Curse of the Billy Goat

The curse of the Billy Goat was supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs in 1945 when Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis was asked to leave a World Series game against the Detroit Tigers at the Cubs' home ground of Wrigley Field because his pet goat's odor was bothering other fans.^[1] He was outraged and declared, "Them Cubs, they aren't gonna win no more," which has been interpreted to mean that there would never be another World Series game won at Wrigley Field.^[2] The exact nature of the curse differs in various accounts of the incident. Some state that Sianis 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’ family claims that he dispatched a telegram to team owner Philip K. Wrigley which 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.”^[3] Whatever the truth, the Cubs were up two games to one in the ’45 series but ended up losing Game 4 and the best-of-seven series, four games to three. The curse was immortalized in newspaper columns over the years, particularly by syndicated columnist Mike Royko, and gained widespread attention during the 2003 postseason when Fox television commentators played it up during the Cubs-Marlins match-up in the National League Championship Series.^[4]

Attempts to break the curse

On April 1, 2011, Jeremy Freeman, a Chicago based Internet marketing entrepreneur launched a social enterprise called "Reverse the Curse. Donate a Goat." to give life-changing and transformational goats to families in developing countries. The goats provide families with nutrition and alternative income. The "Reverse the Curse" campaign will expand into other causes in the future. For every product you purchase on their website, they give 100% of the proceeds to give goats to families in developing countries.

Sam Sianis, nephew of Billy Sianis, has been brought out onto Wrigley Field with a goat multiple times in attempts to break the curse: on Opening Day in 1984 and 1989 (in both years, the Cubs went on to win their division), in 1994 to stop a home losing streak, and in 1998 for the wild card play-in game (which the Cubs won).^[5]

In 2003 (incidentally, the Chinese zodiac's Year of the Goat), a group of Cubs fans headed to Houston with a billy goat named "Virgil Homer" and attempted to gain entrance to Minute Maid Park, home of their division rivals the Astros.^[6] After they were denied entrance, they unfurled a scroll, read a verse and proclaimed they were "reversing the curse." The Cubs won the division that year and then came within five outs of playing in the World Series but were undone by the Florida Marlins' eight-run rally immediately following the Steve Bartman incident. They then lost the following game and with it the series (the Marlins went on to win the World Series against the New York Yankees.) Further salting the wound, the Astros earned their first World Series berth two years later.

In another bizarre twist, it was reported that a butchered goat was hung from the Harry Caray statue on October 3, 2007, to which The 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."^[7] While the Cubs did win the NL Central Division title in 2007 and 2008, they were swept in the first round of the playoffs in both years: by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. The elimination by Arizona came on October 6, the same date that the goat appeared at Wrigley Field in 1945.^[8]

The act was repeated before the home opener in 2009, this time a goat's butchered head being hung from the statue. The act was futile as the Cubs were eliminated from postseason contention on September 26, 2009.^[9] Cubs fans have also brought in priests that have blessed the field, stadium, and dugout.

Cure

According to three interviews with Sam Sianis, William Sianis' nephew-in-law, the Curse of the Billy Goat can be dispelled only by the Chicago Cubs organization's showing a sincere fondness for goats; allowing them into Wrigley Field because they genuinely want to and not simply for publicity reasons. (According to an account in the Chicago 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 that day, but no mention of a curse.)

Former Cubs who won a World Series title elsewhere

Another factor that may play a role in the curse is the number of players (40 of them are listed below) who won World Series titles after leaving the Cubs. These players include Andy Pafko (who, coincidentally, played in the 1945 World Series as a Cub), Gene Baker, Smoky Burgess, Don Hoak, Dale Long, Lou Brock (whose first title was in 1964 after a mid-season trade to the St. Louis Cardinals), Lou Johnson, Jim Brewer, Moe Drabowsky, Don Cardwell, Ken Holtzman, Billy North, Fred Norman, Bill Madlock, Manny Trillo, Greg Gross, Rick Monday, Burt Hooton, Bruce Sutter, Willie Hernández, Joe Niekro, Dennis Eckersley, Joe Carter, Greg Maddux, Joe Girardi (as both a player and a manager), José Vizcaíno, Glenallen Hill (after his second stint with the Cubs; his title came in 2000 after a mid-season trade), Luis Gonzalez, Mike Morgan, Mark Grace, Mark Bellhorn, Bill Mueller, Scott Eyre (whose title came in 2008 after he been traded from the Cubs during the season), Tom Gordon, Matt Stairs, Jamie Moyer, in 2010, Mark DeRosa and Mike Fontenot—the former of whom had been traded the offseason before, the latter having been traded that midseason, and in 2011, Ryan Theriot who was traded the previous season. Dontrelle Willis and Jon Garland were traded as minor leaguers, and Tim Lincecum was originally drafted by the Cubs — coincidentally, in 2003, the same year as the Steve Bartman incident.

