Storyline: Were the Cubs “destined” to win this year? No matter, “THE CURSE” is over!
Courtesy: Collins Flags
Everybody reacted in a different way last Wednesday night.
Some celebrated in the streets of Chicago. Some wept tears of joy. Others, like me watching it at home, kept pinching themselves and asking, “Is this a dream?”
The Cubs had finally won the World Series after an excruciatingly long 108 years. They did it with an 8-7 victory in 10 innings over the Cleveland Indians.
On the final play of the game–before pegging the ball to Anthony Rizzo at first base–third baseman Kris Bryant had a huge smile on his face. 108 years of mediocrity, being “The Lovable Losers,” had finally come to an end.
Courtesy: Billy Goat Tavern
Also ending last Wednesday night was “The Curse of the Billy Goat.”
The Curse goes back to 1945. The Cubs, in the World Series for the first time since 1908, were hosting the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the Fall Classic. A local tavern owner, Billy Sianis, brought his pet goat, ‘Murphy,’ to Wrigley Field.
Of course, security guards turned away Sianis and Murphy. As Sianis left the park he angrily uttered what became known as THE CURSE: the Cubs would never again win The Series.
Until this year the Cubs hadn’t appeared in a World Series, let alone won a title. In fact, for decades Chicago has been near or at the bottom at the National League, often a laughing stock of Major League Baseball.
And something “weird” would always happen to the Cubs, even in the years when Chicago was competitive. Consider five examples.
Example 1: In a pivotal pennant race game with the Mets at Shea Stadium in 1969, a stray black cat wandered onto the field and walked in front of the Cubs’ dugout. The Cubs went on to lose that game and the pennant, while the Mets would go on to win the World Series.
Example 2: In 1984 the Cubs lost to the San Diego Padres after a routine grounder got past Leon Durham at first base. The Padres scored four runs after the error and the Cubbies missed the postseason as a result.
Example 3: Bill Buckner played for the Chicago Cubs for seven seasons before being traded to the Boston Red Sox. In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Buckner (now playing for the Sox) let a ball go under his glove and in between his legs. The Mets scored the winning run on the play to force a Game 7. Buckner was wearing a Cubs’ batting glove under his glove at the time of the error.
Example 4: In 2003 the Cubs were ONE win away from a World Series appearance. They held a 3-2 series lead over the Florida (now Miami) Marlins. In the top of the eighth, Luis Castillo hit a long fly ball to left field that was drifting foul, but still within reach of left fielder, Moisés Alou. Steve Bartman, a lifelong Cubs’ fan, reached out and interfered with the potential catch. If Alou would have made that play, the Cubs would have been just four outs away from their first World Series appearance in 58 years. Instead, the Marlins went on to score a whopping eight runs that inning. The next day Florida won Game 7 to advance to the World Series. The Cubs’ curse lived on.
Example 5: In 2015, the Cubs advanced to the NLCS, but were swept by the New York Mets. The Mets’ MVP was a young second baseman, named Daniel…drumroll…MURPHY.
Like I said: spooky stuff.
Courtesy: Bohn Books
But THE CURSE on the Cubs isn’t the only curse we’ve seen in MLB.
The Red Sox had “The Curse of the Bambino” because in 1919 the team sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Boston didn’t win another World Series until 2004.
The White Sox went through “The Curse of the Black Sox” after eight ChiSox players threw the 1919 World Series. The team didn’t win the Series until 2005.
Were these really curses or just excuses for not winning? Even though baseball is superstitious, bad baseball is … well … bad baseball.
Perhaps the Cubs were “destined” to win the World Series this year. But it’s also clear that the Cubs have one of the best management groups–owner, GM, and manager–in baseball.
It’s still fun to explain things another way. So here it goes …
The Cubs’ World Series drought was 108 years.
There are 108 stitches on a baseball.
Wrigley Field is built on Chicago Lot Number 108.
The Cubs won the World Series in the movie, Back to the Future II, and the film has a running time of 108 minutes.
But the Cubs didn’t win on luck this year. They did it the hard way.
Chicago, down in the series, 3-1, is now one of only five teams–‘85 Royals, ‘68 Tigers, ‘58 Yankees, and ‘25 Pirates–to come back from that deficit. The Cubs also had to win the final two games in Cleveland.
Fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field to win the World Series, Wednesday night, Nov. 2, 2016. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
The odds were definitely against the Cubs winning. But…. Was the rain delay before the 10th inning an omen of the outcome?
The rain delay came an inning after Rajai Davis tied the game with a two-run homer. Fans at Progressive Field were in an uproar, seeing their team come all the way back to tie the game, 6-6.
But that rain delay gave Joe Maddon and the Cubs time to regroup. Chicago scratched out two runs in the top of the inning, the defense held in the bottom, and the drought–and “The Curse of the Billy Goat”–was over.
No matter what, the Cubs are champs.
