Curse Or Coincidence

curse Or Coincidencew

Chris Student Lisa Spears ENGL October 2011 Curse or Coincidence? While watching a recent Denver Broncos game, my friends and I mused over the possibility of an officiating conspiracy against the Broncos dating back to a bad call by official Ed Hoculi several years ago by which the Broncos gained an advantage over the rival San Diego Chargers. The Broncos won the game on the heels of an incorrect call in their favor. Since then, there has been an inordinate amount of missed calls in favor of the team or against their opponents, or so we are convinced. I considered this as a possible topic for this paper, but as it is a rather recent occurrence and quite possibly not a popular enough opinion to have been published anywhere, I decided there would not be sufficient reference material to contribute to my argument.

However, there are numerous other sports conspiracy theories and superstitions out there, the oldest and most famous of which is the “curse” of the Chicago Cubs. My only previous knowledge related to said curse was that the Cubs had not won a pennant (meaning they had not won the National League Championship Series (NLCS) to make it to the World Series) in over 100 years, the longest drought in MLB history. Turns out that I was wrong, though; upon searching the web for “Cubs pennant wins,” I found an MLB.com timeline of Cubs history, according to which they have actually won seven pennants since their last World Series win in 1908, reaching the Series in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945.

However, they were defeated in each of these World Series bouts and have not won the National League pennant since 1945 (“Cubs Timeline”). Therefore, they have currently not won a World Series in 103 years, nor have they won the NLCS in 66 years. So, is this history of losing related to a curse? A search of the Auraria library turned up a few books about Cubs history, but none with any significant information about a curse. Searching the database Academic Search Premier was more helpful, providing several articles that mentioned the “Billy Goat Curse.” But yet again, none delved very deeply into the origin of this phenomenon, but rather its significance to the unfortunate outcome of the 2003 NLCS (more on that later).

Back to the internet I turned, where finally an ESPN.com article revealed the circumstances surrounding the Billy Goat Curse, which dates back not to the Cubs’ last World Series win in 1908, but to their final appearance in the Series in 1945. It turns out that during the 1945 World Series in which the Cubs were facing the Detroit Tigers, Chicago fan Billy Sianis showed up to one of the games with his goat, but was barred from the game due to his companion. But before leaving the premises, Sianis supposedly hexed the team, assuring Wrigley Field officials that the Cubs would win no more (Levine). They lost in game 7 and have not returned to the World Series since. So, is this a real curse, just a coincidence, or otherwise?

Personally, I think curses are things of fairy tales and Hollywood fantasy, where if you’re mean to Gypsies they seek retribution by turning your fields fallow or making you grow a third ear on your chin. Or is that witches? In any case, I don’t take much stock in the occult. I found an article on Academic Search Premier, originally published in USA Today, which quotes Ozzie Guillen, manager of Chicago’s other MLB franchise, the White Sox, responding to the possibility of a curse with “It’s no curse. It’s horse---- teams” (Dodd).

But could the team—horseshit or not—still be adversely affected by the stigma of the fabled curse? Whether the players or other members of the Cubs organization believe in the curse or not, some have gone out of their way to shed its taint. Some examples are given by the same ESPN.com article that pointed me to the source of the Billy Goat Curse. At the outset of the 1994 season, the Cubs got Sianis’ son to walk a goat across the field, hoping to counteract his father’s spell. Other efforts to undo the hex have included having a priest “exorcise” the field, obtaining Holy Water from the Vatican to spread on the field, and in 2007 manager Lou Piniella supposedly kicked a papier-mâché goat around Wrigley’s grounds.

Most recently, Cubs players were seen donning T-shirts during 2011 pregame workouts emblazoned with “Goatbusters” and a logo borrowed from the Ghostbusters movies (Levine). At least they have a sense of humor about it. Blog Post Two Whether the curse is real or not, athletes and sports fans alike are superstitious by nature. Players have been rumored to wear the same socks throughout a series of games or during a winning streak; if a pitcher is throwing what could be a no-hitter or perfect game, the rest of the team won’t talk to him; both fans and players will turn their hats inside out during a poor performance to “rally” the team into a turnaround; and fans of any sport will wear their team’s shirt or favorite player’s jersey on game days and blame themselves if they break routine when the team loses.

Remember the 2003 NLCS I mentioned earlier? One of the other articles I found on Academic Search Premier was from a 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated, which paints a picture of the disastrous outcome for the Cubs, one which was very familiar to the 1945 Series, and all too familiar for Cubs fans. The 2003 NLCS was the Cubs’ best shot at winning a pennant in 58 years. But during game 6, at the top of the eighth inning, with the Cubs leading the Marlins in the series 3 games to 2 and the game 3-0, Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected a fly ball hit by Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo, knocking it into the stands and out of the reach of Cubs left fielder Moises Alou. The umpires, not seeing the deflection, did not rule interference.

The ball went foul and did not score any runs, but an out would have made all the difference. Moises Alou would later claim that he was certain he would have caught the ball. Instead the Cubs allowed the Marlins to score eight runs in the inning, losing 8-3, and losing game 7 as well, keeping them from the World Series yet again (Habib). So what does this have to do with the curse? Maybe nothing, but it speaks to the superstitious nature of the team that in February of the following year the recovered foul ball was ceremoniously destroyed.

While browsing the ESPN.com archives for anything related to “Cubs curse,” I found an article that described the erasing of the physical evidence of Steve Bartman’s blunder. In a live televised event, during an annual tribute to long-time Cubs commentator Harry Caray, the “Bartman ball” was obliterated by Oscar-winning special effects artist Michael Lantieri (Associated Press). At least they do it with style. At this point I felt like I had proven that superstition is prevalent in sports, and perhaps that is why the idea of a curse still lingers, but I still didn’t know enough about the story of the curse, and hadn’t found enough information to satisfy my curiosity. So I went back on the Auraria library site to do another database search.

