The Billy Goat's Curse and the Chicago Cubs

Were the Chicago Cubs cursed for seven decades?

The Curse of the Billy Goat is blamed for keeping the Chicago Cubs out of the World Series for over seven decades. It is one of the most famous legends in American sports history.

This brings to mind The Curse of Tippecanoe where every US president elected in a year ending in 0 died in office, This began in 1840 with a total of eight US leaders dying in office every 20 years. The curse was broken after Ronald Reagan was shot but did not die.

The Chicago Cubs curse began in 1945 during game 4 of the World Series between the Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. Misfortune allegedly began because of William "Billy Goat" Sianis, the owner of Chicago's famous Billy Goat Tavern.

For reasons unknown, Sianis brought his pet goat, Murphy, to Wrigley Field. The animal's odor was so foul that other Cubs fans began complaining. Stadium security asked Sianis to leave but rather than comply he became outraged.

Sianis allegedly declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more!" The exact phrasing varies as the story is retold, but the gist was that the Cubs would never win another World Series as long as Murphy was barred from Wrigley and they did not.

The Cubs lost that World Series and for 71 years didn't make it back to another one. Was this because of Murphy's disgruntled owner? Many today believe it was.

Were the mishaps only coincidence?

Over the decades, there several tragic postseason mishaps that seemed to indicate that the franchise was cursed.

In 1969 while leading the NL East, at Shea Stadium, a stray black cat wandered onto the field and walked past Cubs star Ron Santo in the dugout. The Cubs subsequently suffered a massive late-season collapse, and lost the division to the "Miracle" New York Mets.

Fifteen years later, in 1984, the Cubs were up 2–0 in a best-of-five series against the San Diego Padres. In what is k wn as th NCLS slip, the Cubs lost three straight games. The team's bad luck was highlighted, when during game 5, a ground ball went through first baseman Leon Durham’s legs.

Nineteen years after that, in 2003, there was "The Steve Bartman Incident." The Cubs were five outs away from heading to the World Series in NLCS Game 6 when fan Steve Bartman reached for a foul ball.

His actions deflected the ball away from outfielder Moises Alou. The Cubs unraveled and gave up eight runs in that one inning, Not only did they lose Game 6, but also Game 7 the following day. This fueled the curse of the goat even more.

The dreaded curse is ended

The curse finally came to an end. On October 22, 2016, the 46th anniversary of Billy Sianis’s death—the Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the team's first National League pennant since 1945.

The Cub and the Cleveland Indians faced off in the World Series, with the Chicago team battling back from a 3–1 series deficit. They won Game 7 in a classic 10-inning extra-inning. And won their first World Series title in 108 years. The Chicago Cubs held their previous title in 1908.

The Curse of the Goat was officially ended and there are questions that may never be answered. Was the losing streak a coincidence or did William "Billy Goat" Sianis speak an actual curse into existence?

Why did Sianis bring his smelly goat to a game and risk the ire of other fans. Why didn't he simply take his pet home rather than becoming angry. Alas, we may never know for certain.