On April 17th, 1945, a man by the name of William Sianis brought a live goat to the gates of Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The goat was wearing a blanket that read, “We Got Detroit’s Goat.” Sianis then attempted to enter the stadium while carrying the goat, but was refused entry due to a city ordinance that prohibited livestock from being brought into the stadium. The crowd of fans outside the stadium started chanting for Sianis, and the crowd inside the stadium was chanting, “Let the goat in!”
Sianis was the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, a small pub near Wrigley Field. He was a die-hard Cubs fan, and had brought the goat to the game as a good luck charm for the Cubs. Unfortunately, the Cubs lost the game that day, and Sianis reportedly put a curse on the team that stated, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” The curse was believed to be the reason for the Cubs’ long string of bad luck that lasted for over 50 years.
Sianis’ goat, named Murphy, became an iconic symbol of the Cubs’ bad luck. The curse was eventually broken in 2016 when the Cubs won the World Series. To this day, Sianis’ goat is still remembered as an integral part of Cubs lore.
The Unusual Moment When a Goat Was Brought Into Wrigley Field
The unusual sight of a goat being brought into the Wrigley Field baseball stadium is one that still has many Cubs fans in Chicago talking today. The incident happened in 1945 during the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. During the sixth inning of the first game of the series, a local man named Bill Sianis brought a pet goat named Murphy into the stadium. He had a ticket for the goat, and the ticket-taker allowed him in. Sianis wanted to bring his goat to bring his team luck, and while the Cubs did go on to win the game, they ultimately lost the series.
The incident became known as the Curse of the Billy Goat and is a popular topic of conversation among Cubs fans. It is widely believed that the incident caused the Cubs to lose the series, and to lose the World Series for the next 71 years. The goat and his owner were eventually ejected from the stadium, and it is believed that as Sianis was leaving he cursed the Cubs, stating that the Cubs will never win the World Series as long as the goat was not allowed to stay.
The incident has been memorialized in many ways over the years, with the Chicago Cubs even going so far as to erect a statue of the goat outside the stadium in 2013 to mark the 100th anniversary of the curse. While the curse still remains, it has been a source of entertainment and conversation for Cubs fans for over 70 years and it is unlikely to go away anytime soon.
The Story Behind the Famous Wrigley Field Goat Incident
The goat has been a part of the Chicago Cubs lore since the 1940s. Bill Billy Goat Sianis, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, is credited with bringing the first goat, Murphy, to a World Series game at Wrigley Field in 1945. The story goes that Sianis was asked to leave the game because of the smell the goat was creating. Sianis was said to have cursed the team, saying Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more, and thus began the Curse of the Billy Goat.
The incident has since become legendary, with the goat being a part of many Cubs games. In 1984, a fan named Steve Barth brought a goat to a game at Wrigley Field, prompting security to remove him from the stadium. Barth and the goat, who he named Wrigley, were able to watch the game on a television outside the stadium, but the incident was seen as the continuation of the curse.
Since then, the Chicago Cubs have tried to appease the goat curse and even held a Goat Day at Wrigley Field in 2006. The team has also erected the statue of the billy goat outside the stadium, in an effort to break the curse. The statue is a reminder of the famous goat incident and the team’s attempt to move on with its history.
The story of the goat at Wrigley Field has become a part of baseball lore and has been featured in movies, television shows, and books. It has also been immortalized in songs, such as Steve Goodman’s A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request, which includes the line But it’s all right now, I’ve got my plastic goat/Let them all come see the famous Wrigley Field goat.
It is believed that the goat was brought by local tavern owner Billy Sianis as a good-luck charm for his team.
The goat was brought to Wrigley Field in 1945 for a World Series game.
The goat was brought by local tavern owner Billy Sianis.
The goat was escorted out of the stadium shortly after it arrived, and it has become a source of folklore.
Yes, the goat was named Murphy.
Billy Sianis believed that the goat was a good luck charm, and that it would bring his team to victory.
No, the team lost the game, and the goat has since become a source of bad luck among the Chicago Cubs.
The goat has become a source of folklore and legend among the Chicago Cubs.
The goat has become an unofficial mascot of sorts, representing the bad luck that the team has had since 1945.
The current whereabouts of the goat is unknown, but its legacy as an unofficial mascot continues today.