DIXON – Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong, will.

On Tuesday night, some baseball fans in Dixon tried to break Murphy’s Law for their beloved Cubs. And they did it by watching a goat get exorcised at PatiO’s Irish Pub in Dixon.

“They exorcise goats a lot in Chicago, and we thought maybe the problem was we haven’t done it out here in Dixon,” PatiO’s owner Ed Miller said.

Cubs fans know the background. During the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Detroit Tigers, Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis brought his pet goat to a game and was asked to leave.

Legend has it that the goat was bothering other fans.

Upon leaving, Sianis decried the Cubs, stating they “ain’t gonna win no more.” Many fans believe this is the reason why Chicago hasn’t won a World Series since 1908.

On hand Tuesday night, right before the Cubs attempted their climb out of an 2-0 hole in Game 3 against the New York Mets, diehard Cubs fan-turned-priest Mike Lahey (claiming to be “Father Mike Reilly Lahey,” but failing to mention where he is ordained) led the exorcism in front of dozens of fellow fans. He told his audience that he has performed “at least” 106 exorcisms on goats in the past.

To plan for the night’s event, Lahey said he watched “The Exorcist” movie 10 times. “I studied this last night on Google, too. It’s really interesting,” he said.

Lahey claimed that Murphy is a distant cousin of the Sianis goat that started the curse. He said fans “have to believe in curses.” “Otherwise why has it taken so long?”

Lahey brought “holy water” (a shooter of alcohol), which he used to “bless” the goat. This was intended to loosen the spirit from the goat’s possessed soul. With the help of fellow Cubs fans, he shrieked: “May the devil arise from you. Praise the lord! Praise the lord!”

After the goat jumped, Lahey said the exorcism was complete. “See? The devil moved away from him,” he said.

Following the ceremony, Lahey led the Chicago hopeful in prayer, reciting the popular hymn “Go, Cubs, Go.” Murphy the goat appeared unchanged, but Lahey said his exorcism worked. He predicted the Cubs will win this year’s World Series.

“They’re going to win the whole thing,” Lahey said. “Hopefully, now we’ve got more time to see them win a couple of times in the series. I definitely think it was the goat. If the goat was more talkative and friendly, maybe this wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“Hopefully this will break the curse,” said Murphy’s owner, David Hamilton.

As for Murphy? He refused to comment for this story.