In game 4 of the 1945 World Series Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, was asked to leave because of the odor of his goat. Billy would then declare, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” which was interpreted as – they would never play in a World Series again.
Since 1945 there have been several Cubs teams that would threaten the hex Billy put on the franchise. In 1969 the Chicago Cubs’ roster looked like a fantasy team. Led by Ernie Banks, the ’69 team also had future Hall of Famers – Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Fergie Jenkins. Leo Durocher’s squad would win 11 of their first 12 games, and continued to cruise throughout that summer. It was the first real rockstar Cubs team, with the bleacher bums becoming the team’s first groupie.
The fun didn’t last however. The guys won, but they didn’t know how to win. Williams put it like this, “None of us had been there (in a pennant race). Most of the time there is somebody on a club who can tell you how to feel. We had nobody. Just a bunch of guys who made it so far and couldn’t get over the hurdle.”
Then there was the pressure. In mid-September the team began to feel the pressure, a pressure that mounted each and every single day.
“Players or managers will always say, ‘I don’t read the papers or look at the scoreboard.’ That’s baloney,” Cubs third baseman Ron Santo said. “We went into the West Coast with an eight-game lead. I recall that we lost our first two ballgames on the West Coast and the Mets won their first two. Every time we would go into the ballpark on the West Coast to take hitting practice, their game was over and the Mets won. It was just more and more pressure.”
A team of habitual losers had found themselves in a very unfamiliar place, and when a black cat ran around Santo while he was on deck in a tied ballgame in Shea Stadium. That cat was pointed at as the beginning of the Cubs downfall, but that downfall was more likely the inexperience of the Cubs roster in these situations – like Ron said.
The Mets would go on to pass up the Cubs, and win the newly formed National League East title by 8 games over the ’69 Cubs.
1984 – Dallas Green’s Cubs
Then there was the 1984 Cubs team, which again featured a laundry list of future Hall of Fame players. National League MVP Ryne Sandberg, along with Gary Mathews, Ron Cey, Rick Sutcliffe, Dennis Eckersley, Lee Smith, Bobby Dernier, and Bill Buckner had led a great charge towards the team’s first NL East title.
The Cubs went into the playoffs and the only team in their way was Steve Garvey’s San Diego Padres. With the Cubs up two games to none, it had looked as if the Cubs World Series drought of 39 years was about to come to an end.
This team was expected to be a last place team, having been a horrible team in 1983 – this team had little hope to fare much better. But with some front office wizardry, the ’84 team became a force to be reckoned with. Acquiring Scott Sanderson, Mathews, and Dernier before the season began. Then in late May Cubs general manager was able to trade Buckner for Eckersley. Finally, with the team in contention in June – Dallas Green pulled the trigger on a deal that would bring Rick Sutcliffe to the confines.
The story of this season was the emergence of Hall of Fame second baseman – Ryne Sandberg. Ryno had learned how to hit for power in 1984, hitting 19 home runs and becoming a five-tool player. The game that most believe catapulted him to the ’84 MVP has been ever since dubbed, “The Sandberg Game.”
“And the movie ‘The Natural’ came out that summer in 1984. And at some point during the game I recall saying: ‘This must be the real Roy Hobbs,” Bob Costas lead commentator for the MLB Game of the Week recalled. “This must be The Natural, because what we are seeing unfold here is a movie script that would be rejected because it is too implausible.”
This team that had won 96 games in the regular season built up a 2 games to none lead on the Padres, and traveled to San Diego needing only one win to advance to the World Series. There were no black cats, or goats, or fans grabbing foul balls in this series, but they managed to lose the next three games being outscored 20-8 at Jack Murphy Stadium.
This team had no curse, no event, no weird occurrence. They were beat three games in a row by a team that had won 92 games that season.
2003 – Wood and Prior
Then came 2003. The Chicago Cubs were 88-74, winners of the National League Central for the first time in their history. This Cubs team seemed to have everything, great hitting and possibly even better pitching – this team had been the closest team to a World Series in many Cubs fan’s lifetimes.
The Cubs had been a .500 or better team throughout the entire season, but had fell on some tough times in June and July, playing .453 ball. They would rebound nicely, and eventually win 19 of their last 27 games in September. The team went into the playoffs on a high note, one which led Cubs fans to believe this was finally the season to break the team’s long-standing streak of bad luck.
