If you happened to be anywhere in the Chicago, Illinois area during the latter half of 2016, baseball was absolutely inescapable. Fans across the city were consumed by it — and who could blame them? At long last, the Cubs had a real shot at breaking free from a curse that had haunted the franchise since October 6, 1945 — a hex so powerful it kept them from claiming a World Series championship for more than a century.
The Billy Goat Curse
Back in 1934, a Greek immigrant named William Sianis purchased a run-down tavern situated directly across the street from Chicago Stadium — the legendary venue where the Blackhawks (and eventually the Chicago Bulls) entertained packed houses brimming with loud, enthusiastic crowds. As the story goes, blending both legend and documented fact, Sianis came to own a pet goat that had tumbled off a passing truck. Never one to miss a business opportunity, he rebranded his establishment The Billy Goat Tavern.
A passionate Chicago Cubs supporter who had picked up English by poring over newspapers, Sianis decided to bring his beloved pet goat along to Game 4 of the World Series matchup between the Cubs and the Tigers. What exactly drove him to pull this stunt remains a matter of debate, though as a local business owner, the promotional value of parading his bar's mascot among the game-day crowd surely wasn't lost on him. Things didn't go as planned, however — the goat proved to be a disruption even before the game got underway. Officials promptly ejected both Sianis and his goat from Wrigley Field. Furious at this humiliating treatment, he declared that the Cubs will never win another Pennant!
Even though the Cubs had captured back-to-back World Series titles in 1908 and 1909, they hadn't won another World Series championship since. The '45 Cubs appeared to be on track for another title — right up until Sianis and his pet goat entered the picture. It took until the 2016 Cubs finally shattered the curse, igniting a city-wide celebration in Chicago that lasted for weeks.