The goat curse came in 1945. What explains 1909 - 1944?

They made it to the series in that time span, never won it. The Curse of the Goat was that Wrigley Field would never host another World Series, which it hasn't.

That's where old Freddie's ghost comes in. Some say he possessed Steve Bartman causing him to reach for the foul ball in game 6, but that's only a wild conjecture at this time :D

SamC

The other Chicago team, with its last series win in 1917, is cursed as well. But there is no secret as to why.

There must have been some sort of curse on the Phillies, too, the last original team to win a World Series (1980). Before that, the Phillies had won only two pennants (1915, lost 4-1 to the Red Sox; 1950, swept by the Yankees). I wonder what exorcised their demon.

Mike Schmidt !!!!Argueably the best third baseman to ever play the game.

Jeff (A battle tested Phillies fan for over 35 years)

Mike was good, but so was Brooks Robinson and Max
Alvis. If it had not been for Brooks Robinson, Max
Alvis would have been the all-star 3rd baseman every
year.

glen

And don't forget Billy Cox.

Brooks Robinson was the personification of a third baseman. In my opinion, no one has ever played that position better.

Robinson might have been the best-fielding third-baseman ever, but if you had to build a franchise, would you take him or Mike Schmidt as your F5?

(No cheating, like putting Schmidt at F3 or something.)

Glen: Brooks Robinson was a super thirdbaseman.I think if you took his fielding ability(although Schmidt was no slouch)and Smitty's power numbers at the plate together we would definitely have the best of all time.

Jeff

Maybe true, Scott. And even though Mike Schmidt was an incredible athlete & player, he wasn't the equal of Robinson. But Pie Traynor was. Being the old Pirate fan that I am, I just had to throw that one in. Especially since the ownership of the teams has pretty much made them a minor league team now.

Steve M