One True Curse

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Oct 19, 2006 10:17PM

As recently as 24 months ago, there were three baseball franchises whose fans blamed decades of World Series futility on curses. The Red Sox fans blamed the "curse of the Bambino," cast upon their franchise when the team's owner sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in order to finance a Broadway production. Since the Wilson administration, White Sox fans blamed their lack of a title on the "Black Sox" scandal, in which members of the 1919 team were accused of throwing the World Series. And the Cubs had their "Billy Goat" curse, cast upon the team after Vasili "Billy Goat" Sianis and his actual goat were denied admission to Wrigley Field for Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.

The Red Sox won the title in 2004, and our White Sox won it all last year, so two of the curses were broken. The Cubs' curse remains in effect, as the team approaches a full century without a title. Could their curse be the strongest of them all?

That hypothesis was strengthened this week, as ESPN.com's Paul Lukas's Uni Watch column uncovered some most interesting evidence. Photo evidence shows Bill Buckner wearing a Cubs batting glove on the field during his infamous error, which cost the Red Sox Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets later won Game 7 and the World Series.

While fans everywhere attributed that play to the Bambino curse, could Buckner's error have been caused by the Billy Goat instead? Seems plausible to us! That would explain how the Red Sox won the title in 2004, while the Cubs saw their curse rear its ugly head as recently as 2003. What hat was Steve Bartman wearing? Case closed!