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{{Short description|Superstition in American baseball}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
The '''Curse of the Billy Goat''' was a [[sports-related curses|sports curse]] that was supposedly placed on the [[Chicago Cubs]] [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) franchise in 1945, by [[Billy Goat Tavern]] owner William Sianis. The curse lasted 71 years, from 1945 to 2016. During Game 4 of the [[1945 World Series]] at [[Wrigley Field]], Sianis's pet [[goat]], named Murphy, was bothering other fans, and so the pair were asked to leave the stadium.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ferraro|first1=Michael X.|last2=Veneziano|first2=John|title=Numbelievable!|page=119|publisher=Triumph Books|location=Chicago|year=2007|isbn=978-1-57243-990-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Mark|title=Will the Cubs break the Curse of the Billy Goat in the 'Year of the Goat?'|url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/will-the-cubs-break-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat-in-the-year-of-the-goat/c-109699372|publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]|website=MLB.com|date=February 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221081250/http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/02/19/109699372/will-the-cubs-break-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat-in-the-year-of-the-goat|archive-date=February 21, 2015|access-date=May 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more", which had been interpreted to mean that the Cubs would never win another [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) [[List of National League pennant winners|pennant]], at least for the remainder of Sianis's life.

The Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to the [[1945 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]], and did not win a pennant or [[List of World Series champions|World Series championship]] again until 2016. The Cubs had last won the World Series in 1908. After the incident with Sianis and Murphy, the Cubs did not play in the World Series for the next 71 years until, on the 46th anniversary of William Sianis's death,<ref name="SianisLegacy">{{cite news|title=Celebrity Deaths: William Sianis and the Curse of the Billy Goat|url=http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/william-sianis-and-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat|website=Legacy.com|access-date=October 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023133412/http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/william-sianis-and-the-curse-of-the-billy-goat|archive-date=October 23, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason droughts#Longest World Series championship droughts through history|"curse"]] was broken when they defeated the [[2016 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] 5–0 in Game 6 of the [[2016 National League Championship Series]] to win the NL pennant.<ref name="CubsWinNLPennant">{{cite news|last1=Gurnick|first1=Ken|last2=Muskat|first2=Carrie|title=Wait of the World: Cubs win NL pennant!|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/cubs-beats-dodgers-in-game-6-to-win-nl-pennant/c-206880270|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|website=MLB.com|date=October 23, 2016|access-date=October 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502140246/https://www.mlb.com/news/cubs-beats-dodgers-in-game-6-to-win-nl-pennant/c-206880270|archive-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Cubs then defeated the [[American League]] (AL) [[List of American League pennant winners|champion]] [[2016 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] 8–7 in 10 innings in Game 7 to win the World Series, 108 years after their last win.<ref name="CubsWinWorldSeries">{{cite news|last1=Bastian|first1=Jordan|last2=Muskat|first2=Carrie|title=Cubs are heavy wait champions!|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/chicago-cubs-win-2016-world-series/c-207938228|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|website=MLB.com|date=November 2, 2016|access-date=November 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502140432/https://www.mlb.com/news/chicago-cubs-win-2016-world-series/c-207938228|archive-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Origins of the curse==
The exact nature of Sianis's curse differs in various accounts of the incident. Some state that he declared that no World Series games would ever again be played at Wrigley Field, while others believe that his ban was on the Cubs appearing in the World Series, making no mention of a specific venue. Sianis's family claims that he dispatched a telegram to team owner [[Philip K. Wrigley]] that read, “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.”<ref name="Selzer2014">{{cite book|author=Adam Selzer|title=Chronicles of Old Chicago: Exploring the History and Lore of the Windy City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPEiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|date=1 July 2014|publisher=Museyon Inc|isbn=978-0-9846334-8-7|page=156|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527003840/https://books.google.com/books?id=SPEiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|archive-date=27 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Avila|first=Michael|title=Are the Chicago Cubs Really Cursed?|url=http://www.livescience.com/32802-are-the-chicago-cubs-really-cursed.html|website=[[LiveScience]]|date=September 2, 2010|access-date=August 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121061418/http://www.livescience.com/32802-are-the-chicago-cubs-really-cursed.html|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Whatever the truth, the Cubs were up two games to one in the 1945 World Series, but ended up losing Game 4, as well as the best-of-seven series, four games to three. The curse was immortalized in newspaper columns over the years, particularly by syndicated columnist [[Mike Royko]]. The curse gained widespread attention during the 2003 postseason, when [[Major League Baseball on Fox|Fox]] television commentators played it up during the Cubs-[[2003 Florida Marlins season|Marlins]] matchup in the [[2003 National League Championship Series|National League Championship Series]] (NLCS).<ref>{{cite video|title=Major League Baseball on Fox: Game 6 of 2003 National League Championship Series|publisher=Fox Sports|date=October 14, 2003|medium=television}}</ref> According to an account in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times|Chicago Sun]]'' of October 7, 1945, the goat was turned away at the gate, and Sianis left the goat tied to a stake in a parking lot and went into the game alone. There was mention of a lawsuit, but no mention of a curse.

