Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Prediction: MLB Playoffs

Behind the Cubs goat curse — and why its mention rankles Chicago fans
So, we have the Chicago Cubs playing the Los Angeles Dodgers (bad time to retire, eh Vin Scully?) and the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians.
The LA-Chicago series is easy to pick as LA leads the Cubs 3-1.  The Cubs were not going to the World Series this year or any other year.  They are still being affected by the "Billy Goat Curse".
From the NY Post: I order an Old Style, because if you come to Billy Sianis’ old saloon underneath Michigan Avenue looking for a pumpkin-spice beer, or in search of a quadruple IPA with just a hint of citrus and honey … well, you’re not going to leave a happy customer.
Don’t order fries with your cheeseburger, either. They don’t take kindly to out-of-towners who think all burger joints marry fries with their burgers — or, as they are famously pronounced here (and on that classic “Saturday Night Live” skit) their CHEEZBORGERS. You want fries? There’s a McDonald’s up and around the corner. Here, you’ll have chips and like it....
It’s a splendid point, really, for this is the mystical equator of all that ails Cubs fans, at least according to urban myth. Back in 1945, the joint was owned by Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant who not only enjoyed the nickname “Billy Goat” (and grew a goatee to strengthen the connection), he actually owned a pet goat. By now, you almost certainly know that goat’s name was Murphy.
And by now, you almost certainly know that on Oct. 6, 1945, with the Cubs leading the Tigers 2-1 after three games of the World Series, Bill Sianis bought two tickets for Game 4. The War was over, but travel restrictions were still in effect so after three games in Detroit the Series shifted to Chicago; the Cubs needed to only split those games to win their first championship since 1908.
There are various versions of what happened when Sianis showed up at Wrigley that day with his “guest” — Murphy the goat. The most popular one goes something like this: The ushers stopped Sianis, told him no animals were allowed in the park. Sianis appealed to P. K. Wrigley himself, who confirmed the decision: “Let Billy in,” the Cubs owner said. “But not the goat.”  
Sianis, incensed, demanded an explanation. And Wrigley gave him one.
“Because the goat stinks,” he said.
No matter the version of the story, this part is not in dispute: Sianis told Wrigley, “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.”   http://nypost.com/2015/10/19/behind-the-cubs-goat-curse-and-why-its-mention-rankles-chicago-fans/
So, the curse apparently is still in effect and the cubs won't win a World Series for another 30-40 years, if then.
So, the Dodgers beat the Cubs in 6 games.
The Indians-Blue Jays is a tougher 1 to predict.  The Indians are almost as bad as the Cubs in the playoffs, the Major League movies, not withstanding.
The teams are pretty much evenly matched, so I am going to go with the Indians, if only to rub the liberals face into Cleveland's nickname, the Indians.
Image result for image cleveland indians chief wahoo
Chief Wahoo
So, in the World series, the Dodgers luck out and the Indians win the World Series in 6 or 7 games.
What say you?

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