The James Ray Baseball Page

By James Ray

Are the Chicago Cubs cursed? Nobody would have thought so 100 years ago. That’s because from 1906 through 1910, the Cubs were the best team in all of baseball. In 1906, they posted the game’s best-ever record when they won 116 games and lost only 36. Although they lost the 1906 World Series to their cross-town rival White Sox, the Cubs bounced back and won the Series in both 1907 and 1908, hammering Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers each time.

Cartainly, these Cubs were not cursed. These were the ‘Tinkers to Evers to Chance’ teams memorialized by Franklin Pierce Adams in his 1910 poem about the Cubs double play combination. These were the Cubs that won yet another pennant in 1910, and made it to a fourth World Series in five years, something only the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers have since accomplished. Although the Philadelphia Athletics won the Series in five games that year, the Chicago Cubs were still flying high and seemed anything but cursed.

Then everything began to change.

Another Curse of the Babe?

The Cubs went through a brief lull in the mid-teens, but rebounded in 1918 when they made it back to the Fall Classic. This time they were slated to play the Boston Red Sox, who were shooting for their fourth World Series in seven seasons. The starting pitcher for the Red Sox in Game 1 was a 23-year old pudgy lefthander named Babe Ruth. Although he’d won 24 games the year before, his baby-face and youthful exuberance prompted Chicago’s hard-nosed veterans to hurl embarassing insults and incendiary epithets at the young Bambino. Ruth ignored their jeers, proving his mettle with a complete game shutout in that first game.

Ruth’s peformance set the tone for the Series, as he and the rest of the Red Sox pitching staff held Chicago to just 1.6 runs per game as Boston took the Series 4 games to 2. Ruth himself went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 2 games and 17 innings. As he would prove years later, however, Babe Ruth was not done tormenting the Cubs.

Four More Crushing Defeats

The Cubs reached the World Series every three years from 1929 through 1938, and were beaten soundly each time. In all, Chicago lost 16 out of 19 games. The most interesting anecdote from this time period is an epic tale involving Babe Ruth, a pointed finger, and one very long home run. Here is how it usually goes.

During a Babe Ruth at-bat in Game 3 of the the 1932 Series, the Cubs bench players heckled him mercilessly for the first four pitches in his fifth inning at-bat against pitcher Charlie Root, who worked the slugger into a 2-2 count. What happened next seems to be determined by what the observers and historians chooses to believe.

Some say that Ruth extended his arm and pointed his finger toward the center field wall, thus calling his shot by predicting he would hit a home run to center field on the next pitch. Others say Ruth merely pointed his finger at the Cubs dugout in an act of mock aggression, continuing his jawing with the Chicago bench.

Eyewitnesses seem split down the middle, Yankee fans swear that Ruth called it and Cubs fans scoffing at the notion. A film of the event surfaced in the early 1990s, and Ruth can clearly be seen with him arm outstrecthed, pointing. But because of the angle of the camera, it is impossible to determine the direction in which the Babe was pointing. This, of course, only adds to the argument, and ultimately, to the entire myth.

Regardless of where George Herman Ruth really pointed that day, one thing is certain. On the next pitch, he hit a mammoth 490-foot home run over the center field wall. It was his second dinger of the game. In fact, the Babe dominated the Cubs in the ‘32 Series, batting .333, hitting 2 home runs, knocking in 6 RBI and scoring 6 runs in the Yankees four game sweep.

After Chicago was swept again in the 1938 Series, the team’s fan base became increasingly downhearted. They were beginning to wonder, “Was this team cursed?” After all, despite six trips to the World Series since their 1908 victory, the team had repeatedly come up empty. By the 1940s, fans in Boston were beginning to feel the Red Sox might be jinxed because the team sold Ruth before he truly hit his prime. Hence, “The Curse of the Bambino”. Perhaps, the same thing was going on in Chicago. Were the Cubs suffering from a curse of their own? Had somebody put the whammy on the Cubs?

Not yet.

By the early 40s, Cubs fans were growing frustrated with their favorite team’s repeated failures in the Fall Classic. On the other hand, although the team hadn’t won a World Series in 35 years, they had won National League pennants in that time; surely this was no spooked team. But soon, all of that would change. It would change when an angry Cubs fan would hit the team with the Curse of the Billy Goat.

The Goat Man Begins the Pennant Drought

Cub pride was at its height in 1945. The war was over, the boys were coming back, and the players wanted to put forth their best efforts for the eyes and ears of their country’s returning GIs. On top of that, more than 200 regular players would be filtering back into the Major Leagues after their service in World War II. This fact of life meant that a lot of the men palying in the World Series in 1945, may not even have a job in a ‘46 or ‘47. There was plenty of motivation to play all out.

