In historic fashion, the curse of the Billy Goat again reared its ugly head on those Lovable Losers, the Chicago Cubs.
Game four of the National League Championship Series ended with the New York Mets beating the Cubbies by the score of 8-3, sweeping the team everyone thought was destined to win the World Series because Back to the Future predicted it.
The Mets hammered Chicago Cub pitcher Jason Hammel so bad he only lasted two innings innings in the post season game, ensuring the continuation of planetary rotation and balance within the cosmos.
“On the one hand, I’m severely disappointed,” said 86-year-old Bud Cromsky, a die hard Chicago Cub fan, “But at least there’ll be no Armageddon.”
Continued life on earth has, of all things, a Billy Goat to thank. During the Cubs’ last trip to the Series in 1945, Chicago tavern-keeper, Sam Sianis and his pet goat Murphy were denied entrance into Wrigley Field. Sianis said, “Never again will World Series be played in Wrigley Field,” or so the tale is told. The moral of this story is: don’t piss off a man with a goat. Of course curses cannot live on Billy Goats alone.
In 1969, a black cat walked across Wrigley Field and the Cubs lost to the New York Mets. The superstition that followed was predictable, but rarely is the question asked: how did a cat get into Wrigley when a Billy Goat doesn’t stand a chance?
In the eighth inning of game six of 2003’s LCS between the Marlins and the Cubs, with the Cubs just innings away from a World Series, one of the Cubs’ very own helped further along their losing streak. On a pop foul near the left field line, Chicago outfielder Moises Alou seemed poised to pocket the second out of the inning.
But a Cubbie fan deflected the ball away from Alou’s glove, and the inevitable chaos ensued. An error, a walk, eight runs, and several cups of beer spilt on the infamous fan later, the Cubs rolled over faster than John F. on Marilyn Monroe.
It’s been 107 years since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series. Bud Cromsky was but a twinkle in his pop’s eye. Back then Wrigley Field didn’t have lights because electricity had not yet been invented. Neither had television, the internet, or air conditioning. Back then Chicago wasn’t even the Windy City yet. It was affectionately known as the Slightly Breezy City.
One can only wonder how much the world will have changed if the Chicago Cubs ever return to the World Series. I’ve got my money on robotic pitchers and beer that stays cold without refrigeration. But in the meantime, we should celebrate the continued stability of the cosmos.