Murphy name has long cursed Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have a new curse, aptly named Murphy. As in Murphy’s law, the adage that anything that can go wrong will go wrong that has certainly applied to the Cubs since 1908, the last time they won the World Series and the year the “Murphy Curse” began.
Long before Daniel Murphy tormented the Cubs with an historic home run tear to help fuel the New York Mets’ four-game sweep of Chicago in the 2015 National League Championship Series, the Cubs were owned in 1908 by Charles Murphy. According to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times, some believe Murphy “changed club fortunes when he got sore over being snubbed for a celebration dinner with songwriter George M. Cohan.”
The story goes that the players refused to allow the unpopular owner to come to dinner with them to celebrate the 1908 World Series title because he’d alienated the fans and players by selling World Series tickets for a profit, making it difficult for loyal fans to purchase them.
Fast forward to 1945, the last time the Cubs advanced to the World Series, when Chicago tavern owner Billy Sianis and his pet goat were denied entry to the Fall Classic at Wrigley Field, giving rise to the “Curse of the Billy Goat.” The goat’s name? Murphy.
The Murphy name continued to curse the Cubs in 1969, when Chicago blew a big lead in the NL standings to the eventual World Series champion Mets, whose general manager was Johnny Murphy and whose broadcaster was Bob Murphy.
The Cubs also blew a 2-0 lead to the San Diego Padres in the best-of-five 1984 NLCS by losing three straight at Jack Murphy Stadium, the ballpark named for Bob’s brother.
We can’t help but wonder what Steve Bartman’s middle name is.
Fittingly, Cubs fans continue to drown their sorrows at a famous sports bar across the street from Wrigley Field named “Murphy’s Bleachers.”