Curse of the Billy Goat
If one considers that a curse by the definition of it being an ecclesiastical censure, condemnation or anathema many people laugh at the idea of a “curse” by a Goat and his boss Billy. The thing is that if you look at the Cubs history and look at the empirical data the curse seems to be real. One can almost see primal forces of nature at work here.
See, baseball is governed by the Law of Averages but the primal forces of nature sometimes control the uncontrollable things that many times control the outcome of a baseball game. Even Star Trek’s Spock can see the logical existence of a curse after studying the longest drought in sports history…It has been 108 years and counting and the Cubs have not even made it to the World Series since they told the Goat “Murphy” and one of their most loyal diehard fans, William “Billy” Sianis, that, “The Goat Stinks.”
Empirical data proving the Curse:
Pre-curse: From 1876-1945 (69 years) the Cubs had a record of 5475-4324 (.559) The Cubs had 2 World Series victories in 1907 and 1908. They had 51 winning seasons and won 16 National League Pennants.
Post Curse: (69 years) 5095 wins and 5819 losses. .467 winning percentage.
World Series victories: 0-none – zero –zilch!
National league pennants: 0-none-zero-zilch!
The Cubs only posted 18 winning seasons in the 69 years since the curse despite the fact that the team was owned by corporations who had and spent the money to win most of the time.
What happened: As in many court cases witnesses often tell many tales but this is what ole Huckleberry pieced together.
The day started out wonderful as it was a beautiful day for baseball and William “Billy” Sianis was in great spirits as he had a beautiful, comfortable sign for “Murphy” (his lucky goat) that said, “We Got Detroit’s Goat.” They arrived at Wrigley Field and there was a Great Spirit in the park as 41,000 people had gathered and all believed that next year was here. Billy had purchased two box seats at $7.20 a piece for himself and a ticket for his lucky goat Murphy. They entered the park and took their seats.
Then it happened…. Legend has it that Sianis was told that Murphy’s smell was bothering other fans and the goat had to go. The two were escorted from the Park as Billy screamed and asked to see the Cubs owner William Wrigley and ask why he and his goat could not stay. There were no signs that said “No goats allowed” so they had every legal right to be in the park
Murphy the Goat was chained to a post while Billy went back in to discuss the matter with Cub officials. Murphy was traumatized as people pointed at him and laughed. Murphy had a big breakfast that morning and nature called so Murphy had to poop while he waited chained to the pole. It was a shitty situation….
Murphy the Goat was devastated. Murphy was a Cubs fan and spent many spring, summer and early fall days listening to the play by play descriptions of games on the radio with his boss Billy. Billy was a diehard Cubs fan and was so happy when the Cubs won. It had been 37 years since the Cubs won a World Series and Billy had been through more trials and tribulations with the Cubs than the Greek mythological figure, Tantalus or Tantolus.
This was the day all that would change forever as the Cubs were up in the series two games to one with the next four games to be held at Wrigley because of war restrictions on travel. The Cubs were favored to win this game which would put them in control of the series. World War II was finally over and there was hope at last as many of the players who had survived the war were coming back home and 1946 would see baseball see stars like Ted Williams back on the diamonds across America.
When Billy finally realized that the Cubs would not let the Goat back in he declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” as he and Murphy walked into the sunset. Murphy too was thru with Wrigley as he was even more angry than Billy as he was the one thrown out and laughed at. The Cubs lost that day to Dizzy Trout and the Tigers and ended up losing the series in seven games. Billy sent a telegram to Wrigley after the series that said, “Who stinks now!”
Murphy was a special Goat who had fallen from a cart outside of Billy Sianis Place on the way to the stockyards. Billy picked him up and immediately his luck changed in this place called America. The Goat was Billy’s good luck charm and he wanted to share the luck with the Cubs as he was a loyal and loving fan of the Cubs and the great game of baseball.
Billy Sianis never did see the Cubs reach the Promised Land. In 1969, Billy was an old man but still loved his Cubs so when the Cubs in a mea culpa allowed him to publicly lift the curse, he did. The Cubs had perhaps their greatest team ever in 69 with five future Hall of Famers in the dugout and they were in first place for 155 days until the greatest September collapse in baseball history as they lost 17 of 25 games and the “Miracle Mets” won 38 of their final 49 games.
The closest the Cubs would ever come again was in the year 2003, the Chinese Zodiac’s Year of the Goat. The Cubs were five outs away from returning to the World Series. The Cubs were winning 3-0 in the top of the 8th inning with one out and they were leading the Series three games to two. Then one of the most bizarre plays in the history of baseball occurred and was followed by some extremely cursed play as the expansion Marlins scored an amazing 8 runs in the 8th inning with the Cubs 5 outs away from victory and an appearance in the world series.
Goats are special animals created by the cosmic creator. Goats give gallantly every day as their milk is life sustaining and even their dung is useful for fuel. They are great creatures. They also have horns and like the earth if they are abused they can strike back. One should not mess with a goat. Now this old Goat is askin for your help as Homeric Huckleberry is on a Quixotic Quest to end the curse of the Goat for the great Babe!