Former Cubs cursing other teams

Main article: Ex-Cubs Factor

Conversely, the "Ex-Cubs Factor" seemed to plague many a post-season qualifier that had too many former Cubs. This theory reached its zenith in 1990, when the factor "predicted" that the Oakland Athletics were "doomed" in that year's World Series, and the A's were swept by the Cincinnati Reds in a stunning upset (coincidentally, then Reds manager Lou Piniella became the Cubs manager later on). In the 2001 World Series, however, the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the Yankees with three ex-Cubs on their roster and not only won the Series in dramatic fashion, but won it on a rally started by Mark Grace, an ex-Cub, and ended with a base hit by Luis Gonzalez, another ex-Cub, effectively discrediting the "Ex-Cubs" theory. (at least on an anecdotal basis). The only other time a team of numerous ex-Cubs won the World Series was in the 1960 World Series where the Pittsburgh Pirates also defeated the Yankees in dramatic fashion off of Bill Mazeroski's homerun in Game 7. The 1960 series occurred before the theory had been coined.

Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, who was blamed for Boston's 1986 World Series loss after a routine ground ball rolled through his legs, was also a former Cub. It has been recently uncovered that at the time of the play (and in many other instances), Buckner was wearing an old and tattered Chicago Cubs batting glove under his fielding glove. However, Buckner's error could also have been a result of Boston's own legendary curse, which was itself shattered in 2004.

Former Cub pitcher Mike Krukow (who went on to play for the San Francisco Giants and is currently a broadcaster for them) is alleged to be the source of the legendary "Krukow Kurse". The "Krukow Kurse" is used to explain the Giants' fifty-two year failure to win the World Series while in San Francisco. Before the start of each season, Krukow states on his radio show his usual optimistic prediction that the Giants have a chance to ultimately win the World Series. Once Krukow stops making such preseason predictions, says the legend, the Giants will in fact win the World Series. The Giants finally won the World Series in 2010.

Another former Cub, Mitch Williams, also suffered from World Series heartbreak in 1993 when, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, he gave up a legendary walk-off home run to Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays in the ninth inning of Game 6, handing the championship to Toronto. Williams would then play for the Houston Astros, who missed a possible chance to win the NL pennant due to the 1994 strike. Coincidentally, Carter was also a former Cub, but he and Williams had not been teammates in Chicago.

See also

See also: Sports-related curses

• Merkle's Boner, a curse on the Cubs that has supposedly existed since 1908.

http://www.dacurse.com/timeline.htm

References

1. ^ Ferraro, Michael X.; Veneziano, John (2007). Numbelivable!. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0. 
2. ^ Bowen, Fred (17 July 2008). "For Cubs, a Swing at the Billy Goat Curse". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/16/AR2008071602638_pf.html. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
3. ^ "The Cubs and the Curse of the Billy Goat". The Cotton Boll Conspiracy. October 6, 2010. http://southcarolina1670.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/the-cubs-and-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat/. 
4. ^ Major League Baseball on Fox: Game 6 of 2003 National League Championship Series (television). Fox Sports. October 14, 2003. 
5. ^ "World Famous Billy Goat Tavern & Grill - Our History". billygoattavern.com. http://www.billygoattavern.com/history.html. 
6. ^ "Woe is us ; A look at the curses". USA Today: p. C2. October 16, 2004. 
7. ^ Toomey, Shamus (October 6, 2007). "Dead goat hung from Harry statue". Chicago Sun-Times. 
8. ^ Svrluga, Barry (October 7, 2007). "Castilla Back With Rockies In New Role". Washington Post: p. D6. 
9. ^ 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.