It was the middle of game four of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers. Tavern owner William “Billy Goat” Sianis, and his actual Billy goat, Murphy, were minding their own business, enjoying the game in Wrigley Field. The duo’s joy was interrupted, however, when Chicago Cubs officials pulled them aside, to tell them that Murphy had to leave. The result was a curse that doomed the Cubs for decades.
An Unjust Expulsion
“Billy Goat” Sianis showed Cubs officials a ticket that proved that Murphy had actually paid for his seat. He also complained that they were discriminating against his friend because he was a goat. None of that did any good, and Sianis was told that nothing could be further from the truth. Murphy was not being kicked out because he was a goat: he was being kicked out because some fans had complained that he stank, and that his odor offended them. So Sianis turned around and issued modern sports’ greatest curse.
Offended that the Cubs had kicked his Billy goat pal out of the ballpark, an indignant Sianis fired off a telegram to Cubs’ team owner Philip K. Wrigley. In relevant part, it stated: “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat”. The Chicago Cubs, who until then had been leading the World Series 2 to 1, dropped game 4, to even it at 2-2. They then proceeded to lose the best-of-seven series, 4 to 3. There was plenty more misery in the years to come.
The Curse of the Billy Goat
The Chicago Cubs debacle in 1945 was just the start, or considering that the team was already in a prolonged title drought, an extension, of the misery and heartbreak that marked the team and its fans for over a century. By 1945, the Cubs were already decades removed from glory, having last won a World Series in 1908.
It was a different world. In 1908, Kaiser Wilhelm II still ruled Germany. Teddy Roosevelt was still in the White House. Babe Ruth had still not made his MLB debut. Mark Twain was still alive. Russia was ruled by a Tsar. A sultan still headed the Ottoman Empire. A Hapsburg emperor still ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In 1908 Vienna, a young weirdo named Adolf Hitler was chasing his dreams of becoming an artist. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was still alive, and nobody had yet heard about or dreamt of World War I, let alone its bigger and more dramatic sequel, which had recently wrapped up only one month before Murphy was kicked out of Wrigley Field.
By 1945, things had already changed drastically since the Chicago Cubs’ last World Series victory. William Sianis’ dire warning became known as the “Curse of the Billy Goat”. It took the Cubs’ already long World Series drought, and extended it another 71 years, until they finally won a World Series in 2016.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
Billy Goat Tavern – The Billy Goat Curse
History Halls – Politicians Who Couldn’t Keep it In Their Pants: Warren G. Harding
Legacy – William Sianis and the Curse of the Billy Goat
