TheCurse of the Billy Goat was asports curse that was supposedly placed on theChicago CubsMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise in 1945, byBilly Goat Tavern owner William Sianis. The curse lasted 71 years, from 1945 to 2016. During Game 4 of the1945 World Series atWrigley Field, Sianis's petgoat, named Murphy, was bothering other fans, and so the pair were asked to leave the stadium.[1][2] Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more", which had been interpreted to mean that the Cubs would never win anotherNational League (NL)pennant, at least for the remainder of Sianis's life.
The Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to theDetroit Tigers, and did not win a pennant orWorld Series championship again until 2016. The Cubs had last won the World Series in 1908. After the incident with Sianis and Murphy, the Cubs did not play in the World Series for the next 71 years until, on the 46th anniversary of William Sianis's death,[3] the"curse" was broken when they defeated theLos Angeles Dodgers 5–0 in Game 6 of the2016 National League Championship Series to win the NL pennant.[4] The Cubs then defeated theAmerican League (AL)championCleveland Indians 8–7 in 10 innings in Game 7 to win the World Series, 108 years after their last win.[5]
The exact nature of Sianis's curse differs in various accounts of the incident. Some state that he declared that no World Series games would ever again be played at Wrigley Field, while others believe that his ban was on the Cubs appearing in the World Series, making no mention of a specific venue. Sianis's family claims that he dispatched a telegram to team ownerPhilip K. Wrigley that read, “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat.”[6][7]
Whatever the truth, the Cubs were up two games to one in the 1945 World Series, but ended up losing Game 4, as well as the best-of-seven series, four games to three. The curse was immortalized in newspaper columns over the years, particularly by syndicated columnistMike Royko. The curse gained widespread attention during the 2003 postseason, whenFox television commentators played it up during the Cubs-Marlins matchup in theNational League Championship Series (NLCS).[8] According to an account in theChicago Sun of October 7, 1945, the goat was turned away at the gate, and Sianis left the goat tied to a stake in a parking lot and went into the game alone. There was mention of a lawsuit, but no mention of a curse.
Between their 1908 triumph, which was the Cubs' second world championship (they'd also won the Series in1907 to become baseball's first back-to-back winners as well as the first franchise to appear in three consecutive World Series), and 1945, the first year of the alleged Billy Goat Curse, the Cubs won the National League pennant six times but failed to win the Series: in1910, in1918 (won by theBoston Red Sox who themselves would soon become victims of an alleged baseballcurse and not win another Series for 86 years), in1929, in1932 (known forBabe Ruth's called shot at Wrigley Field), in1935 (a rematch of the 1908 series against theDetroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning this time, their first Series triumph in five appearances dating back to the early 1900s), and in1938.
In the years that followed the alleged curse, the following incidents have been attributed to it:
On September 9, 1969, atShea Stadium, theCubs played theNew York Mets in a critical pennant race game. A strayblack cat walked between Cubs captainRon Santo, who was on deck, and the Cubs dugout. The Mets pulled ahead of the Cubs in the series and eventually won both the newly formedNL East and the1969 World Series.[9]
In1984, the Cubs’ first postseason appearance since 1945 was dashed by theSan Diego Padres in theNational League Championship Series. The Cubs were victorious in the first two games of the best-of-five series. However, in Game Five, first basemanLeon Durham let a ground ball get past his allegedly wet glove in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Padres went on to score four runs to win the game and the series.[10]
Bill Buckner played for the Chicago Cubs for seven seasons before being traded to theBoston Red Sox halfway through the 1984 season. The Red Sox were at the time also considered acursed franchise, and had not won a World Series since 1918 – when, coincidentally, they had beaten the Cubs. Buckner and theRed Sox advanced to the1986 World Series against theNew York Mets, and took a 3–2 series lead coming intoGame 6. On October 25, 1986, in one of the most famous baseball errors of all time, Buckner allowed a ball to pass between his legs at first base, allowing the Mets to score the winning run in the 10th inning and win Game 6. Later analysis of a photograph of Buckner walking off the field after his blooper showed that he had been wearing a Cubs batting glove under his glove at the moment he committed his error.[11]
In1989, the Cubs won 93 games and faced theSan Francisco Giants in theNLCS, now a best-of-seven series. After splitting the first two games at home, the Cubs headed to the Bay Area, where despite holding a lead at some point in each of the next three games, bullpen meltdowns and managerial blunders ultimately led to three straight losses.[12]
In2001, the Cubs led the wild card race by 2.5 games in early September, but a three-run walk-off homer byPreston Wilson halted the team's momentum. The team ended up finishing 88–74, fivegames behind both theHouston Astros andSt. Louis Cardinals, who tied for first.[14]
In2003, the Cubs won theNL Central and beat theAtlanta Braves in theNLDS for their first postseason win since 1908. Advancing to theNLCS to face theFlorida Marlins, the Cubs held a three games to two lead in thebest of seven series heading into Game 6. In the eighthinning of Game 6, with Chicago ahead 3–0, several spectators attempted to catch afoul ball off the bat of Marlins second basemanLuis Castillo. One of the fans,Steve Bartman, reached for the ball, deflecting it and disrupting a potential catch by Cubs outfielderMoisés Alou. If Alou had caught the ball, it would have been the second out in the inning and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning their firstNational League pennant since 1945. Instead, the Cubs ended up surrendering eight runs in the inning, in part due to an error by shortstopAlex Gonzalez on a potential double play ball two batters later, and losing the game, 8–3. When they were eliminated in the seventh game the next night, the incident was seen as the "first domino" in the turning point of the series.[15]
In2004, the Cubs were picked by many media outlets as a favorite to win the World Series. However, the team struggled with injuries and inconsistent play for most of the year. Nevertheless, by late September, the Cubs were leading the Wild Card race by 1.5 games over theSan Francisco Giants and theHouston Astros, but in their game on September 25, they collapsed in extra innings and they proceeded to drop six of the last eight games as the Astros won the Wild Card.[14]
The Cubs won their division in both2007 and2008, but were swept in the NLDS both years by theArizona Diamondbacks andLos Angeles Dodgers respectively.[16] Between the 1984 NLCS, the 1989 NLCS, the 2007 NLDS, the 2008 NLDS, the Cubs did not win a postseason game on the road in aWest Coast city.
