SAN FRANCISCO _ It took until Game 4 of the National League Division Series for someone to be interviewed outside a ballpark with a goat, setting a modern-day record for the longest goat-free stretch to start a Cubs postseason.
It also took four postseason games for a Cubs player to be asked about the team's reputation as "lovable losers," which prompted Jon Lester to say "the biggest thing is nobody really cares in (our clubhouse) about a curse or a goat or anything else." Lester went even further, suggesting the Cubs were not afraid of "any animals," regardless of the animals' reputation.
After the heart-wrenching, 13-inning loss to the Giants in Game 3, the Cubs entered Game 4 on Tuesday ready to bury all those reminders of the past _ the ghosts of 1984 and 2003 that continue to pop up every time they make it to October.
Another loss would not only create a do-or-cry situation at Wrigley Field in Game 5 on Thursday, it would feed into the narrative of the misery industrial complex, a diverse group of media members devoted to turning every Cubs mistake into some sort of metaphysical mishap.
The Cubs were seemingly on the verge of disaster again in Game 4 of the NLDS, before a stunning ninth inning rally launched them to a 6-5 victory and their second straight NL Championship Series appearance.
Willson Contreras' two-run single off Will Smith tied it in the ninth and then Javier Baez knocked in Jason Heyward for the game-winner. Aroldis Chapman came on to strike out the side in the ninth.
The Giants had won 10 straight elimination games, while the Cubs won a major-league leading 103 games.
Something had to give.
The Cubs had been to the postseason five times since 2003, so trying to ignore this seasonal silliness has been an occupational hazard for many of its players and management over the years.
You knew it was just a matter of time before the goat stuff started, and by the seventh inning on Tuesday, the FS1 cameras dutifully showed a fan wearing a goat head in the stands.
This all really began in '03 when a Chicago radio reporter brought up the story of the billy goat curse to Marlins manager Jack McKeon just before the playoffs.
McKeon, an eccentric old-timer, had no idea what the reporter was talking about. But when the Marlins came back from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7, McKeon brought up the goat himself, suggesting it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"It makes you think a little," he said. "You (media) keep talking, I think it might happen."
It did, though it was the Cubs' fault alone.
In truth, this isn't just a "Cub thing." They're not the only team in this postseason that has to deal with a storyline not of the players' making.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker watched his Giants team blow the 2002 World Series to the Angels after leading in Game 6 of a possible clincher, and of course managed the Cubs in their '03 NLCS collapse. If Baker's Nationals lose Game 5 of their NLDS to the Dodgers, you can bet Baker will get the blame again.
The Indians, who haven't won a championship since 1948, are also victims of an alleged curse, referred to as "the Curse of Rocky Colavito." The Blue Jays have no known curse, but if they get to the World Series I'm quite sure someone will come up with one.
This Cubs team, however, is so talented and focused it should be able to shut out any kind of distraction, and Lester said that's exactly what the Cubs have done.
"If we make a mistake, we're not going to blame it on a curse or anything else like that," he said. "We going to blame it on ourselves and be accountable for it and move on to the next play or the next moment."
On Monday night, Chapman took the blame for coughing up the lead in Game 3 on a two-run, eighth inning triple to Conor Gillaspie. On Tuesday John Lackey didn't show up, putting the Cubs in a two-run hole and being removed after only four innings.
But the Cubs wouldn't give up, staging another late comeback in a series that was nothing less than an October classic.