The Cubs took two of the first three games, winning behind brilliant shutout pitching performances by Hank Borowy and Claude Passeau. Then came Game 4, a change of fortunes, and (perhaps) the birth of a curse.

As the story goes, Billy Sianis, who owned a nearby tavern, had two tickets to Game 4. For some reason, Billy decided to bring along his pet goat, whose name was Murphy, and whom Billy had restored to health when Murphy had fallen off a truck and then limped bleeding into Billy’s tavern.

At the game, the goat wore a blanket with a sign pinned to it which read “We Got Detroit’s Goat“. Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field and even paraded around the playing field before the game until ushers intervened and led them to their seats. Security initially allowed Billy and his goat to watch the contest. In the fourth inning, however, after receiving complaints about the animal’s odor, Cubs owner Philip Wrigley ejected both man and goat.

The Cubs lost the game and later lost the Series.

Sianis was outraged at his ejection and supposedly put a curse on the Cubs, decreeing that they would never play in another World Series at Wrigley Field. They never have. Incidentally, Sianis and his sons opened a chain of restaurants across the country under the franchise name The Billy Goat Tavern.

The Curse Lives On - A Black Cat in the Dugout

After almost 25 years near the bottom of the standings, the Cubs finally fielded a winner in 1969. The team included Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. They were managed by Leo Durocher. With all of that Hall of Fame talent, these Cubs seemed an unbeatable squad. At one point, they had an 8 1/2 game lead in the division.

By September 9, however, the Cubs lead had dropped to just one and a half games ahead of the Mets when the teams met in Shea Stadium. Midway through the critical game, fans at Shea Stadium surreptitiously released a black cat onto the field. For reasons known only to the cat, it made a beeline for Ron Santo as he stood in the on-deck circle. The cat cast a haunting glare at the All-Star third baseman, then headed for the Cubs dugout, where it stared down the Chicago players as it skulked back and forth, the whole Stadium watching, amazed at this odd turn of events.

Well, the Cubs lost the game and then completely collapsed in September. They posted an 8-17 record for the month and lost the East to Mets by eight games.

1984 saw more heartbreak as the Cubs won the National League East but fell to the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series. The Cubs won the first two games, but the Padres roared back, taking three straight from Chicago. Game 4 ended when the Padres Steve Garvey hit a walk-off homer. Game 5 was irretrievably damaged when Cubs first baseman Leon Durham committed a bad error that Cubs fans don’t need to hear about again.

Almost twenty years passed before anything really weird, or really heartbraking happened to the Cubs. Then, the 2003 playoffs came around.

One Poor Fan Tries to Catch a Foul Ball

Fast forward to the third year of the New Millenium. The Cubs had three of the best young pitchers in baseball with Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano. Their offense was led by Moises Alou and Sammy Sosa, the latter of whom had averaged .302, with 57 home runs and 135 RBI from 1998 through 2003.

Looking tough all the way, the Cubs won the National League Central, beat the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series and then took a 3 games to 2 lead over the young and inexperienced Florida Marlins.

By the time there was one out in the top of the eighth inning of Game 6, the Cubs held a 3-0 lead. Mark Prior was pitching a playoff masterpiece, having struck out 6 and surrendered just three hits up to that point in the game. A victory and a long awaited trip to the World Series seemed secure. But nothing is secure in baseball.

With Juan Pierre on second base, Florida’s Juan Castillo hit a long fly ball down the left field line. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou ran the ball down and stretched his glove towards the top of the wall, but his attempt to make a classic play was impeded by the hands of a fan named Steve Bartman.

Now, Steve Bartman is a lifelong Cubs fan who, by all accounts, wanted his team to reach the World Series as badly as any Chicago fan at Wrigley Field that night. No one has ever accused him of intentionally intefering with Alou. But he did intefere unintentionally, that is for sure. When Castillo’s fly ball sailed toward his seat which was located just a few feet parallel to the left field line, Bartman was watching the ball and not Mosies Alou. Alou was also watching the ball and leapt for it, seeming to have a good shot at reigning the ball in. But Steve Bartman got to it first, catching the ball right above Alou’s out-stretched glove. 40,000 fans in the Stadium moaned as if undergoing a dental procedure. Alou called for an inteference call. Neither got any relief.

When play was restored, it was clear that the gaffe had given the Marlins’ new life, and had somehow knocked the snot right out of the Cubs. It wasn’t just Prior’s fault, either. It was everyone. That entire team collapsed in front of a television nation that had taken their story to heart. Before the top of the eighth inning was over, the Cubs had given up eight runs and trailed 8-3.

They fell again the next night, losing the ultimate game 9-6, and adding a little more credibility to the Curse of the Cubs.

