The Chicago Cubs 107-year title drought might be coming to an end as they are the favorites to win the 2016 World Series.
Yes, you read that right: The Chicago Cubs are the favorites to win this year’s World Series. The same Cubs that have not won a World Series since 1908 or played in one since 1945.
According to ESPN and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, the Cubs have a 10-1 chance of winning this year. It’s not just ESPN and Westgate that have the Cubs winning, other sites such as Bovada.com have Chicago’s odds at 6-1.
We can choose to believe in odds or we can choose to believe in history. I’ll go with history.
The last time the Cubs had a chance to win, a fan by the name of Steve Bartman became the most hated man in Chicago when he ended those dreams by reaching out for a ball that he didn’t realize was still in play. Bartman’s interference ruined Cubs outfielder Moises Alou’s chances to make a play on.
Since then the Cubs and their fans had to watch as other teams won the title. They got a little hope when the Red Sox won in 2004, but since then they have been quiet.
It’s hard to believe in a team that was allegedly cursed by simply kicking out a smelly goat. For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, I am talking about the famous “Curse of the Billy Goat.”
The curse was placed on the Cubs during game four of the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers after Billy Sianis was kicked out of the game because his pet goat’s odor was bothering other fans. Sianis who was angered, allegedly stated the Cubs would never win again and that is how the curse started.
It’s kind of funny to think that an actual franchise could have supposedly been cursed by kicking out a fan and his smelly goat. It’s even funnier to know that the Cubs tried to break the curse several ways such as bringing Sianis’ nephew to the field on opening day two different times, Cubs’ fans trying to enter the Houston Astros field with a billy goat or having a priest spray holy water on the dugout during the 2008 postseason.
Maybe this is the year the Cubs finally break the curse, but some fans would disagree – just ask Giants’ fans. That’s not to say the Cubs haven’t built a solid team or that their current crop of players don’t have what it takes, but very few teams who have started as favorites to win have won it all.
So for all the Cubs’ fans, keep the hope alive and pray that the Billy Goat Curse is lifted and that the 107-year title drought is over.
Carlos Islas can be reached at [email protected] or @cIslasReports on Twitter.
