The South Bayview Bulldog

Tavern owner William Sianis and Murphy

The Curse of the Billy Goat is the part of the lore of losing accumulated by the Chicago Cubs. It is rooted in the curse that was supposedly placed on the Cubs in 1945 by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis. Because the odor of his pet goat, Murphy, was bothering other fans, Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field. Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more,” which has been interpreted to mean that either the Cubs would never win another National League (NL) or else that they would never again win a World Series. The Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers, and have not won a World Series championship since 1908.

TONIGHT

The winds are expected to be around 15-17 miles per hour in a similar direction throughout the expected game time. Josh Tomlin is starting for the Indians. He gave up 36 home runs this season, second only to Jered Weaver. He gives up fly balls on 35.2 percent of the batted balls against him, which was 32nd of 73 qualified pitchers this season; it might be fair to call him a fly-ball pitcher, but he’s not extreme by any stretch of the word. He did rank 13th of 73 in hard contact rate, though. On the Cubs’ side, Cy Young candidate Kyle Hendricks gets the ball. He allowed only 15 home runs in the regular season, good for the fifth-lowest home run rate (HR/9) in the NL. His 31.3 percent fly ball rate ranks 51st of 73 qualified pitchers in the majors, meaning he’s a decent amount better than average at not allowing fly balls. He also led the majors in soft contact rate. Enjoy the game.

CBC story tells a story oft-repeated in the wonderful world of digital upgrades. Bell Canada loses a phone number used by a trucking firm for nearly 40 years. That’s as old as the rotary phone. They can’t replace it. This would be funny if it weren’t so awful. CBC

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A public ceremony is set for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated grounds at East York Civic Centre beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 29. That’s at 850 Coxwell Ave. at Mortimer Ave.. The event will feature remarks from Councillor Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29) music by DJ Elegance, face painting and refreshments. People are asked to bring a non-perishable food item as a donation to a local food bank.

Twitter is pulling the plug on its six-second video platform Vine. Hours after announcing layoffs of nine percent of its staff, aimed at cutting costs and getting the company closer to profitability. Twitter said Vine video service would be shut down in the coming months.

The memorable green-eyed “Afghan girl” whose picture touched a generation in 1984 has appeared in court in Peshawar, accused of having a fake Pakistani identity card.  Sharbat Gulla shot to international fame when a photo of her, as a refugee girl, made the cover of National Geographic. Elsewhere in Your World, ripples of laughter rolled over delegates at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia as Japan voted “no” to a proposal for a whale sanctuary. The Japanese are enormous whale eaters. Other IWC news. And advance voting has begun in the U.S. general election.

TTC bosses think that many adults are using  student Metropasses instead of buying adult passes. It saves such a trickster $28.50 over the 30-day life of the pass. That’s $342 a year. Not as good as getting on the streetcar for free by the back door, but pretty good. The suspicion arises as an increase in the sale of student Metropasses matches a drop in the sale of adult passes. The issue must be faced and dealt with elsewhere. London’s tube system sells thousands of so-called Oyster passes every day and presumably has a handle on student use.

Police have recovered a body from a car that was driven through the guardrail of the bridge on Cherry Street at the ship canal Thursday evening. CBC

Author Peter Robinson will pop by the Sleuth of Baker Street today (Friday, October 28) about 5 p.m. to sign copies of his latest Inspector Banks novel  When The Music’s Over ($29.95). Sleuth is at 907 Millwood Rd and Sutherland Drive. Previously on Peter Robinson 

The intersection of Bayview Avenue and Finch Avenue in Toronto will be affected by a series of lane closures to accommodate road resurfacing work. The closures will extend from this evening (October 28) at 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 29, and will occur again on Saturday, November 5 from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. During the closure period this weekend, two eastbound lanes of traffic and one westbound lane will be open at the intersection of Bayview and Finch when grinding takes place in the westbound lanes. The opposite will occur when work is done in the eastbound lanes.During the November 5 closure, only one lane of traffic in each direction will be able to access the intersection. Regular work hours, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., will be in effect other days during the work period. Release

Leaside Junior Wildcats defeated Etobicoke Dolphins 5-2 Thursday night at MasterCard Centre in Provincial Women’s Hockey League play. The win will be a welcome boost for 13th-placed Leaside to outscore the 10th-ranked Dolphins.  Goals came from Captain Kristin Della Rovere in the first period unassisted, Emma Pye, Myah Bowa and Quinn Johnston in the second and Madison Heeney in the third. Assists came from Olivia Kariunas, Kasumi Kobo, Kristin Della Rovere (twice) Myah Bowal, Samantha Jones and Megan Pardy. Leaside peppered Dolphin goalie Tristyn Elford with 34 shots while Shanna Dolighan in the Leaside net faced 18. Boxscore.

Official red ribbon cutting ceremony for our grand opening! #CelebrateBHSWC #ribboncutting #Tdot #Bellwood #WaterstoneClinic #Leaside pic.twitter.com/YJZtWrWXi1

— Waterstone Clinic (@WaterstoneTO) October 27, 2016