CLEVELAND -- A fall classic matchup with 174 years of combined longing and heartbreak complete with the longest World Series championship droughts in baseball history.
Now, four wins is all that separates one of these teams from ending years of disappointment and burying a curse.
For the Chicago Cubs, their legend of misfortune is traced back to a goat. Not necessarily thought of as majestic creatures, but do they have supernatural abilities?
lf you ask any sports fan from the second city, you'll likely find a believer. The curse of the billy goat dates back to the 1945 World Series, where legend has it Cubs fan, Billy Sianis, bought two tickets to Game 4 -- one seat for himself and one for his pet goat, Murphy.
After fans complained about the smell of the goat, Cubs owner PK Wrigley asked them to leave.
Sianis was so angry that he cursed the Cubs saying, “The Cubs ain't going to win no more.” Chicago ended up losing Game 4 and went on to lose the series, prompting Sianis to send Wrigley a telegram saying, “Who stinks now?”
The Cubs have never been back to the World Series and haven't won the championship since 1908, continuing to swell the curse of the billy goat.
Heather Kovach, owner of Haulin’ Goats in Valley City, has been taking care of goats for years.
As far as their ability to cast hexes, she says, “Well, you know I can’t say for sure whether they do or don’t, but I wouldn’t put it past them. They’re pretty sneaky.”
The Indians, meanwhile, have a drought of their own, dating back to 1948, which also involves a curse.
In 1960, the Indians traded home run champ, Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers and fans in Cleveland were outraged. That outrage grew and turned into the curse of Rocky Colavito.
“Not that we felt anything of the curse of Colavito, but as you could see nothing happening for the Tribe as far as World Series titles from 1948 to here we are right now," says Jensen Lewis, who pitched for the Tribe from 2007-2010.
But if both teams are hexed, one of those has to end this season with four more wins. So, which curse is more powerful?
Lewis and Kovach agree, goats are no laughing matter.
"The goats are extremely powerful. In the end, they’re gonna win for sure," Kovach says. "The goats are taking the Cubs down.”