, with Tom Brady throwingfor 399 yards and four touchdowns to win by a final score of 34-13.

The victory upped the Patriots’ record to 13-0 en route to a perfect 16-0 regular season and a trip to Super Bowl XLII. However, when the Patriots finally did reach the Super Bowl and faced the New York Giants, they heard a familiar proclamation when Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress predicted New York would win 23-17 over the 18-0 squad. Many laughed and shrugged off Burress’ comments. Though the final score read 17-14, it did so in favor of the Giants, giving Burress at least partial credit for his fortune-telling.

For a while, Rollins was in the company of players such as Burress and Petr Sykora, the former right winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins. During a break in Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, Sykora accurately told a sideline reporter that he would score the game-winning goal. In triple-overtime, Sykora delivered a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

With Wednesday night’s blemish on his once-perfect prediction slate, Rollins may need some coaching himself.

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