Loveable Cubs overcome the Curse

There’s a saying in Chicago: Any team can have a bad century—a reference to the Chicago Cubs, who haven’t won a World Series since before the Titanic sank. But maybe this year is the year.

With their 5-0 win Saturday night over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, the Cubs clinched a World Series berth for the first time since 1945 and have a chance to win their first Series title since 1908. Chicago will take on another long-suffering team, the American League champion Cleveland Indians, who haven’t won a World Series since 1948. The seven-game series begins in Cleveland Tuesday night.

The Cubs’ very long drought is the stuff of legend. Indeed, among the most famous of all baseball tales is the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” which dates back to the 1945 Series. It was jubilant time for America. World War II finally was over, and life was starting to get back to normal. And with the Cubs winning the National League title, things were at a fever pitch in Chicago.

In Game 1 of the Series against the AL champion Detroit Tigers, the Cubs easily won 9-0 in Detroit. But the Tigers came back to win the second game 4-1. In Game 3, still in Detroit, the Cubs shut out the Tigers 3-0. And then the plot began to thicken.

With Game 4, the Series moved to Chicago’s Wrigley Field. As a publicity stunt, Billy Sianis, owner of Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern, tried to bring a live goat into the ballpark—he even purchased a box-seat ticket for the animal wearing a banner that said “We’ve got Detroit’s goat.”

The goat, however, was rather stinky, and Cubs owner Philip Wrigley thought the smelly creature would offend other box-seat patrons, so a ticket-taker turned away Sianis and his billy goat.

Then—so the story goes—an angry Sianis cursed the Cubs, vowing they would never make it to the World Series again.

The Cubs lost Game 4 and Game 5. In Game 6, Chicago blew a four-run lead but rallied to win in extra innings. Then, in the seventh and deciding game, it was Tigers all the way. The Cubs lost and there was no joy in the Windy City.

With each passing season, for 71 long years, the Cubs again and again failed to win the NL title and the resulting berth in the Series, and the story of the Curse of the Billy Goat grew to almost epic proportions.

Whether it has anything to do with the supposed curse or not—correlation, after all, is the not the same as causation—the Chicago Cubs have had a history of choking when they get to the playoffs, and of being the victim of unfortunate and unusual circumstances.

For example, in 2003, the team was within five outs of reaching the World Series. The Florida Marlins’ Luis Castillo sliced a ball along the left field line in foul territory. It was coming down very near the stands but seemed playable. Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou went for it, extending his glove into the stands, but a Cubs fan, trying to snag a souvenir, reached out and deflected the ball away from Alou at the last second, causing it to fall into the stands. The Marlins went on to score eight runs in that inning. The Cubs lost. The next day, Chicago lost again, and the Marlins secured the NL title and went on to win the World Series over the New York Yankees.

But now, finally, the Cubs are once again in the Series, and the bitter memories of past failures have faded.

“Oh, this is fantastic,” exclaimed Cubs fan Greg Duffner. “This is what everybody has been waiting for and dreaming about.”

Like other long-suffering Chicago fans, Duffner is excited about the prospect of the Cubs winning a World Series title for the first time since Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House.

But, he said, win or lose, Cubs fans will remain faithful to their team: “Everybody loves the Cubs around here just because they’re the Cubs. You’ve got a lot of loyal fans. Even when they’re terrible everyone still loves them.”

Listen to Joseph Slife’s report on The World and Everything in It.