Between their 1908 triumph, which was the Cubs' second world championship (they'd also won the Series in [[1907 World Series|1907]] to become baseball's first back-to-back winners as well as the first franchise to appear in three consecutive World Series), and 1945, the first year of the alleged Billy Goat Curse, the Cubs won the National League pennant six times but failed to win the Series: in [[1910 World Series|1910]], in [[1918 World Series|1918]] (won by the [[1918 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] who themselves would soon become victims of an alleged baseball [[Curse of the Bambino|curse]] and not win another Series for 86 years), in [[1929 World Series|1929]], in [[1932 World Series|1932]] (known for [[Babe Ruth's called shot]] at Wrigley Field), in [[1935 World Series|1935]] (a rematch of the 1908 series against the [[1935 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]], with the Tigers winning this time, their first Series triumph in five appearances dating back to the early 1900s), and in [[1938 World Series|1938]].

==Alleged curse incidents==
In the years that followed the alleged curse, the following incidents have been attributed to it:
* On September 9, 1969, at [[Shea Stadium]], the [[1969 Chicago Cubs season|Cubs]] played the [[1969 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] in a critical pennant race game. A stray [[black cat]] walked between Cubs captain [[Ron Santo]], who was on deck, and the Cubs dugout. The Mets pulled ahead of the Cubs in the series and eventually won both the newly formed [[National League East|NL East]] and the [[1969 World Series]].<ref>{{cite news|title=On Friday the 13th, let's revisit the Cubs' 'Black Cat Game'|url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/remembering-the-cubs-black-cat-game-on-friday-the-13th/c-177833950|publisher=MLB Advanced Media|date=May 13, 2016|access-date=November 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502140204/https://www.mlb.com/cut4/remembering-the-cubs-black-cat-game-on-friday-the-13th/c-177833950|archive-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In [[1984 Chicago Cubs season|1984]], the Cubs’ first postseason appearance since 1945 was dashed by the [[1984 San Diego Padres season|San Diego Padres]] in the [[1984 National League Championship Series|National League Championship Series]]. The Cubs were victorious in the first two games of the best-of-five series. However, in Game Five, first baseman [[Leon Durham]] let a ground ball get past his allegedly wet glove in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Padres went on to score four runs to win the game and the series.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Fred|title=Durham doesn't think much of error in '84 playoffs|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/05/04/durham-doesnt-think-much-of-error-in-84-playoffs/|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 4, 2012|access-date=November 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104002923/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-04/sports/ct-spt-0505-mitchell-cubs-leon-durham-chicago--20120505_1_cubs-fans-mookie-wilson-error|archive-date=November 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Bill Buckner]] played for the Chicago Cubs for seven seasons before being traded to the [[1984 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] halfway through the 1984 season. The Red Sox were at the time also considered a [[Curse of the Bambino|cursed franchise]], and had not won a World Series since 1918 – when, coincidentally, they had beaten the Cubs. Buckner and the [[1986 Boston Red Sox season|Red Sox]] advanced to the [[1986 World Series]] against the [[1986 New York Mets season|New York Mets]], and took a 3–2 series lead coming into [[1986 World Series#Game 6|Game 6]]. On October 25, 1986, in one of the most famous baseball errors of all time, Buckner allowed a ball to pass between his legs at first base, allowing the Mets to score the winning run in the 10th inning and win Game 6. Later analysis of a photograph of Buckner walking off the field after his blooper showed that he had been wearing a Cubs batting glove under his glove at the moment he committed his error.<ref>{{cite web|title=Photo Reveals Double Curse in 1986|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/061018/|work=ESPN.com|access-date=October 6, 2016}}</ref>
* In [[1989 Chicago Cubs season|1989]], the Cubs won 93 games and faced the [[1989 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]] in the [[1989 National League Championship Series|NLCS]], now a best-of-seven series. After splitting the first two games at home, the Cubs headed to the Bay Area, where despite holding a lead at some point in each of the next three games, bullpen meltdowns and managerial blunders ultimately led to three straight losses.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Youth Movement Leads The 1989 Chicago Cubs To An NL East Title |date=7 December 2014 |url=https://thesportsnotebook.com/1989-chicago-cubs-sports-history-articles/ |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>
* In [[1998 Chicago Cubs season|1998]], behind NL MVP [[Sammy Sosa]], the Cubs won the [[Major League Baseball Wild Card|Wild Card]] after winning a tiebreaker game versus the Giants. However, they were swept in the [[1998 National League Division Series|National League Division Series]] by the [[1998 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1998 Chicago Cubs |url=http://www.thisdayinchicagocubshistory.com/1998-Chicago-Cubs.html |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>
* In [[2001 Chicago Cubs season|2001]], the Cubs led the wild card race by 2.5 games in early September, but a three-run walk-off homer by [[Preston Wilson]] halted the team's momentum. The team ended up finishing 88–74, five [[games behind]] both the [[2001 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]] and [[2001 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]], who tied for first.<ref name="14CubsPennant">{{cite web |title=14 Cubs pennant races since 1969: Seasons of agony ... and then ecstasy |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=11 September 2017 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-cubs-pennant-races-spt-0912-20170911-story.html |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>
