2016 MLB Playoffs: Will Chicago Finally Beat the Curse of the Billy Goat?
The Curse of the Billy Goat
With the 2016 MLB playoffs less than two weeks away, tensions run high in determining which teams make the cut this baseball season. The three American League teams participating will be the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and the Boston Red Sox. The three National league teams participating will be the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The wild card teams participating have not yet been determined.
Many people believe that the Chicago Cubs might finally win the World Series, a feat that has alluded the team for over 100 years. With a strong, solid team, combined with a stellar manager and coach, the Cubs might finally have a shot at the ultimate victory. However, many superstitious people believe that the Cubs are cursed by a hex known as the “Curse of the Billy Goat.”
Will Chicago Finally get the Goat?
The curse originated in 1945, with Billy Sianis, the owner of a local watering hole, The Billy Goat Tavern. In the 1930s, Billy adopted a goat that fell off a truck outside of his tavern, and it was love at first site. Soon, the goat, named Murphy, accompanied Billy everywhere, becoming a fixture across town and a regular patron at the tavern.
On October 6, 1945, the Chicago Cubs played the fourth game of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers at the famed Wrigley Field. Sianis purchased two tickets, one for himself, and one for Murphy, adorned with a sign labeled, “WE GOT DETROIT’S GOAT.”
According to some, ticket ushers and even the Cubs owner denied Billy and Murphy access into Wrigley Field because Murphy stank like a farm animal. An enraged Sianis supposedly threw his arms into the air and cursed the Cubs, declaring that they would never win the World Series again as long as they banned goats from the stadium.
A different version of the legend insists that Sianis and Murphy actually managed to enter the stadium and sit in their purchased seats, but a brief spell of rain fell upon the crowd. The rain soaked Murphy’s fur and emitted a foul odor that disgusted nearby patrons, and they complained to authorities. In this version of the story, officials politely dismissed Sianis and Murphy, but Sianis was upset, nonetheless.
As a consequence, Sianis either declared his hex verbally, or later sent the stadium a cursed telegram as a result of insulting his beloved pet. Either way, the Cubs have yet to win the world series. Will 2016 be the year the Chicago Cubs finally beat the curse?