The strange history of baseball’s superstitions: ‘Magic is in the sport’s very structure’

A new book looks at how rituals, charms and curses are central to the identity of America’s pastime

It’s a Chicago legend, nurtured like a hot dog with everything except ketchup. During the 1945 World Series, local bar owner William Sianis brought his pet goat, Murphy, to a game between the hometown Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. Murphy was denied entry, because he smelled. Thus began the Curse of the Billy Goat, dooming Chicago’s NL entry to decades of also-ran status. As Sianis reportedly wrote team owner Philip Knight Wrigley after the Tigers won in 1945, “Who smells now?” The Cubs would not win another title until 2016.

Welcome to the world of magic in baseball. On the macro level, a goat can apparently change the fortunes of an entire team; on the micro level, batters engage in elaborate rituals at the plate, and no one dares to say “no-hitter” until the final out. It’s a narrative that goes back to baseball’s 19th-century origins, and it’s all chronicled in a new book out this week – The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball’s Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses by author, journalist, astrologer and New York Mets fan Addy Baird.