Beware the Goat

First appeared on September 17th, 2008
in The Lebanon Reporter

Rain had interrupted game 4 of the 1945 World Series and fans in Chicago, mostly men decked out in dark jackets and ties, were cursing their luck. When the clouds parted, the sun was greeted with an ovation of derbys and split straw hats being waved in the air. The umpire gave the call to resume play and the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs took the field. From his private box Cubs owner Phillip Knight Wrigley was excited to see his team resume their chase of a title that had eluded them for an incomprehensible 37 long years.
Then it happened. A moment that would alter the history of an entire franchise for the next 60 plus years. Phillip Knight Wrigley got a whiff of Billy Sianis’s goat. The wet fur of Murphy the goat was emitting such a fowl and vile stench that the owner became so completely disgusted that he demanded it be removed immediately. Sianis claimed he had paid for two seven dollar seats; one for himself and one Murphy. Wrigley would hear none of the man’s argument and had security escort Sianis and his pet Bovidae out of the stadium.
While most rational thinking humans would most likely have challenged the civil rights of their livestock in court, Sianis chose instead to place a curse on the Cubs by swearing the World Series would never return to Wrigley Field. That was 63 years ago come October. The Cubs surrendered that title to the Tigers in seven games and the series has never returned to Wrigley.
Well here we go again. September is here and the Cubs are teasing us once more. After leading the central division for most of the season, the Cubs have suddenly noticed a strong whiff of the stale beer breath of the Milwaukee Brewers breathing down their necks. After losing 6 of 10 games so far this month, Chicago has put themselves in the perfect position to break our hearts once more.
The champagne has been iced as Cubs fans everywhere begin preparing themselves for that inevitable moment in which a toast to next year, in the absence of a pennant, is the only thing left to raise. The only thought that worries a true Cubs fan more than a lead in September is one of Steve Bartman throwing out the first pitch on opening day.
The buzz and excitement of July and August has suddenly dwindled to a stifled murmur. This is most likely because Cubs fans know disaster looms on the horizon. Fans have reached this same conclusion for 63 straight years now because it is widely accepted, in case you live under a rock, have just moved to the planet Earth or are a Cardinals fan that the curse of the goat continues to haunt the Cubs. There is no scientific terminology for the fear of goats, but every true Cubs fan battles it.
While the Cubs have tried everything to rid themselves of the Curse, none of it matters much to Murphy. Apparently he doesn’t read the sports pages. Instead all he remembers is his odiferous eviction from a rainy Wrigley Field. And every Bleacher Bum since has paid for that fateful decision 63 years ago. So here we go again Cubs fans, or those who love to laugh at them, our team is charging their way towards the playoffs once more. And as the finish line becomes visible after a brutal 162 game schedule, the only question left to answer is can this bunch actually bring home their first pennant since 1945?
Of course as fans all we can do is wait to see if, or when, Murphy will rear his ugly (er stinky?) head. For if the Cubs bungle the opportunity they have this year as they have so many before the only question remaining will be, in the immortal words quipped by Murphy’s owner Billy Sianis following the 1945 World Series loss, “Who stinks now?”