It is safe to say that the Chicago Cubs are one of the famous teams in all of sports due to the fact that they have been losing for over a century. The last time the Cubs won a World Series title was in 1908. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that’s 103 years. 103 years ago was the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. It’s hard for any fan to understand how badly that has hurt the team and the fans over the years. I want to say that 103 years is much longer than most lifetimes. It has been a very tough season not only for the players, but also for the fans.
The curses that have been hanging over the Cubs have been blamed most for all of the losses over the past century. The two famous ones are the curse of the billy goat and the curse of the black cat. The curse of the male goat is probably the most famous and talked about. The story is the following. In 1945, the Cubs reached the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. A local tavern owner, Billy Sianis, attended the game with his billy goat. Apparently, fans were outraged at having to deal with a billy goat in the game. They complained that the goat smelled bad, and eventually the Cubs’ owner told Billy Sianis that he and his goat had to go. Well, Billy Sianis was very upset about this and declared, “Those Cubs aren’t going to win anymore.” He also said, “You’re going to lose this World Series and you’re never going to win another World Series. You’re never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat.” He directed those comments at Phillip Wrigley, who owned the team at the time. The sad thing is that the Cubs lost that World Series and it was the last time a World Series game was played at Wrigley Field. A couple of things have been done to “reverse the curse”, so to speak. The Cubs organization even went so far as to let a billy goat roam the field at Wrigley Field. More recently, someone went a little too far when he hung a dead goat from the Haray Caray statue outside Wrigley Field. The other curse has to do with the black cat that ran in front of the Cubs’ dugout during a game in New York against the Mets. The Cubs looked good that season, but after the black cat incident they spent the rest of the season and ended up missing the playoffs. As much as fans would like to blame all these losses on curses, it’s pretty obvious that it can all be down to poor performance on the pitch. However, the curses have been a mental block for all Cubs fans. Fans will always look forward to the day the Cubs can “reverse the curse” and win a World Series title.
The closest the Chicago Cubs came to the World Series, in more recent years, was in 2003. The Cubs had a very strong team that year and found themselves one game away from a trip to the World Series when the unthinkable happened. It was Game 6 of the series against the Florida Marlins and the Cubs had to win one more game to get their ticket to the big stage. In the eighth inning of that game, a Marlins player hit what appeared to be a foul ball down the left field line. The ball was just down the line and the Cubs left fielder seemed to have a good chance to catch the ball until a fan walked up and grabbed the ball out of the air. Alou, who was playing left field, was outraged as he complained about the interference from fans. At the time the Cubs were only 4 outs away from reaching the World Series but after that incident they completely imploded, losing game 6 and also losing game 7. The fan name was Steve Bartman and it instantly became famous in a very bad way. After the Cubs lost the series, that moment was retitled “The Bartman Incident.” It was sad to see a fan who really wanted the Cubs to win being ridiculed for allegedly causing the Cubs to lose. The truth, and even the players will tell you that it was not his fault. Five years later, the left fielder even admitted that he had no chance of catching the ball anyway. No matter what anyone says, Cubs fans will always hate Steve Bartman. He even had to leave Chicago because of all the threats he was exposed to. The baseball that Bartman caught eventually redeemed itself and exploded in an attempt to somehow reverse the “Bartman incident” curse. Since that time, the Cubs have been in the playoffs but have yet to win a playoff game in multiple attempts. The “Bartman Incident” is a curse that will be right up there with the “Curse of the Billy Goat” and the “Black Cat” curse for years to come.
For any true fan or true baseball fan, the curses against the Cubs are not the reason they have lost for so long. I think it’s the general attitude in Chicago, whether it’s the attitude of the players, the organization or even the attitude of the fans. Every time the Cubs even smell the playoffs, all sorts of talk about the curses starts to come up. Winning the World Series is one of the toughest tasks in all of sports and the Cubs have fallen short more than anyone else. The right players, the right coaches and the right attitudes must be in place for the Cubs to win a World Series title. It’s not a matter of cursing, it’s a matter of success and execution on the baseball field. Every team that has a World Series has done it by having a good set of players working together to achieve the ultimate goal. I really think the Cubs will have opportunities in the future, but they have to get the right group of guys together to make it happen. I think the Cubs’ executives and coaches are going to make sure the right pieces are in place for the Cubs to win every year, it’s just going to be a matter of execution. Even though it’s been over a century, I truly believe that one day Cubs fans won’t have to “wait until next year.”