* In [[2003 Chicago Cubs season|2003]], the Cubs won the [[National League Central Division|NL Central]] and beat the [[2003 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] in the [[2003 National League Division Series|NLDS]] for their first postseason win since 1908. Advancing to the [[2003 National League Championship Series|NLCS]] to face the [[2003 Florida Marlins season|Florida Marlins]], the Cubs held a three games to two lead in the [[Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff|best of seven series]] heading into Game 6. In the eighth [[inning]] of Game 6, with Chicago ahead 3–0, several spectators attempted to catch a [[foul ball]] off the bat of Marlins second baseman [[Luis Castillo (second baseman)|Luis Castillo]]. One of the fans, [[Steve Bartman]], reached for the ball, deflecting it and disrupting a potential catch by Cubs outfielder [[Moisés Alou]]. If Alou had caught the ball, it would have been the second out in the inning and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning their first [[List of National League pennant winners|National League pennant]] since 1945. Instead, the Cubs ended up surrendering eight runs in the inning, in part due to an error by shortstop [[Alex Gonzalez (shortstop, born 1973)|Alex Gonzalez]] on a potential double play ball two batters later, and losing the game, 8–3. When they were eliminated in the seventh game the next night, the incident was seen as the "first domino" in the turning point of the series.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Baseball fan feels Chicago's fury|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3200582.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|date=October 17, 2003|access-date=July 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217065547/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3200582.stm|archive-date=December 17, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In [[2004 Chicago Cubs season|2004]], the Cubs were picked by many media outlets as a favorite to win the World Series. However, the team struggled with injuries and inconsistent play for most of the year. Nevertheless, by late September, the Cubs were leading the Wild Card race by 1.5 games over the [[2004 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]] and the [[2004 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]], but in their game on September 25, they collapsed in extra innings and they proceeded to drop six of the last eight games as the Astros won the Wild Card.<ref name="14CubsPennant"/>
* The Cubs won their division in both [[2007 Chicago Cubs season|2007]] and [[2008 Chicago Cubs season|2008]], but were swept in the NLDS both years by the [[2007 Arizona Diamondbacks season|Arizona Diamondbacks]] and [[2008 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] respectively.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wait Till 101st Year: Dodgers Eliminate Cubs |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 October 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/sports/baseball/05dodgers.html |access-date=28 August 2020|last1=Kepner |first1=Tyler }}</ref> Between the 1984 NLCS, the 1989 NLCS, the 2007 NLDS, the 2008 NLDS, the Cubs did not win a postseason game on the road in a [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] city. 
* In [[2015 Chicago Cubs season|2015]], the Cubs finished second in the National League Wild Card race and defeated the [[2015 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] in the [[2015 National League Wild Card Game|Wild Card Game]] and the [[2015 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] in the [[2015 National League Division Series|NLDS]] to advance to the [[2015 National League Championship Series|NLCS]] against the [[2015 New York Mets season|New York Mets]]. However, the Cubs posted an NLCS record low .164 [[Batting average (baseball)|batting average]] and lost the series in a four-game sweep without ever leading at any point.<ref name="14CubsPennant"/> Sianis's goat was named Murphy. This was referenced by fans of the [[New York Mets]], who joked that [[Daniel Murphy (baseball)|Daniel Murphy]], the Mets second baseman and series MVP, was "not the first GOAT (Greatest of All Time, in reference to Murphy's postseason heroics to that point) named Murphy to keep the Cubs out of the World Series".<ref>{{cite news|last=Berg|first=Ted|title=The Cubs' infamously exiled billy goat was also named 'Murphy'|url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/10/chicago-cubs-daniel-murphy-new-york-mets-billy-goat-nlcs-mlb|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=October 18, 2015|access-date=July 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810131455/http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/10/chicago-cubs-daniel-murphy-new-york-mets-billy-goat-nlcs-mlb|archive-date=August 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Attempts to break the curse==
Before his death on October 22, 1970, William Sianis himself attempted to lift the curse. Sam Sianis, his nephew, has gone to Wrigley Field with a goat multiple times in attempts to break the curse, including on [[Opening Day]] in 1984 and again in 1989, both years in which the Cubs went on to win their division. In 1994, Sam Sianis went again, with a goat, to stop a home losing streak, and in 1998 for the [[1998 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game|Wild Card tie-breaker game]], which the Cubs won.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Billy Goat Curse|url=http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/curse/|publisher=The World-Famous Billy Goat Tavern|date=August 14, 2015|access-date=August 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812022036/http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/curse/|archive-date=August 12, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003 (the [[Chinese zodiac|Chinese zodiac's]] [[Goat (zodiac)|Year of the Goat]]), a group of Cubs fans headed to [[Houston]] with a billy goat named "Virgil Homer" and attempted to gain entrance to [[Minute Maid Park]], home of the [[Houston Astros|Astros]], division rivals of the Cubs at the time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Woe is us; A look at the curses|date=October 16, 2004|newspaper=USA Today|page=C2}}</ref> After they were denied entrance, they unfurled a scroll, read a verse and proclaimed they were "reversing the curse". The Cubs won the [[National League Central|division]] that year and then came within five outs of playing in the World Series, but were undone by the [[2003 Florida Marlins season|Florida Marlins]]' eight-run rally immediately following the [[Steve Bartman incident]]. The Cubs then lost the following game and with it the series. (The Marlins went on to win the [[2003 World Series|World Series]] against the [[2003 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]].) Further salting the wound, the Astros earned their first World Series berth [[2005 World Series|two years later]] and their crosstown rival the [[2005 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]] won the series.

