By Aaron Hanania
When Goats, movies, interviews and even a little strange math can predict which team might win the World Series in baseball, that is cool. When a movie that is over 20 years old can accurately predict the year the Cubs win the World Series, that is tough and rare.
Over 100 years later, the Chicago Cubs are finally making their way towards the World Series. It has been 12 years since we last were in the playoffs but the last time we did, we did not get very far.
That is what Joe Maddon and the Cubs Franchise owners want to change.
Wait wait, hold on! Lets step back in time to the last time we won the World Series. It is Sunday, October 11th, 1908, the day after the Cubs Won the World Series. Everybody was happy except the Tigers who lost. Ironically the Cubs Wild Card game started at 7:08 pm, which many pointed out in “military time” equals 19:08.
Hmmmmm!
Now, go back to the future from 1908, 37 years later. It is October 6th, and game 4 of the 1945 World Series again with the Cubs and Tigers.
A man by the name of William Sianis who owned the Billy Goat Tavern (where my dad used to eat burgers as a City Hall reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times) tried to bring his goat to the Cubs ballgame. His goat was denied entrance and he got upset. He eventually said that the cubs will not win anymore, and he placed the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Cubs.
It’s been an excuse for losing ever since. (Of course, no one seemed to notice that there were no excuses during the 37 years prior to that curse being made.)
Hmmmmmm!
Now back to the future, to the modern-day, today. I recently got the rare opportunity to interview Anthony Rizzo, the amazing and young First Baseman for the Cubs. I asked him a variety of questions, none more important than this one. Remember, that you might not ask this question of any baseball player unless you thought it to be true.
I asked Anthony Rizzo, “Many people are hopeful that the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series this year. What do you think it will take to get there?”
Rizzo responded saying, “A lot of hard work, luck and be ready to play every day.”
That is the million dollar question that I asked him, I wanted to avoid my opinion, so I said “many people” are hopeful. And they are.
How could I have predicted that the Cubs will win the Series, after they have been “Cursed.” The chances are relatively small. Again I interviewed him early in the season, expecting them to have a monstrous season.
Sadly, a curse by a man with a goat is a really cool legend, but did the man known as Billy Goat really curse the cubs? No. It is just that the Cubs did not have the players and managers to be a great team. They have great players and great managers today.
Just like Nostradamus, history is full of myths. Like the Loch Ness monster, the fabled city of Atlantis, the fake Apollo 11 Moon Landing, and Area 51. Add to that list the curse of the Billy Goat.
Another prediction that the Cubs would win the World Series in 2015 came in the 1989 movie, “Back To The Future 2.” How did they calculate the Cubbies would win? I have no clue. If you look at the World Series predictions of any year, the Cubs were not on any of them. Now, in these next few years, I think that they will be contenders on every list.
We all hope that the Cubs will rewrite the record books, because as of right now they already have! You can see the interview with Rizzo on my YouTube channel! Click here at www.AaronHananiaU.com.
If the Cubs can get into the post-season and if the Yankees cannot, then you know that we have a good chance to be the World Series Champions 107 years later, or 39,055 days or 2,343,300 hours or even 140,598,000 minutes. It does not matter.
But I hope, those numbers will soon be re-starting at 1.