This time I noticed something entitled “The Billy Goat Curse: Losing and Superstition in Cubs Baseball Since World War II.” However, it was merely a review of a book by the same name. So I searched for the book at Auraria, and when that showed nothing by that name or anything similar I tried Prospector, but found that no library in the system carried any such title. Searches of Barnes & Noble and Tattered Cover showed nothing in stock either. Since I had to have this book, I ordered it from Amazon. After receiving and reading The Billy Goat Curse, much more interesting information came to light.

It seems that William Sianis (the guy with the goat) was the owner of a tavern called the Billy Goat Inn, located directly across the street from Wrigley Field. When Sianis showed up to the fourth game of the Cubs-Tigers World Series on October 6, 1945, he purchased two tickets, to accommodate himself and his goat. With his tavern’s namesake in tow, Sianis attempted to enter the park but was denied by none other than Cubs owner Philip Wrigley, who cited the goat’s foul smell as the reason. As I described before, it was then that Sianis allegedly cursed the Cubs, declaring that the team would never make it to the Series again (Bogen 6). Despite being ahead of the Tigers 2 games to 1, the Cubs blew Game 4, as well as Games 5 and 7, losing the Series to Detroit.

Upon hearing the news of the Cubs’ defeat, William Sianis supposedly sent a telegram to Philip Wrigley with the jeer “Who smells now?” (Bogen 7). Why was this man so outraged you ask? I wondered as well. As it turns out, shortly after Sianis bought what was then known as the Lincoln Tavern in 1934, a baby goat wandered into the bar. The goat, having been injured somehow, was nursed back to health by Sianis, who tended to it as if it were his own child.

He was so enamored with the animal in fact that he actually filed for legal adoption of the goat. He subsequently renamed his establishment Billy Goat Inn, grew a goatee of his own, and even came to be known as “Billy” or even “Billy Goat” himself, while the goat remained a staple of the bar (Bogen 36-38). With this in mind, it is easy to see how Wrigley’s slight against the goat cut Billy Sianis rather deep. Blog Post Three While this is all very interesting, it still doesn’t legitimately account for the Cubs’ losing streak. Furthermore, blaming the Billy Goat Curse for the Cubs’ inadequacy overlooks the fact that the team failed to gain a Series victory in the previous 36 seasons since 1908.

So, what evidence is there to explain what has really kept the Cubs from winning for so long? An article I had previously found on Academic Search Premier offered some suggestions. According to Steve Stone, a former Cubs pitcher and commentator, the problem is that “the organization historically hasn’t built a team to fit the unique park,” calling Wrigley Field “a hitter’s paradise in the warm weather and when the wind blows out, but a pitcher’s haven in the chilly months and when the wind blows in” (Dodd). Wrigley is one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country and it apparently has some anomalies that newer parks have avoided through modern design, but can a ball club really build a team to combat the quirks of its home field?

I doubt if a team can be picked or trained to use these conditions to their advantage all the time. If the wind blows in, what is a batter to do, hit harder? It seems that the Cubs are merely at the mercy of their antiquated park, and the stats support that claim. Stone points out that the Cubs have only managed to eke out 50 wins at home three times in the last 70 years (Dodd). In the regular baseball season, each team currently plays 162 games, 50 percent of which are home games.

Anyone who watches sports is familiar with the term “home field advantage” and most teams expect to win a majority of home games due to fan support and the fact that they are more accustomed to their own facilities. Yet in 81 games at home, the Cubs have rarely managed to win a great majority. And if the team can’t win at home, they can hardly be expected to win the majority of games at the other 15 ballparks they visit each year. I was unable to find a source that showed the exact number of wins and losses the Cubs have had at home per year, but the Cubs official MLB.com site provided a list of total wins/losses and win percentage for the entire franchise history. According to MLB records, in the last 103 years since their 1908 World Series win, the Cubs have achieved only 45 seasons with combined wins (home and away) over .500 (“Cubs Year-by-Year”).

As I said, I don’t believe in curses. I don’t think Cubs players or fans really do either. But both baseball players and fans are indeed superstitious and prone to hold on to legend, especially in the case of the team that is legendary for losing. I believe that the Cubs’ bad luck in the wake of Billy Sianis’ infamous goat curse is nothing more than coincidence, and that is a mere extension of an already decades-long losing streak. Instead, I believe the Cubs’ real problem to be merely a case of home field disadvantage.

References

• Associated Press. "Bartman Ball to be Destroyed Thursday." ESPN.com. ESPN. 25 Feb. 2004.
• Bogen, Gil. The Billy Goat Curse: Losing and Superstition in Cubs Baseball Since World War 2. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008.
• "Cubs Timeline." MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. 2011.
• "Cubs Year-by-Year." MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. 2011.
• Dodd, Mike. "Why Do Cubs Lose? Let Us Count Ways." USA Today, 18 Aug. 2010: 23-5.
• Habib, Daniel G. "You Gotta Believe." Sports Illustrated, 5 May 2003: 46-52.
• Levine, Bruce. "Cubs Hoping to be 'Goatbusters'." ESPNChicago.com. ESPN, 14 June 2011.
• Bogen, Gil. The Billy Goat Curse: Losing and Superstition in Cubs Baseball Since World War 2. Jeffersion, NC: McFarland, 2008.
• Sianis, William. "The Billy Goat Legend." Chicago Tribune, 1945.
• Stone, Steve. "Wrigley Field's Quirks and the Cubs' Performance." Baseball America, 2010.