The strange history of baseball’s superstitions: ‘Magic is in the sport’s very structure’
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 wrot…

