Baseball: The day that they banned the goat..

CURSE of the Billy Goat? Tavern owner Billy Sianis bought two tickets to Game Four of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Tigers - one seat for himself and the other for his pet goat (above).

The Cubs wouldn't let the goat in because it stank, and ever since, things have been bad for the Cubs.

The disgruntled Sianis predicted that they would never reach another World Series and sure enough, the Cubs, who blew a two-games-to-one lead over the Tigers and lost that Series in seven games, haven't been back since.

And they're not the only cursed baseball team.

The Boston Red Sox, also bidding to reach this season's World Series, have been afflicted by a curse since trading legendary Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees prior to the 1920 season.

Ruth was already a fan favourite and a major hit as a pitcher and with the bat for Boston.

His move to New York attracted 1,289,422 fans in his first year - the first time in baseball history that a team's home attendance exceeded one million - and helped to finance the new Yankee Stadium: "The House That Ruth Built".

They moved to the new stadium in 1923 and that year Ruth led the Yankees to their first of a record 26 World Series.

The Red Sox?

They have appeared in only four World Series since 1918, losing each one in seven games .. victims of "The Curse of the Bambino".