 Chicago led the division by games over St. Louis and by games over the New York Mets in late August, but the Cubs wilted under pressure, losing key games to the Mets, and finished at 92–70, eight games out of first.Many superstitious fans attribute this collapse to an incident at Shea Stadium on September 9, when a fan released a black cat onto the field, thereby further cursing the club.Others have stated the sheer number of day games that the Cubs had to play contributed to the disaster.