| Major League Baseball, Post-Season, 2008 For Immediate Release |
Contact: Brad Tillery ( 517) 485-4500 ext. 233 |
Former Lugnuts try to break "Billy Goat Curse"
The legend goes back to 1945. The drought goes back to 1908. The sign beyond the right field wall provides a constant reminder of a century of disappointment. AC-00-62-99. Yet this post-season, the Chicago Cubs, lead by six former members of the Lansing Lugnuts, will attempt to do something that no other north-side nine has done since before World War I...win the World Series.
It can sometimes be hard for young players to understand the magnitude that winning a world championship for the Cubs would have. Since 1908, the last time that the Cubs won it all, so much has changed in the world. The Titanic was built and sank. There have been two world wars. Women were given the right to vote. The Great Depression stifled the country’s economy. The civil rights movement changed the United States. Man walked on the moon. The Cold War gripped the entire world. The internet and cell phones became necessities to keep up in an information driven society.
Baseball references alone can also assist in greater picture. Babe Ruth went from an uncouth orphan child to the most gigantic figure in baseball history. Baseball expanded from 16 to 30 teams. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. The Yankees won the World Series…26 times. Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs, only to be surpassed by Barry Bonds. 79 Stadiums have hosted a Major League franchise at some point.
The numbers are staggering. Yet it is the legend known as “The Curse of the Billy Goat” that has stood the test of time, best summing up the hardships that the Cubs and their fans have experienced over the last 100 season. The curse began in 1945, when the Cubs were hosting the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. It was Game Four at Wrigley Field and Billy Sianis decided to bring his pet goat Murphy. Murphy was wearing a sign that said “We’ve got Detroit’s goat” and paraded around the field before taking his seat (yes, the goat had a ticket to the game). After it began raining later in the game, Billy and Murphy were forced to leave the game by Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley, as other fans were objecting to the smell of the wet goat. Sianis was outraged by this ejection and allegedly placed a curse on the Cubs that stated the team would never win another pennant as long as they played at Wrigley Field. As of this moment, the curse still stands.
So how do six former members of the Lansing Lugnuts fit into all of this? How can they help to erase all of this history, which, if you believe it, states that they stand no chance of winning the title? It just so happens that these six men have been instrumental in the resurgence of the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano (1999), Ryan Theriot (2002-2003), Ronny Cedano (2001-2002), Carlos Marmol (2002-2004), Sean Marshall (2003-2004), and Felix Pie (2003). These are the six former Lugnuts that will try to reverse the curse. They have lead the Cubs to best record in the National League and head into their opening round series with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the favorites to represent the Senior Circuit in the World Series.
All of them came through Lansing. Three of them helped the Lugnuts win the Midwest League championship in 2003. It is by far the biggest collection of former Lugnuts on one Major League roster. But their task now is to deliver a fan base from the baseball wilderness and into a place that very few of them, if any, have ever seen the Cubs reach.
# # #