The Cubs had the third lowest team ERA in 2003, led by Kerry Wood and Mark Prior – the team’s rotation was rounded out by Carlos Zambrano, Matt Clement, and Shawn Estes. The starters accounted for 67 of the team’s 88 wins, and closer Joe Borowski became a mini legend, baffling hitters with his backdoor slider and less than average fastball.
Offensively this team was led by Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou, but the deadline deals which netted the Cubs Kenny Lofton, Aramis Ramirez, and Randall Simon were what really pushed the Cubs over the hump in ’03. With youngster Corey Patterson going down early in the season, Lofton gave the Cubs the leadoff man that could set the table for the big boppers further down in the lineup. Not only did Kenny hit .324 for the Cubs, he got on base at a .381 clip and scored 39 runs in just 56 games on the North side.
The Cubs entered the 2003 playoffs beating the Atlanta Braves in five games, and then jumped up on the Florida Marlins three games to two. Needing one win to advance to the World Series, and with a 3-0 lead in the seventh, and after a fly ball out to start the inning – everything changed.
Juan Pierre would collect the Marlins first extra base hit of the night, and Luis Castillo would come to the plate next. Falling to a 1-2 count, Castillo would work the count back to full. Lifting a pop-up down the left field line, Alou would chase it down, leap towards the wall, and come up with nothing immediately throwing his arms down in rage. As it turns out, many fans reached for a ball that was near the wall, and the most famous of which, Steve Bartman touched it causing it to redirect.
Prior would walk Castillo on a wild pitch, Ivan Rodriguez would score Pierre on a single, Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez – normally as sure handed as anyone – booted a sure double play ball, and a Derrek Lee double would tie the game. The Marlins would end up scoring a total of 8 runs, winning the game and pulling the series even going to Game 7.
The Cubs would eventually lose to the Marlins in that final game, even through a hard fought battle from Kerry Wood. While many had though this would just be the start of something magical – having a trio of young and promising starters – Wood and Prior would go on to suffer many well documented injuries, and Zambrano would go on to be more known for famous blow ups than being a successful major league pitcher.
While the world pointed to Steve and that foul ball – it was Mark Prior throwing 119 pitches, Dusty Baker not calming the team, Alex Gonzalez missing a ball, and the team’s inability to stop a team that won 92 games and scored 750 runs that season.
2016 – The end
This 2016 team has not only broken any curse that had been placed on them – they have proven it was never a curse to begin with.
Sure there have been weird circumstances that have caused many Cubs seasons to be cut short. The goats, black cats, foul balls – but this 2016 team has shown it wasn’t curses or witchcraft, it was purely talent and poor outcomes.
I vaguely remember the ’84 team, but I can safely say this team is clearly better than that team was. I remember the 2003 team – and the 2016 team is better position-by-position. The 1969 team hosts a plethora of legendary players – but if all continues as it should, the 2016 team will have more Hall of Famers than that team did.
With the best pitching, the best defense, the best offense – the 2016 Cubs have proven it has always been a skill thing and not a goat thing.
There will be some that say this is poking the carcass of a dead goat, but the only G.O.A.T. in Wrigley today is this 2016 Chicago Cubs roster. Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler, David Ross, Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward, Joe Maddon, Theo Epstein, Tom Ricketts and the rest of the Cubs roster and management are the only things to believe in at 1080 W Addison.
The 1969 team claimed they hadn’t had the experience leading a division, the 2016 team has several guys who have won it all before. The 1984 team lacked pitching depth, the 2016 team might be the deepest pitching staff of the year. The 2003 team lacked poise and leadership – this 2016 has one of the best managers of the era and a group of players that embrace the target.
“Somebody said to me that that one-out foul ball was right where [Steve] Bartman was,” said Cubs catcher David Ross. “Somebody said that in the dugout. And I just said, ‘Who cares, you know?’ We’ve got one out and the guy on the mound throws 100. I like our chances.’ … So when he said, ‘Ooh, that was right where Bartman was,’ I just went, ‘Perfect. It went all the way in the stands. Foul ball. So now we can win.'”
This team proved to the world there are no such curses, just a series of unfortunate events. I fully expect this team to continue to prove to Chicago and the world. While there are still four more wins to be etched in history – this team has already torn down the biggest wall that threatened the franchise and its fans. Whether there is a title or not remains to be seen, but the 2016 Cubs have destroyed the curses and narratives that have plagued this franchise for 71 years.