The 2007 Cubs got off to a terrible start, but as the All-Star break approaches, they seem to have put it together. Although they have a way to go before they catch the Brewers for the division lead, their recent play suggests they may get there. Unless, of course, Curse of the Cubs strikes again.

This article was first published by Mr. Ray on Suite101.com.

  The Tragic Joe Jackson

To understand the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal, it is necessary to look back to the 1917 White Sox team that won 100 games and captured the World Series. They were led by pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams, and superb hitters Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch. Similar players on other teams were earning up to $20,000 a year. Cicotte’s salary was $6,000. Williams made just $2,600, and Jackson earned $6,000. Believing that their World Series triumph justified a raise, the Sox asked owner Charles Comiskey for more money. Comiskey refused their request.

The players became furious, but they knew they couldn’t go anywhere. Not anywhere in baseball at least. Because of the reserve clause in every Major League contract, the players were bound to play for the White Sox in 1918. Furthermore, if they played for the Sox in 1918, they were also bound to the team for 1919 (and so on and so on.) Not too surprisingly, the team dropped from first place to sixth in the American League. That off-season, Comiskey cut the pay of several players.

 Conspirator Swede Risberg

The 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal Develops

Incredibly, the team banded together in 1919. They went 88-52 and won the American League pennant. They were once again the toast of the town. Fans loved the players, and they hated Comiskey, who continued with his shenanigans. For example, Cicotte was to receive an extra $10,000 if he won 30 games. The pitcher won his 29th game with two weeks left in the season. To avoid having to pay the pitcher, Comiskey allegedly ordered manager Kid Gleason to sit Cicotte so he couldn’t get his last win.

As the Series approached, fans and gamblers made Chicago the heavy favorite. Then, a local gambler named Sport Sullivan had a brainstorm. Sullivan thought if the Sox threw the Series, he could make a fortune by betting on the Reds. Sullivan knew first basemen Chick Gandil, and presented the idea to him. Gandil agreed that he would recruit several angry teammates to mutiny against Comiskey. Sullivan claimed he could get $100,000 from New York Gambler Arnold Rothstein to pay off the players. Risberg, McMullin, Williams, Felsch and Cicotte all signed on before the Series, and some received payments of $5,000. Pressure was also put on Shoeless Joe Jackson, who took the $5,000, and Weaver, who refused the money.

Rumors of the fix swirled throughout baseball. Baseball appointed Christy Mathewson and reporter Hugh Fullerton to monitor the games. At the end of each game, the two came up with the same list of apparently crooked players: Gandil, Ciccotte, Williams, Felsch, McMullin and Risberg. Although they heard Weaver and Jackson sold out, neither showed it on the field. Jackson hit .375 with the only home run of the Series. Weaver hit .324 with 4 doubles.

The Reds prevailed in the Series, 5 games to 3. As soon as the Series ended, rumors of the fix made became more and more of a public issue. Throughout the 1920 season, the newspapers questioned the legitimacy of the Series result and called for a grand jury investigation into the gambling allegations.

 The Right Hand of God’s Wrath?

The 1919 Black Sox Almost Get Away With It

During the grand jury investigation, Cicotte confessed to accepting the gambler’s money to throw the games that he had pitched. Jackson acknowledged taking the money, but denied that he played any less than his best. Weaver denied all involvement with the scheme. Right before the trial began, the confessions suddenly disappeared from the prosecutor’s office. Cicotte and Jackson recanted their confessions, and the judge threw the entire case out due to lack of evidence. Something was rotten in the City of Chicago.

However, the major leagues were not so forgiving. The damage to the sport caused the owners to appoint Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first Baseball Commissioner in 1920. The day after his appointment, Landis banned the eight implicated players for life, including future Hall of Famers Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte. Neither player has ever been reinstated.

Until the day that he died, Weaver continued to deny any involvement with the scandal. Shoeless Joe acknowledged taking money, but no one could ever prove that he was at all responsible for throwing the Series.

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This Article was first published by James Lincoln Ray at www.suite101.com

The Abner Doubleday Myth

There are many myths surrounding the origins of baseball. Many people believe that a young West Point Cadet named Abner Doubleday invented baseball one day in 1839 while in Cooperstown, New York. That is definitely not true. The Doubleday Myth was first created by a panel of “baseball experts” appointed to determine the origins of the game. The Commission based its conclusions on the testimony of one Abner Graves. History proved that Graves may not have been the most credible witness, however. Just a year later, Mr. Graves shot his wife, was declared criminally insane, and spent the rest of his life in a mental institution.Furthermore, when Doubleday died, he left behind thousands of personal letters. None of them mentioned baseball. It’s hard to believe that if the man invented the game, he wouldn’t have mentioned it at some point during his lifetime. It is now agreed that Abner Doubleday didn’t invent baseball.

This article was first published in the baseball section of Suite101.com.