In2015, the Cubs finished second in the National League Wild Card race and defeated thePittsburgh Pirates in theWild Card Game and theSt. Louis Cardinals in theNLDS to advance to theNLCS against theNew York Mets. However, the Cubs posted an NLCS record low .164batting average and lost the series in a four-game sweep without ever leading at any point.[14] Sianis's goat was named Murphy. This was referenced by fans of theNew York Mets, who joked thatDaniel Murphy, the Mets second baseman and series MVP, was "not the first GOAT (Greatest of All Time, in reference to Murphy's postseason heroics to that point) named Murphy to keep the Cubs out of the World Series".[17]
Before his death on October 22, 1970, William Sianis himself attempted to lift the curse. Sam Sianis, his nephew, has gone to Wrigley Field with a goat multiple times in attempts to break the curse, including onOpening Day in 1984 and again in 1989, both years in which the Cubs went on to win their division. In 1994, Sam Sianis went again, with a goat, to stop a home losing streak, and in 1998 for theWild Card tie-breaker game, which the Cubs won.[18]
In 2003 (theChinese zodiac'sYear of the Goat), a group of Cubs fans headed toHouston with a billy goat named "Virgil Homer" and attempted to gain entrance toMinute Maid Park, home of theAstros, division rivals of the Cubs at the time.[19] After they were denied entrance, they unfurled a scroll, read a verse and proclaimed they were "reversing the curse". The Cubs won thedivision that year and then came within five outs of playing in the World Series, but were undone by theFlorida Marlins' eight-run rally immediately following theSteve Bartman incident. The Cubs then lost the following game and with it the series. (The Marlins went on to win theWorld Series against theNew York Yankees.) Further salting the wound, the Astros earned their first World Series berthtwo years later and their crosstown rival theChicago White Sox won the series.
On February 26, 2004, at the Harry Caray Restaurant in downtown Chicago, the Bartman baseball was electrocuted in an attempt to break the curse, leaving nothing but a heap of string behind.
In another bizarre twist, it was reported that a butchered goat was hung from theHarry Caray statue on October 3, 2007, to whichThe Chicago Sun-Times noted: "If the prankster intended to reverse the supposed billy goat curse with the stunt, it doesn't appear to have worked."[20] While the Cubs did win the NL Central division title in 2007 and 2008, they were swept in the first round of the postseason in both years: by theArizona Diamondbacks in2007 and theLos Angeles Dodgers in2008. The elimination by Arizona came on October 6, the same date that the goat appeared at Wrigley Field in 1945.[21] The act was repeated before the home opener in 2009; this time a goat's butchered head was hung from the statue. The act was futile as the Cubs were eliminated from postseason contention on September 26, 2009.[22]
In 2008, a Greek Orthodox priest sought to end the curse during the 2008 playoffs with a spraying of holy water in and around the Cubs dugout to no avail.[23]
On April 1, 2011, a social enterprise called Reverse The Curse, dedicated to bringing innovations to poverty by giving goats to families in developing countries, was initiated.[24] The goats provide the families with milk, cheese, and alternative income to help lift them out of poverty. Reverse The Curse has expanded into reversing the "curses" that afflict the world's children in education and obesity.
On February 25, 2012, a group of five Chicago Cubs fans calling themselvesCrack the Curse set out on foot fromMesa, Arizona (home to the Cubs'spring training facilities) to Wrigley Field. They brought along a goat named Wrigley who they believed would be able to break the Curse of the Billy Goat upon arrival at Wrigley Field. Additionally, they attempted to raise $100,000 for theFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.[25]
On April 10, 2013, a severed goat's head was delivered to the Cubs in a possible effort to lift the curse on the team. It was addressed to Cubs ownerThomas S. Ricketts.[26]
The 1989 filmBack to the Future Part II depicts the Cubs defeating the Miami Gators, a fictional baseball team, in the 2015 World Series, which ended the longest drought in all four of theNorth American professional sports leagues.[29] In reality, however, the Cubs were eliminated from theplayoffs by the Mets on October 21, 2015.[30] When the Cubs won the World Series the following year, theBack to the Future Twitter account tweeted that the prediction was one year off due to the1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.[31]
^abBastian, Jordan; Muskat, Carrie (November 2, 2016)."Cubs are heavy wait champions!".MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media.Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. RetrievedNovember 3, 2016.
^"The Billy Goat Curse". The World-Famous Billy Goat Tavern. August 14, 2015.Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. RetrievedAugust 14, 2015.
^"Woe is us; A look at the curses".USA Today. October 16, 2004. p. C2.
^Toomey, Shamus (October 6, 2007). "Dead goat hung from Harry statue".Chicago Sun-Times.
^Svrluga, Barry (October 7, 2007). "Castilla Back With Rockies In New Role".Washington Post. p. D6.
^Sullivan, Paul (September 27, 2009). "CUBS 6, GIANTS 2; Eliminating the negative; Late hot streak minus Bradley is positive, but Cards clinch anyway".Chicago Tribune. p. 9.
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