Thursday, October 6, 2005

The 'Curse of the Billy Goat'...

There's a reason that of the 2 Chicago baseball teams it's the one on the 'other' side of town that's charging toward a pennant, not the Cubs. Tickets for a possible (c'mon Red Sox, make it possible) Game 5 at Cellular Field on Sunday are going for over $1,000 a seat. Our little tale begins on this date in 1945...

Greek immigrant William "Billy Goat" Sianis, owner of a nearby tavern paid $7.20 for 2 box seats at Wrigley Field to watch Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between his beloved Cubs and Detroit Tigers. William decided to bring his pet goat, Murphy, with him, hey he had 2 tickets. William paraded Murphy on the field before ushers intervened, leading them off the field. Both Sianis and the goat were permitted to stay in the stadium in their box seats, but before the game ended Sianis and Murphy were ejected from Wrigley at the command of Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley due to various complaints voiced by people seated near the pair. Sianis, outraged at the ejection, placed a curse upon the Cubs that they would never win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley Field again. Sure enough the Cubs lost Game 4 and eventually the 1945 World Series. Since then the cursed Cubs have never been back to the World Series. It's the longest league championship drought in Major League history...

William "Billy Goat" Sianis died in 1970 but the curse remains. The Billy Goat Tavern, opened in 1934 is now owned by Sianis' nephew, Sam Sianis. The tavern was parodied by the famous Saturday Night Live sketch featuring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Remember 'cheeboyger, cheeboyger...no fries, no Pepsi, no Coke?"...

The Red Sox demolished forever the 'Curse of the Bambino' last year yet the 'Curse of the Billy Goat' remains...

More October 6 Memories...

1927) "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson premieres in New York City. It's the first "talkie"...

1945) "The Billy Goat Curse" is placed on the Cubs (feature story)...

1956) Dr. Albert Sabin discovers the oral polio vaccine...

1959) "Pillow Talk" starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson premieres. It's the first of 3 films starring the box office favorites...

1961) JFK advises Americans to build fallout shelters...

1963) The Dodgers sweep the Yankees in the 60th World Series...

1970) Neil Diamond & "Cracklin' Rosie" are #1...

1973) "The Yom Kippur War" erupts in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria attack Israel...

1976) DJ Rick Dees receives a gold record for "Disco Duck"...

1977) The Yankees win the AL pennant on Chris Chamblisses dramatic home run against Kansas City...

1979) Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit the White House...

1979) The Eagles release "Heartache Tonight"...

1981) Egyptian President Anwar-el Sadat is assassinated at a military rally in Cairo, by Muslim extremists...Hosni Mubarak becomes president...

1983) The New York Jets announce they are leaving Shea Stadium for the Meadowlands...

1983) Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York dies at 62...

1989) Bette Davis dies in France at 81...

1991) Larry Fortensky becomes victim #8 for Elizabeth Taylor...

1996) Faith Hill and Tim McGraw walk down the aisle...

1996) Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton meet in their first debate...

1998) Imelda Marcos is acquitted by the Philippine Supreme Court on the charge of graft (she had to pay for all those shoes somehow). The ruling overturns a 1993 quilty verdict...

Happy Birthday to...

1942) Britt Ekland...

1946) Millie Small...

1946) Former Met pitcher Gary Gentry...

1959) Former Red Sox pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd...

1951) REO Speedwagon lead singer Kevin Cronin...

Commentary...

If you need any proof that there really is a curse against the Cubs, consider this...in 1969 they faltered badly after opening an 8 1/2 game lead over the Mets in August, the Mets won the World Series that year...In 1973 the Cubs lost 49 of their last 76 games to finish last in their division despite having led it for much of the year...In 1984 they would finally win their division but lose to San Diego in the playoffs...in 1989 they won the NL East again but lost in the playoffs again...in 2003 they finally won a playoff series but lost the NL Championship series. In 2004 they would lose in the playoffs again...

The best example of 'The Billy Goat Curse' is what happened to the Cubs in the 2003 playoffs. Having a 3-0 lead in decisive Game 5 of their playoff with the Marlins with only 5 outs to go, the following happened...in the top of the 8th inning with one out, Luis Castillo of the Marlins hit a high foul ball to left field where Moises Alou was about to catch the ball. Suddenly Cub fan Steve Bartman deflects the ball away from Alou and although the Cubs tried to get an interference call, the play stood. The Cubs then unraveled and the Marlins would go on to score 8 runs in the inning, win the game and oh, by the way, the World Series too. Bartman was run out of town and the 'Bartman Ball' was exploded by a local fan...

'The Billy Goat Curse ?". Indeed...