R Rathbone Leonard

Cubbing: Featuring the Curse of the Billy Goat R Rathbone Leonard

Publisher Marketing: Right Now You Are Cubbing Whether you are at Wrigley Field, discussing the baseball team at work, or reading about the Cubs-you are Cubbing. Just thinking about the Cubs-you are Cubbing. Just writing about the Cubs-I am Cubbing, and pleased you have joined me as we go Cubbing. In the 2009 season, the Cubs were in first place by two percentage points on July 31. From the start of Spring Training as related in this book, my Cubbing comments were positive as I was positive about the 2009 season. The first three months I felt that the Cubs any day would pull away from the pack. And when in late July they started making their move, actually being in first place by a percentage point, I just knew they were on their way. As Lou Piniella would say, I really knew. I said "Go, Cubs, Go" to friends and strangers alike. I placed a large placard with a W in a window. And I kept Cubbing for this book with the day-to-day games, other activities, and here and there a remembrance and comment of the Cubs in years gone by-some of them, I'm sure, never before related. And then in Florida, between the second and third innings July 31, a billy goat actually walked on the field and strutted in front of the dugout mocking the Cubs. Was this a renewal of Bill Sianis' 1945 curse? Could be. Within a week the descent had begun, the Cardinals were flying high, and the Cubs had gone into hibernation. Consider this: The month of July the Cubs won 18 and lost six. Then the goat strolled. The month of August the Cubs lost 17 and won only 11. The Billy Goat Curse of 1945, taking its toll once again. It must be real, really real. How else can you explain happenings such as the black cat strolling in front of Ron Santo in 1969, the Playoff failures of 1984 and 1989, the Bartman incident of 2003, and the more recent collapses, especially the Dodgers' sweep of the 2008 Playoffs. I have begun to believe. There is no other explanation. The words were uttered thusly by Bill Sianis: "The Cubs no win here no more." However, a one hundred-plus year of losing hasn't deterred Cubbing. So join me. Let's go Cubbing. -Russ Leonard