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Curses! The Bambino, the Billy-goat and Baseball Balderdash - Page 3

© Douglas Charles Rapier

Here entered Billy Sianis. Or at least, he tried to. Billy was a dedicated fan of the Cubs and, presumably, had been a faithful attendee of all home games. He had also become accustomed to bringing his pet billy-goat along for the games. Like many sports fans, Mr Sianis was of a superstitious nature - especially when it came to baseball. He figured that one of the keys to the Cub's winning season in 1945 was the presence of his goat in the stands. It was his personal ritual to appease Lady Luck on behalf of the Cubs. Consequently, he felt that the performance of this ritual - taking his goat to the 'Friendly Confines' of Wrigley Field - was essential to the success of the ball club during the World Series.

Hey, why not? Like chicken soup, it couldn't hoit. Besides the goat probably didn't smell any worse than the crusty un-washed undies the ball-players wore so as not to jinx their own luck.

Billy found that the 'Friendly Confines' on that fateful day in 1945 were not so friendly as before. Security guards stopped Billy and his goat at the gate. Callously dismissing Billy's remonstrations concerning the imperative need to perform his ritual and guarantee a Chicago victory, the guards forcibly prevented admission of the lucky goat into the ball park. Angered and dismayed by this bull-headed impediment to providential grace, Billy pronounced 'The Curse': the Cubs would never win again until his goat was granted admittance to the park.

Like I said at the 'get-go' I don't believe in curses. The fact of the matter, though, is that the Cubs did not win the World Series in 1945. Ironically, they were beaten by the Detroit Tigers, the team the Cubs had vanquished four games to one, thirty-seven years before, in 1908. What goes around comes around.

Billy and his goat are long gone. But 'The Curse' lives on in the hearts and minds of Cub fans and players. Despite numerous attempts by Billy's descendants to lift 'The Curse', the Cubs have yet to return to the World Series. This year was no exception. Up three games to one, the Cubs let the Marlins get their goat, so to speak. The Marlins won the pennant and the Cubs wonder what they have to do to make amends with a long-dead billy-goat and its spiteful owner.

What's the answer to 'The Curse' either of the Bean-town or the Wrigley-ville variety? Some Cubs fans have taken to bringing little beanie-baby goats and other tokens to the park. The week before the play-offs, Chicago restaurateur Spiro Papas, dressed in a traditional Greek costume, led a kid billy-goat outside his Oak Park restaurant, broke a plate on the sidewalk, clanged a cowbell and declared 'The Curse' gone. Another man, who claimed to be the goat's "godfather," kissed the kid three times on the mouth. It availeth them not.

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