CHICAGO (WGN) A sports exorcism of sorts took place at Harry Caray’s Tavern along Navy Pier Tuesday.

Fresh off a historic season for all the wrong reasons, the Toast to Harry Caray—usually dedicated to the Chicago Cubs portion of Caray’s broadcasting career—featured Chicago White Sox fans, former players, and other Chicago sports greats gathered for a bit of hocus pocus, hoping to bestow better fortunes on the South Siders in 2025.

Grant DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group and founder of the Chicago Sports Museum, was joined by former Sox great Ron Kittle, Blackhawks Hall of Famers Chris Chelios and Jeremy Roenick, and Bears Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Famer Richard Dent in what can be best described as a voodoo chant around a baseball with ties to the White Sox’s scandalous past.

“I think it’s a great honor for the White Sox to reverse the curse,” Kittle said.

The baseball, a record-setting one that struck out six consecutive South Side batters in Game 5 of the infamous 1919 World Series, was found inside a time capsule during the renovation of the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue.

According to DePorter, the baseball’s move from Tribune Tower to the Chicago Sports Museum sparked a curse that caused the White Sox’s fall from grace. The team went from making the postseason in consecutive years (2020-2021) to losing 101 games in 2023 and setting MLB’s all-time loss record with 121 losses in 2024.

Hoping to help the franchise reverse course, DePorter wanted to seize upon an opportunity akin to a ceremony he helped organize a little more than 21 years ago at the same restaurant.

DePorter and the Harry Caray Restaurant Group bought another infamous baseball—the Steve Bartman ball from the 2003 NLCS between the Florida Marlins and the Chicago Cubs—at auction for nearly $114,000 in December 2003.

On Feb. 26, 2004, he enlisted the help of special effects expert Michael Lantieri to hold a public ceremony at Harry Caray’s Tavern, where the ball was detonated in hopes of exercising the Cubs’ World Series curse.

While the baseball wasn’t obliterated like the one tied to Bartman, DePorter, Kittle and South Side baseball fans hope a little dark magic can help get the franchise back on track in 2025 and beyond.

The Black Sox baseball will be returned to where it was found, with hopes it will lift the “curse” DePorter and others believe helped deliver an MLB record for losses in 2024.

“Our goal this year is to win 121 games,” said Pat Quinn, former Illinois Governor and White Sox fan. “We got to really reverse the curse and win more games than we lose.”

The White Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels in their home opener on March 27. Sean Burke is scheduled to make the Opening Day start for Chicago, while Yusei Kikuchi takes the mound for the Angels.