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Before the 1922 renovation and the addition of the upper decks, Wrigley Field was cursed.
Way before Babe Ruth "called" his shot in 1932, Wrigley Field was cursed.
Long before the billy-goat incident in 1945, Wrigley Field was cursed.
Way before the construction of the bleachers and the Ivy in 1937, the Cubs were just fucking cursed.
To understand this curse, we must go back to the late nineteenth century. The Cub's are starting their fifth season in the new National League.
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| Lake Park, constructed on Michigan and Randolph, Millennium Park now sits here today |
They missed the World Series by four games in 1883 and at the end of the 1884 season the White Stocking's finished 62-50, twenty-two games behind the Providence Grays.
To add to the declining team's misery, they were forced to leave their lakefront home.
The White Stocking's had to play as a road team for the first five weeks of the 1885 season while waiting for construction to finish on their new ballpark.
The new West Side Park sat on a long rectangular plot of land giving the new ballpark a bathtub like shape with foul poles as close as 216 feet. A bicycle track was also added that circled the entire playing field in the climax of the new bicycling craze.
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| West Side Park, now the home of the Andrew Jackson building. |
The White Stockings were 43-14 at West Side Park in 1885--finishing in first place by two games ahead of the New York Giants making them National League Champions for the fifth time in six years.
The White Stocking's squared off against the St. Louis Browns (now the Cardinals) in the World Series the following season.
Game one of the series was called after eight innings due to darkness and game two was awarded to the White Stocking's after the Browns left the field because they didn't agree with the umpire's decision. Both teams walked away from the series claiming they were victorious.
That was the first of many disputes and the beginning of a long rivalry.
The successful ball club posted a 346-177 record in the eight seasons they played in the "Bathtub".
In an era where ballparks were mainly built of wood, West Side Park started to see itself become outdated. The White Stocking's (now called the 'Colts') started feeling the pressure, caved in and decided to build a new ballpark.
After eight seasons at West Side Park. The Colt's were on the move, again.
The new "West Side Grounds" opened in May of 1893, and it would be thirteen years before the ball club became relevant again.
Then the first ever Major League Dynasty was born. And I'm not talking about the Yankees.
From 1906 to 1910 the White Stockings (who were now officially dubbed the Cubs) won 4 National League Pennants, had 4 World Series appearances in 5 seasons (1906-1910), and won back to back World Series titles ('06, '07).
They were the first MLB team to win back to back World Series.
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| West Side Grounds |
Attendance at the West Side Grounds started to suffer.
The Cub's were now feeling the pinch once again.
With most fans leaving the West Side Grounds to go to the new modern Comiskey Park, it was time to respond.
Another modern ballpark was being built on the corner of Clark and Addision in 1914 for the new Federal League. With the White Sox on the South Side, the Cubs on the west side, there was a new league and team on the north-side, the Chicago Whales.
The league folded in 1915 and the Whales were no more.
Charles Weegham, former owner of the Chicago Whales, and nine other investors purchased the Cub's from Cincinnati Times-Star owner Charles Taft and moved the team to the north side of Chicago.
At the start of the 1916 season, the Cub's started calling Weegham Park (Wrigley Field) home.
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| Weegham Park |
At the time, Wrigley Field would only hold a crowd of 14,000 patrons. But Comiskey Park held a capacity of 28,000 people and the owners felt that Wrigley Field lacked the capacity, and wanted to sell more tickets.
Money obviously played a role in that decision.
They sent the Cub's to the South Side to play at Comiskey Park and gave away their home field advantage, and the World Series in six games.
This is where everything would go wrong for the Cubs.
In 1922, instead of knocking down what was then called Weegham Park, and building a new ballpark, the Cub's decided to renovate the ballpark.
MISTAKE!! And I can prove it.
Other than going 1-3 at Comiskey Park against the Red Sox, in 1918, the Cubs have a dismal
2-11 World Series record at Wrigley Field dating back to the '29 World Series. They are 8-24 in the World Series they have appeared in, and are winless at Wrigley Field in '29, '32, and the '38 World Series.
1945 seemed to be the only World Series the Cub's showed up for. They won two games on the road in Detroit, and won game six (in 12 Innings) at Wrigley to force a game seven, which they lost.
In 2003, the Cub's played the Atlanta Braves in all 5 games in the NLDS winning game five and the NLDS three games to two.
It was the franchise's first post season win since 1908 and their third National League Championship Series appearance since the start of the "divisional era" in 1969.
The Florida Marlins came to Chicago for game one of the NLCS and were victorious. The Cubs won the next three games in the series, but in game five Josh Beckett pitched a two hit, one walk gem that shut the Cubs out, bringing the series back to Wrigley Field for games six and seven.
D'oh!
In game six, the Cub's were only five outs away from their first pennant in 58 years, but all that changed on a foul ball hit to left field. Ushering the Cub's into the Steve Bartman era.
What a load of crap.
Luis Castillo ends up walking, and two batters later Alex Gonzalez bobbles a double play that could have ended the inning. It was a defensive error that costs the Cub's game six. Bartman did not help the sitchuation.
Just like Bob Stanley of the Red Sox. Had he not given up that wild pitch in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Buckner would not be an adjective.
After taking a 3-1 series lead, I never thought I'd see so many people hanging their heads low. Even if we lost game six, the Cub's still could come back and win game seven!! But everyone had the same cold bitter feeling I had. The "curse" loomed.
I never believed a curse existed.
I attended Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS. As the game went on, I felt a bitter cold feeling. It wasn't the cold breeze coming off the lake, or frigid air that surrounded my body.
It was the same feeling I had at game six of the 2003 NLCS. What I witnessed next changed a lot for me.
Four consecutive fielding errors by Mark DeRosa, Derrek Lee, Ryan Theroit, and Aramis Ramirez led to a 5 run inning which sucked the life out of the Wrigley Field crowd.
The good vibes were fading fast and the so was the crowd. For the next five innings it was nothing but sloppy pitching and spotty hitting. I was stunned.
Arriving home, I turned on Sportscenter to watch that evenings highlights. Instead I was treated to a collage of the Cub's five post-seasons collapse of '84, '89, getting swept in '98, Bartman, and then the "four" errors.
Something I personally got to witness.
Steve Bartman stops Moises Alou from catching that fateful fould ball, Alex Gonzalez's dropped double play cost the Cub's 2003 NLCS game six , and these four errors did the same for this ball club as well.
The Cub's can't play postseason baseball. A 2-11 World Series record at Wrigley Field and an abysmal .333 winning percentage in the World Series is all the proof you need. Need more proof?
Eight consecutive post-season losses dating back to the 2003 NLCS.
D'oh!
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Wrigley Field sits on what used to be known as the Chicago Theological Lutheran Seminary grounds.
If I had to guess, this would be the root of the problem, ahem, I mean curse.
There really hasn't been much to brag about in the last 102 years and it's not looking like it's going to get any better.
Well, there always next year.
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