1945 Chicago Cubs season

Game 4

October 6, 1945 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois

Game 7

October 10, 1945 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IllinoisLinescore
Road=Detroit|RoadAbr=DET
R1=5|R2=1|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=1|R8=2|R9=0|RR=9|RH=9|RE=1
Home=Chicago|HomeAbr=CHI
H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|HR=3|HH=10|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Hal Newhouser (2-1)|LP=Hank Borowy (2-2)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

The Curse of Billy "The Goat" Sianis

The Curse of the Billy Goat is a curse on the Chicago Cubs that was started in 1945. As the story goes, Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant (from Paleopyrgos, Greece [* [http://www.karlschatz.com/yearofthegoat/archives/000092.shtml. "The Curse of The Billy Goat". February 27, 2004. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.] ] ), who owned a nearby tavern (the now-famous Billy Goat Tavern), had two $7.20 box seat tickets to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, and decided to bring along his pet goat, Murphy (or Sinovia according to some references), which Sianis had restored to health when the goat had fallen off a truck and subsequently limped into his tavern. The goat wore a blanket with a sign pinned to it which read "We got Detroit's goat".* [http://www.dacurse.com/bgcchapter1p1-6-revised3.13.04.pdf "Da Curse of the Billy Goat...The Chicago Cubs, Pennant Races and Curses" - Chapter 1 - Enter the Goat. Retrieved October 18, 2006] ] Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field and even paraded about on the playing field before the game before ushers intervened and led them off the field. After a heated argument, both Sianis and the goat were permitted to stay in the stadium occupying the box seat for which he had tickets. At this point, Andy Frain (head of Wrigley Field's hired security company at the time), waved the goat's box-seat ticket in the air and proclaimed, "If he eats the ticket that would solve everything." However, the goat did not. Before the game was over, it started to rain and Sianis and the goat were ejected from the stadium at the command of Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley due to the objectionable odor of wet goat. Sianis was outraged at the ejection and allegedly placed a curse upon the Cubs that they would never win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley Field again because the Cubs organization had insulted his goat, and subsequently left the U.S. to vacation in his home in Greece.

The Cubs lost Game 4 and eventually the 1945 World Series, prompting Sianis to write to Wrigley from Greece, saying, "Who stinks now?"

Farm system [Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball," 2nd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997]

* Class AA: Los Angeles Angels (Pacific Coast League; Bill Sweeney, manager)
* Class A1: Nashville Vols (Southern Association; Larry Gilbert, manager)
* Class B: Hagerstown Owls (Interstate League; Mickey Balla and Dutch Dorman, managers)
* Class B: Portsmouth Cubs (Piedmont League; Ival Goodman, manager) -- LEAGUE CHAMPION
* Class C: Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets (Carolina League; Jack Warner, manager)
* Class D: Elizabethton Betsey Cubs (Appalachian League; Bill Kelly, manager)
* Class D: Statesville Cubs (North Carolina State League; Jim Poole, manager)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1945.shtml 1945 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference]