The strange history of baseball’s superstitions: ‘Magic is in the sport’s very structure’
Article excerpt
A new book explores how baseball's superstitions, from curses to lucky rituals, are woven into the sport's identity. The narrative opens with a famous Chicago curse: in 1945, bar owner William Sianis allegedly cursed the Cubs after being ejected from the World Series with his pet goat, a hex the team didn't break until 2016. The author argues that magic isn't peripheral to baseball but foundational; rituals, charms, and curses reflect the sport's structure itself, where uncertainty reigns and control is illusory. Players and fans embrace superstitions because baseball's outcome hinges on countless variables beyond prediction. The book treats these beliefs not as quaint folklore but as meaningful expressions of how people cope with randomness in America's pastime.
A new book looks at how rituals, charms and curses are central to the identity of America’s pastime
It’s a Chicago legend, nurtured like a hot dog with everything except ketchup. During the 1945 World Series, local bar owner William Sianis brought his pet goat, Murphy, to a game between the hometown Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. Murphy was denied entry, because he smelled. Thus began the Curse of the Billy Goat, dooming Chicago’s NL entry to decades of also-ran status. As Sianis reportedly wrote team owner Philip Knight Wrigley after the Tigers won in 1945, “Who smells now?” The Cubs would not win another title until 2016.
Welcome to the world of magic in baseball. On the macro level, a goat can apparently change the fortunes of an entire team; on the micro level, batters engage in elaborate rituals at the plate, and no one dares to say “no-hitter” until the final out. It’s a narrative that goes back to baseball’s 19th-century origins, and it’s all chronicled in a new book out this week, The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball’s Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses by author, journalist, astrologer and New York Mets fan Addy Baird.
Continue reading...