DOTD For Monday, October 6, 2025

A Drink For Chicago - And For Breaking Curses

Being that it’s now October and spooky season, and it’s also Major League Baseball’s post-season, today’s Drink Of The Day comes from a haunted story, featuring TWO of the teams in MLB Division series matchups, the Detroit Tigers & the Chicago Cubs. The DOTD for today? Is a Chicago Cocktail, inspired by The Curse of the Billy Goat, which happened on this day, October 6, 1945.

It all began when Greek immigrant William Sianis purchased a bar in 1934 called The Lincoln Tavern, located across from the legendary Chicago Stadium. Sianis, who had become a Chicago businessman and first-class attention-getter, was known for many stunts, including banning Republicans from his bar during their 1944 convention at the Chicago Stadium. Known to many as “Billy,” Mr. Sianis also had a pet goat named Murphy, who had fallen off a truck and wondered into The Lincoln Tavern. That event, along with Sianis’ name, spurred the name change of the bar to The Billy Goat Tavern, a Chicago legend that still stands to this day. While some rich folks bring their pet dogs with them everywhere, Murphy the Goat often accompanied Sianis to local events.

According to the Society for American Baseball Research, on October 6, 1945, Billy Sianis strolled up to Wrigley Field with Murphy and purchased two box-seat tickets, one each for him and his goat, to the fourth game of the 1945 World Series. Reportedly, Murphy wore a blanket across his back, with a sign attached that read “We got Detroit’s goat.”

When Sianis handed the usher the two tickets, the usher balked, and called Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley. The chewing-gum magnate reportedly came to the gate and nixed any idea of allowing Murphy the Goat into his major-league ballpark. Reportedly, Wrigley said, “Let Billy in, but not the goat.” Sianis then asked Wrigley, “Why not the goat?” And Wrigley answered, “Because the goat stinks.”

According to the reports, an indignant Sianis wheeled around after hearing this, with his goat Murphy in tow, and yelled, “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to go to another World Series again! You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat!”

Before this fourth game, the Cubs had been up 2-1. But they ended up losing that game - and they lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers, just as Sianis had said they would, in his curse. In fact, the Cubs didn’t even play again in the World Series for 71 years after that initial curse.

There were many attempts along the way to break the curse. Billy Sianis himself even sent his nephew to Wrigley Field with a goat on several occasions, to try to undo what he had done. Fans read scrolls. A Greek Orthodox priest sprayed holy water around the Cubs dugout. A fan group calling themselves “Crack the Curse” even walked from Arizona to Wrigley Field with a goat named Wrigley. None of these seem to have worked. In fact, other spooky curse-like events just added to the legend.

In one event, on Sept. 9, 1969, the Cubs held a small lead over the New York Mets, heading towards the postseason. On this day, as they were playing the Mets in New York, a stray black cat appeared in front of the Cubs dugout at the top of the fourth inning, prancing back and forth a few times before disappearing into the bowels of Shea Stadium. The Mets went on to win that game, along with the pennant, and the World Series that year.

It wasn’t until 2016 that the Cubs’ curse vanished when they defeated the L.A. Dodgers in the playoffs (sorry, Jody), then went on to win the World Series against the Cleveland Indians (now known as the Cleveland Guardians). That 2016 playoff win by the Cubs was actually on the 46^th anniversary of Sianis’ death and an unknown number of years after the death of Murphy the Goat.

Of course, there are those who say that the cost of ending the Cubs’ curse was the loss of Hillary Clinton - a Cubs fan - to Donald Trump in 2016, which has now led to the possible collapse of the United States, and potentially the end of the world at the hands of Donald Trump & his MAGAt minions here in 2025. So… thanks a lot Cubs fans.

Anyway, we certainly hope Trump won’t end the U.S. or the world. So let’s raise a glass to one of our favorite American cities, Chicago, in celebration of ending curses (like the Trump curse the U.S. seems to be under now) with today’s Drink Of The Day, the Chicago Cocktail.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink: