“The Curse of the Goat… Real Cubs fans don’t
talk about it much, no more than once or
twice a season. Usually it’s August,
sometimes September, very rarely October.
But then out it comes. A little comment
about the goat, maybe a suggestion that we
sacrifice a goat at home plate or bring a
herd of goats into every game.
In a world that defies explanation, people
do like their superstitions though. Boston
had its Curse of the Bambino, someone’s
imaginative spell attributed to Babe Ruth in
the wake of his trade to the Yankees shortly
after the Red Sox won it all in 1918. That
nonsense lasted a mere 86 years.
Real Cubs fans know all of this and more.
This story is for them.”
There are always a bunch of baseball books
released right at the start of every season,
and among the cream of this year’s crop is
“The Other Side of Losing,” a novel likely
to tickle the fancy of any fan with a soft
spot in their hearts for the Cubs. For this
edge of your seat page-turner by Peter Brav
chronicles a valiant effort by that
seemingly-cursed franchise to follow in the
footsteps of the Boston Red Sox by ending
the longest World Series drought.
The last time the Cubs won was over a
century ago in 1908 and, if you listen to
the odds-makers in Las Vegas, they are
actually the favorites to represent the
National League in the upcoming fall
classic. Of course that’s easier said than
done, given that many superstitious Cub
loyalists still consider the club to be
saddled by an enduring hex said to have been
cast in the wake of a team mascot’s being
banned from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of
the 1945 World Series.
You don’t need me to explain
exactly what a live goat was doing in a box
seat in the first place, because Mr. Brav
has imperceptibly interwoven that incident
and a cornucopia of other fascinating trivia
into his delightful fictional account of a
season where it looks like the lovable
perennial losers’ might finally get to
experience “The Other Side of Losing.“
Meticulously researched in a
fashion anyone familiar with the North Side
of the Windy City is apt to appreciate, this
struggle of the underdog against the odds
unfolds on the streets and inside several
working-class establishments located right
in the shadow of Wrigley. In an earthy style
rather reminiscent of Chicago native son
David Mamet, the gifted author introduces us
to a colorful cast of motley characters
right out of a Damon Runyon yarn.
The engaging story is nattily
narrated by Benny, a lawyer with a
storefront office whose best friend, Riley,
owns a cleaners up the block. After hours,
they like hanging out at Salvatore’s, a
working-class watering hole with a waitress
attractive enough to date ballplayers.
The plot thickens when a couple of minor
league prospects Benny represents are called
up by the Cubs, and they proceed to make
some major contributions during the ensuing
miraculous campaign. Meanwhile, Brav
masterfully spins several compelling
sidebars by embroiling his principal cast
members in somewhat sobering predicaments to
be resolved satisfactorily en route to the
big October showdown with the Yankees on the
baseball diamond.
Yet, always simmering just
beneath the surface is the burning question,
can this really be the year the Cubs break
the spell? Or are they fated to remain
also-rans forever? Far be it from me to
spoil the ending of such a riveting read.
However, I suspect that if you’re a Cubs
fan, you might be impatient to find out the
answer. After all, if life, as they say,
really imitates art, your team’s prospects
in 2009 might be revealed by the finale of
this timely tome’s possibly prophetic pages.