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 pastimeIt’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 t...