The Chicago Cubs are looking at a very good chance of advancing to the World Series this year (with the disclaimer that anything happens in playoff baseball) but if you’re wondering why everyone’s holding their breath a little more tightly when uttering that sentence, it’s because of this: The Cubs are very possibly cursed because ushers wouldn’t allow a tavern owner, William “Billy Goat” Sianis’, goat into Game Four of the 1945 World Series.
More from the Billy Goat Tavern:
According to legend, the goat and Billy were upset, so then Billy threw up his arms and exclaimed, “The Cubs ain’t gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field.” The Cubs were officially cursed. Subsequently, the Cubs lost game four, and the remaining series getting swept at home and from the World Series. Billy Goat promptly sent a telegram to P.K. Wrigley, stating, “Who stinks now?”
Talk of the curse ramped up again in 1969 when the Cubs looked like they had a chance at the World Series but had a historic collapse after a black cat walked in front of the dugout.
AP Photo/Dave Pickoff, File
Incredibly bad luck struck the Cubs’ hopes down again in 1983, 1986, 1998 and memorably with interference from diehard fan Steve Bartman in 2003. Last season, the Cubs’ dreams were dashed by the Mets, but USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour argued that it had nothing to do with the billy goat, but was rather a product of a Mets team that made them pay for every mistake they made.
1. Has anyone possibly cursed them this year?
Yes. If you believe in the SI cover jinx.
2. Are they the only baseball team to have been cursed?
Nope! Some hopeful examples for Cubs fans here: The Red Sox broke the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004 and the White Sox broke the curse of the Black Sox in 2005.
3. Have they tried anything to get rid of the curse?
Yes, of course. A few examples here from ESPN:
The team has had a Greek priest try to exorcise the field. Another time, Dusty Baker put Holy Water from the Vatican over the field. Even Lou Piniella got into the act, kicking a paper-mache goat around the field in the spring of 2007, mocking the possibility of any jinx on the team.
Before the start of the 1994 season, the team even had the son of the tavern owner that started the curse walk a goat across the field. They finished that season below .500. This year, the Billy Goat Tavern even brought in a new goat to try to reverse the curse.
According to Chicago’s ABC 7, “a restaurant near Wrigley Field is hosting a goat roast in hopes of reversing the curse as well.”
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