CHICAGO — I ventured out to the Wrigley Field bleachers Sunday to check out the new Chicago Cubs mascot, a goose that apparently decided to nest in a planter box in center field near the old scoreboard.
The Cubs have been in dire need of a rally animal since the Billy Goat Curse ended with the 2016 championship, and because the goose opted to make its home at Wrigley, it was an obvious choice.
The large bleacher steps leading up to the scoreboard originally were home to Chinese elm trees when Bill Veeck oversaw the bleacher construction in 1937, but they were removed because they couldn’t handle the harsh winds. Now the steps have planters with juniper bushes on top for aesthetics — and to keep fans from lounging there.
On Saturday, Cubs fan @BleacherJeff first reported on social media the goose’s existence, which briefly became a phenomenon for a city previously enthralled with the Rat Hole, a section of sidewalk in Roscoe Village that featured an imprint of a flattened rat and drew hundreds of onlookers.
Cubs senior director of communications Jen Martinez told the Associated Press on Sunday that the nesting goose and its friends were most welcome at the “Friendly Confines.”
“We truly mean it when we say everyone is welcome, including the goose and her nest who took up residence in the bleachers,” Martinez said in a statement.
Martinez added the Cubs were “giving her space” and working with a wildlife organization to provide a safe habitat.
“In the meantime, we have blocked off the area to fans, and our featured guest is our top priority,” she said.
But on Monday morning, Martinez told the Chicago Tribune the goose had flown the coop.
It was no longer seen in the bleachers, meaning fans who attended Monday night’s game against the Texas Rangers sat in the seats that were blocked off the previous two days.
It’s unknown what caused the goose to leave Wrigley. It might have been the bleacher paparazzi that insisted on taking photos or the bullpen implosion and fielding mistakes that led to Sunday’s loss to the San Diego Padres.
The goose, whom one bleacherite nicknamed PGA — “Pete Goose-Armstrong” — was unavailable for comment.
And now the search for a new rally animal to pick up the slack begins.
Animals and sports have gone hand in hand, or paw in hand, for many years.
The 2002 Anaheim Angels ignited the trend with the Rally Monkey, a video-board creation that began in 2000 and took off during the team’s first championship season in its 42-year history.
The St. Louis Cardinals followed up with a rally squirrel in 2011 after a gray squirrel ran onto the field at Busch Stadium during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series, and the squirrel got more credit than manager Tony La Russa.
The LSU baseball team had a rally possum to credit in 2016 after one of the critters delayed a game at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., preceding a big comeback win over Arkansas.
The Cubs famously were connected with a goat after Billy Goat Tavern owner William “Billy Goat” Sianis and his pet were barred from entering Wrigley Field during the 1945 World Series, leading to the famous curse. The hex finally ended in 2016 when the Cubs beat Cleveland in a seven-game series to end a 108-year championship drought.
The Cubs even etched a goat’s head on the inner band of their World Series rings in a nod to “a supposed franchise curse,” according to a press release. Chairman Tom Ricketts repeatedly told media “there is no curse,” but former Cubs President Theo Epstein, who also helped end the Boston Red Sox’s “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004, insisted on the goat’s inclusion on the ring.
The Cubs currently have Goose Island Beer as an official sponsor, so having a goose as the team’s spiritual rally animal seemed like a match made in marketing heaven.
But if PGA is gone for good, the search goes on.
What could replace the allegedly golden goose?
The rats Ozzie Guillén made famous as White Sox manager never really caught on. Guillén claimed the rats under Wrigley’s right-field bleachers were so big they were lifting weights, though Cubs Business Operations President Crane Kenney quipped to the Sox manager they were “part of the ambience.”
Seagulls, known to be frequent fliers at Wrigley — especially at the end of afternoon games, would seem to fit the bill. They like to feast on leftover nachos and hot dog buns discarded by bleacher fans, but they’re typically dine-and-dash types, so there’s never been one seagull who has made the ballpark home.
The Cubs still have their official mascot, Clark the Cub, but he’s never been as beloved as the Rat Hole rat, much less Chance the Snapper, the alligator from the Humboldt Park Lagoon, or Monty and Rose, the piping plovers from Montrose Beach.
Epstein once threw a fastball at the mascot during a ceremonial first pitch at the Cubs’ minor-league park in South Bend, Ind., saying they had a “love-hate relationship.” Clark also does not wear pants.
Perhaps the Cubs will find another goose to replace PGA in the bleachers and give fans a reason to believe this is their year.
If not, they’re on their own.
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