http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/sports/baseball/chicago-cubs-ORSPT000165.topic Chicago Cubs, one of the oldest professional sports franchises in North America, played their first National League game on April 25, 1876. Coincidentally, they also have the longest championship droughts among the major sports, having gone an entire century since last winning the World Series in 1908.

The Cubs have not even gone to the Series since 1945, when local tavern owner William "Billygoat" Sianis placed a curse on the team after they refused to let his goat into a World Series game against Detroit. The tag "lovable losers" is synonymous with the Cubs, who finished in the bottom half of the league standings in every season from 1947-66. As former broadcaster Jack Brickhouse once lamented: "Anyone can have a bad century." The 1969 team that blew an 8 1/2 game lead to the New York Mets after leading its division most of the season remains one of the most beloved in Chicago history in spite of its infamous collapse. On the few occasions the Cubs have come close since, fate has somehow intervened. The most recent example occurred in 2003, when the Cubs were within five outs of advancing to the World Series before losing to Florida in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, in what is now known as the "Bartman game."]]> en-us http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-tv-0520-20120520,0,4161672.column?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-20 00:00:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-orioles-boston-0504-20120503,0,5365791.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-03 16:01:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-schmuck-orioles-0509-20120508,0,5191052.column?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-08 22:27:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bal-orioles-ryan-flaherty-starts-fourth-straight-game-this-one-in-right-20120428,0,4323100.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-28 18:52:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-nationals-0407-20120406,0,7536400.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-06 17:11:38 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-nationals-0408-20120407,0,257305.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-07 20:36:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-nationals-0409-20120408,0,978203.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-08 19:52:03 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-orioles-notes-0416-20120415,0,7974559.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-15 16:55:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bal-former-oriole-jamie-moyer-ties-jim-palmer-on-alltime-wins-list-20120418,0,6676993.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-18 09:35:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-orioles-pujols-0421-20120420,0,7327274.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-20 18:39:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-orioles-notes-0425-20120424,0,105638.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-04-24 17:41:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/bs-sp-orioles-notebook-0319-20120318,0,3219249.story?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-03-18 18:43:00 http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/chi-aj-5-nato-big-gally-20120519193637,0,6783373.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-19 00:00:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fb85848/turbine/chi-aj-5-nato-big-gally-20120519193637/187/16x9" alt="Friendly confines" width="75" height="42" > http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/chi-20120518,0,4213164.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-18 19:52:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fb70a7e/turbine/chi-20120518/187/16x9" alt="Chicago White Sox v Chicago Cubs" width="75" height="42" > http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/chi-wood-20120518,0,7153342.photo?track=rss-topicgallery 2012-05-18 15:10:00 <img src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-4fb6c87d/turbine/chi-wood-20120518/187/16x9" alt="wood" width="75" height="42" >