Fans gather outside Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs
It may have seemed like a throwback to The Godfather, or maybe even evidence of some occult ceremony. But the goat’s head sent to Wrigley Field and addressed to owner Tom Ricketts is most likly one more piece of lore to add to the saga of the long-suffering Chicago Cubs and their infamous “Billy Goat Curse.”
Police say they are looking for a man who visited the ballpark Wednesday afternoon and handed a package to a security guard, then got in his truck and drove away. When guards looked inside, they found the severed black head of a goat, complete with a U.S. Department of Agriculture tag clipped to its ear, the Chicago Tribune reported. Authorities say they are investigating the “intimidating package.”
It is unclear if the deliverer had some kind of beef (or in this case, mutton) with Ricketts or the Cubs organization. Recent rumors of changes at the park — including a pricey renovation, that could see a jumbotron screen and more night games added to one of the nation’s most historic ballparks — have rankled some diehard fans. Officials are also in talks with the city to redevelop the land around Wrigley Field, but the $500 million deal is caught up in red tape between the Cubs, local business owners and Chicago City Hall.
(MORE: Blizzard Batters Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Takes Roof With It)
But if it’s a Godfather reference, why a goat’s head? In the 1972 Francis Ford Coppola film, studio owner Jack Woltz wakes up to a horse’s head courtesy Vito Corleone. Among occult followers, goat’s heads are often used along with a pentagram in rituals and symbology, but again the only thing that came with the head was the USDA tag — which isn’t that scary looking.
That leaves us with the aforementioned Billy Goat Curse, now part of major league baseball lore.
In 1945, the Cubs were facing the Detroit Tigers in the pennant at Wrigley Field when bar owner William “Billy Goat” Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, walked to the field with his pet goat, Murphy, hoping to get into game four and bring the team some luck. Ushers denied him entry with the goat, so Sianis asked owner P.K. Wrigley, who had made his fortune in chewing gum, if he could come in with his pet. Wrigley allowed Sianis in, but not Murphy — “because the goat stinks,” he reportedly said.
Sianis’ response, according to legend: “The Cubs ain’t gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field.”
Lo and behold, the Cubs lost the series to the Tigers, who went on to win the World Series that year. Since then the Cubs have never won a pennant and have only appeared in the post season five times. As of the beginning of this season, the Cubs have not won a World Series in 104 years.
The Billy Goat, also immortalized in a 1978 Saturday Night Live sketch, is now one of Chicago’s most popular downtown restaurants. Its current owner, Sam Sianis — William’s nephew — told TIME the story behind the Curse, but said nobody from his bar would ever send a goat’s head to a ballpark, and he’d have a problem with anyone who would. “I don’t know who does things like that,” he said. “People who do things like that don’t like the Cubs and don’t like Chicago.
Former Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, right, chats with Sam Sianis owner of the Billy Goat Tavern.
“If you kill a goat and cut off his head, why would that lift the curse? I don’t understand what kind of people would do that.”
Sianis said that he’d been invited — with a goat — on several occasions to attend Cubs home games. The first time in 1972, after which they finished in second place with a record of 85-70 and later on in 1994 after a 12-home game losing streak. But in 1998, the Cubs failed to invite him to the League Division Series and lost 3-0 to Atlanta.
The Cubs are currently 3-5 in the N.L. Central Division. Sianis’ said that he may one day go back to the field with a goat. “But the Cubs have to help themselves, too.”
MORE: Dick Cheney Redux: Chicago Cubs Manager Shot by Friend while Quail Hunting