On February 26, 2004, at the Harry Caray Restaurant in downtown Chicago, the Bartman baseball was electrocuted in an attempt to break the curse, leaving nothing but a heap of string behind.

In another bizarre twist, it was reported that a butchered goat was hung from the [[Harry Caray]] statue on October 3, 2007, to which ''[[The Chicago Sun-Times]]'' noted: "If the prankster intended to reverse the supposed billy goat curse with the stunt, it doesn't appear to have worked."<ref name=hung>{{cite news|last=Toomey|first=Shamus|title=Dead goat hung from Harry statue|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=October 6, 2007}}</ref> While the Cubs did win the NL Central division title in 2007 and 2008, they were swept in the first round of the postseason in both years: by the [[2007 Arizona Diamondbacks season|Arizona Diamondbacks]] in [[2007 National League Division Series|2007]] and the [[2008 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] in [[2008 National League Division Series|2008]]. The elimination by Arizona came on October 6, the same date that the goat appeared at Wrigley Field in 1945.<ref>{{cite news|title=Castilla Back With Rockies In New Role|date=October 7, 2007|first=Barry|last=Svrluga|newspaper=Washington Post|page=D6}}</ref> The act was repeated before the home opener in 2009; this time a goat's butchered head was hung from the statue.  The act was futile as the Cubs were eliminated from postseason contention on September 26, 2009.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Paul|title=CUBS 6, GIANTS 2; Eliminating the negative; Late hot streak minus Bradley is positive, but Cards clinch anyway|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=September 27, 2009|page=9}}</ref>

In 2008, a Greek Orthodox priest sought to end the curse during the 2008 playoffs with a spraying of holy water in and around the Cubs dugout to no avail.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQZJbCrH5w|title=Priest Blesses Chicago Cubs Dugout With Holy Water|date=20 January 2009|work=YouTube|access-date=21 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210020610/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQZJbCrH5w|archive-date=10 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 1, 2011, a social enterprise called Reverse The Curse, dedicated to bringing innovations to poverty by giving goats to families in developing countries, was initiated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reverse the Curse|url=http://www.reversethecursechicago.com/about|publisher=Reverse The Curse Chicago|date=August 14, 2015|access-date=August 14, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709001507/http://reversethecursechicago.com/about/|archive-date=July 9, 2015}}</ref> The goats provide the families with milk, cheese, and alternative income to help lift them out of poverty. Reverse The Curse has expanded into reversing the "curses" that afflict the world's children in education and obesity.

