Curse of the Billy Goat

The Curse of the Billy Goat, or Billy Goat Curse, is the name of a urban myth, superstition, or scapegoat used to explain the World Series drought that Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs have had to endure since their last appearance in the 1945 World Series, and their last World Series championship in 1908.

The beginning of the curse

As the story goes, William "Billy Goat" Sianis, a Greek immigrant who owned a nearby tavern, had two $7.20 box seat tickets to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, and decided to bring his pet goat, Murphy, with him. Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field and even paraded about on the playing field before the game before ushers intervened. They were led off the field. After a heated argument, both Sianis and the goat were permitted to stay in the stadium occupying the box seat for which he had tickets. However, before the game was over, Sianis and the goat were ejected from the stadium at the command of Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley due to the animal's objectionable odor. Sianis was outraged at the ejection and placed a curse upon the Cubs that they would never win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley Field again (Sianis died in 1970).

The Cubs lost Game 4 and eventually the 1945 World Series; worse yet, following a third-place finish in the National League in 1946, the Cubs would finish in the league's second division for the next 20 consecutive years, this streak finally ending in 1967, the year after Leo Durocher became the club's manager. Since that time, the cursed Cubs have not won a National League pennant or played in a World Series at Wrigley Field—the longest league championship drought in Major League Baseball history.

Recent events

In 1969, the Cubs opened an 8½-game lead in the National League's Eastern Division during the second week in August, but faltered badly thereafter, ultimately finishing second to the New York Mets, who then went on to win both the National League Championship Series and the World Series. In 1973 the Cubs fell apart in the second half of the season in an even worse fashion, losing 49 of their last 76 games to finish next-to-last in the division after having led it for much of the year. The Cubs would finally win the division for the first time in 1984, but they then lost to the San Diego Padres 3 games to 2 in the NLCS after having won the first two games of the series, this collapse doing much to revive popular interest in the curse. In 1989 the Cubs won the NL East again, but lost in the NLCS that year too, 4 games to 1 to the San Francisco Giants (the League Championship Series in both leagues having been lengthened to best-of-seven from best-of-five in 1985).

The curse seemed to be fading in the 2003 playoffs. In the National League Division Series, the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves three games to two, winning Game 5, 5-1, at Turner Field in Atlanta, the first time in 95 years they won a playoff series. The curse seemed to be on the point of extinction when the Cubs led the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins three games to one in the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field, and held a 3-0 lead in Game 6, with only five outs between them and a trip to the World Series. In fact, T-shirts proclaiming the Chicago Cubs as National League Champions were waiting outside Wrigley to be worn by Cubs fans.

However, this bedlam for the Cubs would not last. In the top of the eighth inning, with one out, Luis Castillo of the Marlins hit a high foul ball to left field where it was heading into the stands. The Cubs' Moises Alou, thinking he could nab the ball for the second out, headed toward the stands with his glove held high and was just about to fit his glove around the ball when Cubs fan Steve Bartman interrupted Alou's poise and the ball deflected off his hand and into the stands. Even though the Cubs tried to get a fan interference call, the field umpire labeled it foul, declaring it "up for grabs". (In one of the odder baseball media events, the actual ball was eventually bought by a local restaurant, which exploded it to shreds in front of television cameras, using the remnant, infused in vodka and beer, to flavor a special "Foul Ball Spaghetti" then sold to some 4000 diners, Cubs fans all.)

With a chance at a second out eliminated, the Cubs unraveled. Cubs pitcher Mark Prior walked Castillo. Afterwards, Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez singled to score Juan Pierre. Miguel Cabrera then hit a ground ball to Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who led all National League shortstops in fielding percentage. Instead of fielding the ball cleanly, however, Gonzalez closed his glove a split second early and the ball dropped harmlessly into the dirt, loading the bases.

The Marlins would go on to score seven more runs in the inning to take an 8-3 lead and win the game. The series, instead of ending with the Cubs being NL champs, was now tied at three games each. In Game 7, the Marlins would have to face Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood, who was arguably the best pitcher in the National League. This made Cubs fans feel a little bit better...for a moment. The Marlins, even though down 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth, came back and with little resistance took a 9-6 win, thanks to aggressive hitting and eventual World Series MVP Josh Beckett. The Marlins were declared the National League Champions and moved on to the World Series, where they eventually beat the New York Yankees in six games.

The Cubs, trying to put the heartbreak behind them, eventually traded for Derrek Lee from the Marlins in the offseason and destroyed the Bartman Ball, hoping to finally end their continuing misfortunes. But as the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS proves, it seems that the curse of the billy goat continues to live on.

In fact, the curse showed up again in 2004, when the Cubs led 1 game and half in the NL wild card. Playing the New York Mets, they won the first game but lost the next two games, particularly the second game of the series (Cubs lead 3-0 going into the ninth inning before the Mets railled for a three-run homer in the ninth and a solo home run in extra innings.). The Cubs never recovered and went on to lose two games against the Braves to be eliminated from playoff contention. The Cubs' nemesis, the Houston Astros, won the NL wild card with a win over the Colorado Rockies.

Another contributing factor to the curse may involve the fact that several players won World Series titles after leaving the Cubs. These players include Bill Madlock, Rick Monday, Bruce Sutter, Willie Hernandez, Dennis Eckersley, Joe Carter, Greg Maddux, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Mark Bellhorn and Bill Mueller.

Related topics

The other "cursed" team in Major League Baseball, the Boston Red Sox, also came within 5 outs of reaching the 2003 World Series. The following season, however, the Red Sox were finally able to break free by sweeping the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. For more details, see Curse of the Bambino.

In addition, all of the sports teams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania have been characterized as being under a curse since the late 1980s; for more details on this subject, see Curse of Billy Penn.