
There were numerous attempts to reverse the curse over the years - including from Sianis himself before his death in 1970 - to no avail. And as the Cubs failed to win in the postseason, the curse only seemed to further legitimize itself and attract more believers. The Cubs hadn't won the World Series since 1908 - 37 years before Sianis' self-declared curse - but with each passing year, the legend continued to grow. Of course, in order for the curse to continue, the team had to keep the losing streak alive, and lose it did.
Seven of the most haunted venues in sports. They did everything they could to fan the flames of this thing and it was just marketed like crazy." Editor's Picks Then everything fell apart and it got basically reinstated and his nephew kept it going a long time too. In 1969, the Cubs were having a really, really good year and he said he was removing the curse. "He was known for being an incredible self-promoter and such a showman," said Mickey Bradley, co-author of the book, "Haunted Baseball." "He did everything he could do to promote his business. For years, Sianis shared his story with anyone who would listen and did whatever he could to perpetuate it. When he was asked to leave his seats, he knew it was an opportunity to get more attention for his establishment. Sianis owned the nearby Billy Goat Tavern and had brought Murphy, his pet goat, to the game wearing a sign for the bar. The answer is probably a little bit of both. As an angered Sianis left, he put a curse on the Cubs, damning their chances of winning the title.īut is it? Was the curse real or just a publicity stunt that became mainstream, thanks to the team's decades-long misfortune? During Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, local businessman William Sianis was thrown out of Wrigley Field after fellow spectators began complaining about the stench of the pet goat he had brought with him into the stadium.