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Chicago's Curse
 October 6, 1945 - Chicago tavern owner Billy Sianis and his pet goat were ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series. Sianis had bought two tickets to the game, one for himself and one for his goat. Before the game began Sianis was allowed to parade with the goat on the baseball field with the goat wearing a sign stating "We Got Detroit's Goat." Sianis and his goat then watched the game from their seats until the fourth inning at which time security personnel told Sianis that he and his goat had to leave due to complaints about the goat's objectionable odor. Upon being ejected an enraged Sianis cursed the Chicago Cubs, proclaiming that the team would lose the series and never play in another World Series. Sianis' curse was eerily prophetic as the Cubs went on to lose that series to the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3, and the team has not appeared in Major League Baseball's championship series since. The last time the Chicago Cubs won a World Series was in 1908. |
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Pursuing Perfection
 OCTOBER 8, 1956 - Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the first and only perfect game in baseball's World Series. It was the sixth perfect game ever and the first in 34 years. Only 18 perfect games have been thrown in the history of Major League Baseball. Interestingly, in 1999 Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game in New York in which Yankee pitcher David Cone threw -- you guessed it -- a perfect game!
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A Black Cloud Over Baseball
 October 9, 1919 - The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Chicago White Sox by a score of 10-5 to win Game 8 of the best-of-nine World Series. The outcome of the series was decided before the first pitch was even thrown as eight members of the White Sox club conspired to intentionally lose the series. In what as come to be known as the Black Sox Scandal the eight players were indicted based on the confessions of two of the players involved Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The players were eventually acquitted of the criminal charges, due to the mysterious disappearance of key evidence. However, all eight were banned from baseball for life. Although the indictments were based in part on the confession of Jackson, the level of his involvement and the appropriateness of his banishment has been questioned by historians.
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