As Bill Murray’s T-shirt says, “Ain’t afraid of no goat!”
Speaking of the curse of the Billy Goat, how about the undoing of Steve Bartman?
CHICAGO — As Travis Wood stepped to the plate, Cubs bullpen catcher Chad Noble said, “He’s gonna hit a home run.” This was silly. Wood is a relief pitcher. His last extra-base hit came in 2014, and the last time a reliever hit a postseason home run was 1924. But this is a time of crazy predictions; everybody and his great-grandmother is picking the Cubs to win the World Series.
On the next pitch, Wood knocked an 86-mile-per-hour George Kontos cutter over the fence.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god,’” Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. said.
The story takes on a mystical quality when you learn that Kontos is from the Chicago area, and his brother was once coached by Steve Bartman. Yes, that Steve Bartman. But Edwards says Noble predicts home runs “all the time.” He just happened to get this one right.
