The Cubs at Wrigley 100 Years
Part IV: The 1945 World Series
The 1945 season saw the Chicago
Cubs in the World Series for the sixth time since they began play at Wrigley
Field in 1916, but fans were hoping for better results after seeing their team
lose in 1918, 1928, 1932, 1935 and 1938. Chicago had finished the regular
season as National League Champions with 98 wins, 56 losses and three games
separating them from the second place St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cubs were led offensively by
outfielders Andy Pafko (.298 batting average, 12 home runs and 110 RBIs),
Peanuts Lowrey (.283, 7, 89) and Bill Nicholson (.243, 13, 88) and first
baseman Phil Cavarretta (.355, 6, 97).
As for pitching, the Cubs had
among their starters, Hank Wyse (22-10 win/loss record, 2.68 ERA and 77 strike
outs), Claude Passeau (17-9, 2.46, 98) and Paul Derringer (16-11, 3.45, 86),
while the bullpen was led by Paul Erickson (7-4, 3.32, 53 and three saves).
The opposition for the Cubs
would come from the Detroit Tigers led by Hank Greenberg, Rudy York and Roy
Cullenbine at the plate, and Hal Newhouser, Dizzy Trout and Al Benton on the
mound.
Even though World War 2 had
ended, travel restrictions were still in effect and thus the schedule would
have the first three games in Detroit’s Briggs Stadium with the final four
games (if all were necessary) to be played in Wrigley.
The Cubs got off to a great
start in Game 1 with a four-run first inning hi-lighted by a two-run double by
Nicholson. They followed that up with three runs in the third, knocking
Detroit’s 25-game winner Newhouser out of the game. Another two runs in the
seventh culminated in a 9-0 Cubs win.
Game 2 started out much the same
way as the first game for the Detroit batters as they were unable to score any
runs. Tigers’ pitcher Virgil Trucks allowed only one run in the Cubs fourth and
that was all Chicago got the entire game. Detroit’s bats finally woke up in the
bottom of the fifth as Greenberg’s three-run homer hi-lighted a four run rally
as the Tigers evened up the series with a 4-1 victory.
The final game of the Series in
Detroit, Game 3, saw the Tigers’ bats fall silent again. Not only did they not
score a run off of Cubs’ hurler Claude Passeau, they managed only one hit, that
coming in the second inning. Chicago managed to score two runs in the fourth
and another in the seventh for a 3-0 victory and a two games to one lead in the
series.
As the Series moved to Chicago,
the Cubs were in good position, needing only to salvage a split in the four
games to become champions for the first time since 1908, but the team was
unprepared for what would happen in the stands during Game 3. The accounts of
what happened before the game differ depending on the source, but legend has it
that Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, decided to bring his pet
goat to the game as a good luck charm for the Cubs.
However, due to the smell of the
goat bothering other fans, Sianis was asked to leave the game. As he left
Wrigley, he shouted in a rage, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” There
have been claims that after the game, he sent a telegram to team owner Philip
Wrigley that stated, “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never
going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World
Series again because you insulted my goat.”
As for the game, the Tigers
scored four runs in the fourth and the Cubs only managed one of their own in
the sixth. The Tigers had even the series with a 4-1 win. They followed that up
with their bats exploding for eight runs in Game 5 as they took the lead in the
series with an 8-4 victory. Detroit was only one win away from the World
Championship.
Facing elimination in Game 6,
the Cubs surrendered a run to Detroit in the second inning, but then rallied
for four runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and two more in the sixth to take
a 7-3 lead going to the seventh inning. But signs of the curse being legitimate
started to appear as the Tigers put up four runs to tie the game at seven. After
both teams failed to score in the ninth, the game headed for extra innings.
The tenth and eleventh were
fruitless. The Tigers also went scoreless in the 12th giving the
Cubs a chance to win the game. With one out, Frank Secory came through with a
single, Bill Schuster coming in to pinch-run for him. Next up was Stan Hack who
slammed the ball into the gap in left field. Schuster raced all the way from
first to score the winning run. The Cubs prevailed 8-7 and the World Series was
tied.
Whatever momentum the Cubs
received from the walk-off win was quickly forgotten when the Tigers scored
five runs in the top of the first inning of Game 7. Both teams traded two runs
over the next six innings before the Tigers added another pair in the eighth.
While the Cubs managed a run in their half of the eight, they never got any
closer and the Tigers won the seventh game and the 1945 World Series with a 9-3
victory.
The Cubs only managed one win in
their four home games. Whether the Curse of the Billy Goat was the reason for
their loss or not has been up for debate for more than 70 years. But one thing
remains fact: the Cubs have not been back to the World Series since.
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