On February 25, 2012, a group of five Chicago Cubs fans calling themselves ''Crack the Curse'' set out on foot from [[Mesa, Arizona]] (home to the Cubs' [[spring training]] facilities) to Wrigley Field. They brought along a goat named Wrigley who they believed would be able to break the Curse of the Billy Goat upon arrival at Wrigley Field. Additionally, they attempted to raise $100,000 for the [[Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Stephen|title=Cubs fans and goat walk from Ariz. to Chicago to crack the team's curse|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cubs-fans-and-goat-walk-from-ariz-to-chicago-to-crack-the-teams-curse/|work=[[CBS News]]|date=May 29, 2012|access-date=May 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502070247/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cubs-fans-and-goat-walk-from-ariz-to-chicago-to-crack-the-teams-curse/|archive-date=May 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 10, 2013, a severed goat's head was delivered to the Cubs in a possible effort to lift the curse on the team. It was addressed to Cubs owner [[Thomas S. Ricketts]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Brumfield|first=Ben|title=Severed goat's head at Wrigley Field mirrors curse on Chicago Cubs|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/11/justice/chicago-goat-curse/index.html|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=April 11, 2013|access-date=October 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305134729/http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/11/justice/chicago-goat-curse/index.html|archive-date=March 5, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 22, 2015, [[Patrick Bertoletti]], Tim Brown, [[Takeru Kobayashi]], [[Kevin Strahle]] and [[Bob Shoudt]] consumed a 40-pound goat in 13 minutes and 22 seconds at Taco in a Bag restaurant in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|author=Fox News|title=Competitive eaters devour goat meat to break Cubs. However at the end the New York Mets beat the Cubs and loss the NL championship in 2015 (which later the Kansas City Royals win the World seeies of 2015.curse|url=https://nypost.com/2015/09/24/competitive-eaters-devour-goat-meat-to-break-chicago-cubs-curse/|newspaper=[[New York Post]]|date=September 24, 2015|access-date=October 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027215728/http://nypost.com/2015/09/24/competitive-eaters-devour-goat-meat-to-break-chicago-cubs-curse/|archive-date=October 27, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Former Cubs who won a World Series title elsewhere==
{{see also|Ex-Cubs Factor}}

Another factor that may have played a role in the curse was the number of players (44 of them are listed below) who won World Series titles after leaving the Cubs. These players include [[Andy Pafko]] (who, coincidentally, played in the 1945 World Series as a member of the Cubs), [[Gene Baker]], [[Smoky Burgess]], [[Don Hoak]], [[Dale Long]], [[Lou Brock]] (whose first title was in {{wsy|1964}} after [[Brock for Broglio|a mid-season trade]] to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]]), [[Barney Schultz]], [[Lou Johnson]], [[Jim Brewer (baseball)|Jim Brewer]], [[Moe Drabowsky]], [[Don Cardwell]], [[Ken Holtzman]], [[Billy North]], [[Fred Norman (baseball)|Fred Norman]], [[Bill Madlock]], [[Manny Trillo]], [[Greg Gross]], [[Rick Monday]], [[Burt Hooton]], [[Bruce Sutter]], [[Willie Hernández]], [[Milt Wilcox]], [[Joe Niekro]], [[Dennis Eckersley]] (he made three consecutive World Series with Oakland, winning the middle bid in 1989), [[Billy Hatcher]], [[Joe Carter]] (who hit a walk-off home run that won Toronto the World Series in 1993), [[Greg Maddux]], [[Dwight Smith (baseball)|Dwight Smith]], [[Joe Girardi]] (as both a player and a manager), [[José Vizcaíno]], [[Glenallen Hill]] (after his second stint with the Cubs; his title came in {{wsy|2000}} after a mid-season trade), [[Luis Gonzalez (outfielder, born 1967)|Luis Gonzalez]] (who hit the walk-off bloop single that won Arizona the World Series in 2001), [[Mike Morgan (baseball)|Mike Morgan]], [[Mark Grace]], [[Mark Bellhorn]], [[Bill Mueller]] (drove in speedy pinch runner Dave Roberts to spark [[2004 American League Championship Series|Boston's epic comeback in the 2004 ALCS]]), [[Scott Eyre]] (whose title came in {{wsy|2008}} after he had been traded from the Cubs during the season), [[Tom Gordon]], [[Matt Stairs]], [[Jamie Moyer]], [[Jerry Hairston Jr.]], [[Mark DeRosa]], [[Mike Fontenot]], [[Ryan Theriot]], [[Ángel Pagán]], and, in 2013, [[Ryan Dempster]]. [[Dontrelle Willis]] and [[Jon Garland]] were traded as minor leaguers (coincidentally, Willis won a World Series ring with the Marlins team that defeated the Cubs in the 2003 NLCS). [[Tim Lincecum]], who went on to win three World Series titles, was originally drafted by the Cubs, but he did not sign with them.<ref>{{cite web|title=2003 First-Year Player Draft Tracker|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/draftday/search.jsp?sc=round&sp=48|publisher=MLB Advanced Media, LP|date=June 4, 2003|access-date=August 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105170204/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/draftday/search.jsp?sc=round&sp=48|archive-date=November 5, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

==End of the curse==
[[File:The Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians play Game 7 of the World Series at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 2, 2016. (K.Farabaugh-VOA).jpg|thumb|Cubs and Indians play Game 7 of the 2016 World Series]]
{{main article|2016 Chicago Cubs season|2016 National League Championship Series|2016 World Series}}
The Cubs ended the [[2016 Chicago Cubs season|2016 season]] with a {{Win–loss record|w=103|l=58}} ({{winpct|103|58}}) record.  It was their first 100-win season since [[1935 Chicago Cubs season|1935]] ({{Win–loss record|w=100|l=54}}, {{winpct|100|54}}), their best since [[1910 Chicago Cubs season|1910]] ({{Win–loss record|w=104|l=50}}, {{winpct|104|50}}), and the sixth 100-win season in franchise history.

The Cubs won the [[2016 National League Championship Series|National League Championship Series]] (NLCS), their first pennant in 71 years, with a 5–0 shutout in Game 6 against the [[2016 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] at [[Wrigley Field]] on October 22, 2016; the "curse" was broken on the 46th anniversary of Billy Sianis's death.<ref name="SianisLegacy" /><ref name="CubsWinNLPennant" />

The Cubs beat the [[2016 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] in the [[2016 World Series]] in seven games after trailing in the series 3 games to 1. They won Game 7 by a score of 8–7 in 10 innings at [[Progressive Field]] in [[Cleveland|Cleveland, Ohio]], ending their 108-year drought.<ref name="CubsWinWorldSeries" />

== In popular culture ==
The 1989 film ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]'' depicts the Cubs defeating the Miami Gators, a fictional baseball team, in the 2015 World Series, which ended the longest drought in all four of the [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|North American professional sports leagues]].<ref name=snopes>{{cite web |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/back-to-the-future-prediction/ |title=Did 'Back to the Future II' Correctly Predict Cubs World Series Win in 2015? |website=[[Snopes]] |first=David |last=Mikkelson |date=December 7, 1997 |access-date=May 8, 2024}}</ref> In reality, however, the Cubs were eliminated from the [[Major League Baseball postseason|playoffs]] by the Mets on October 21, 2015.<ref name=espn>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/351021116/mets-cubs |title=Mets 8-3 Cubs (Oct 21, 2015) Final Score |work=[[ESPN]] |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=May 8, 2024}}</ref> When the Cubs won the World Series the following year, the ''Back to the Future'' Twitter account tweeted that the prediction was one year off due to the [[1994–95 Major League Baseball strike]].<ref name=bttfTwitter>{{cite tweet |user=BackToTheFuture |number=794184901255954432 |author=''Back to the Future''{{TM}} |title=The space-time continuum was disrupted by the 1994 baseball strike, causing this alternate reality where the @Cubs win in 2016, not 2015.}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball|Chicago}}
* [[Baseball superstition]]
* [[Ex-Cubs Factor]]
* [[Sports-related curses]]
* [[Curse of the Bambino]]
* [[Curse of Rocky Colavito]]
* [[Curse of Billy Penn]]
* [[Curse of Shoeless Joe]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.mlb.com/cubs/video/curse-of-the-billygoat-/c-3495139 Video from the Chicago Cubs' official website detailing the history of the Billy Goat curse]
*Jack Bales, "[http://wrigleyivy.com/a-so-called-curse/ A So-Called Curse,"] [http://wrigleyivy.com/ WrigleyIvy.com].

{{Chicago Cubs}}
{{Sports-related curses}}
{{authority control}}

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