 |
| The Bartman seat at Wrigley Field. Photo by Cubfanwooss. |
Baseball fans are familiar with
the Bartman incident. It took place in 2003 at Wrigley Field, in the eighth
inning of Game Six of the National League Championship Series. The Cubs were
ahead in the series, three games to two over the Florida Marlins, just five
outs away from the NL title, and a trip to the World Series.
It began when the Marlins' Luis Castillo hit a foul ball along the left field line. As the ball approached the
stands, Bartman and other spectators reached up, ready to catch it. Cubs
left fielder Moises Alou jumped, but failed to make the catch as it bounced off of the
hands of Bartman and others.
Alou reacted immediately,
making it clear he felt that fans, and specifically, Bartman, had interfered
with his attempt to catch the ball for what would have been the second out of
the inning. The Cubs went on to blow the game, and many Wrigley Field
spectators began shouting at Bartman. It was a potentially dangerous situation,
prompting police to escort him from the stadium.
The Cubs also lost the next
game, allowing the Marlins to advance to the World Series. Although it is
obvious that Alou's missed catch had nothing whatsoever to do with the Cubs
losing, Bartman has long been blamed for the disaster.
It is a ridiculous argument,
insisting that Bartman had anything to do with the Cubs meltdown. Had the ball been
caught, it would have been the second out of the inning, allowing the
possibility that even with two outs, Mark Prior's wild pitch, Alex Gonzalez'
error, and everything else that occurred could well still have happened. Even
without that out, the missed catch would have been a non-play. It is just as
likely that Prior would have walked Castillo anyway, regardless of whether Alou
made the catch.
The Insanity Begins
The lunacy started almost
immediately. According to Wayne Drehs' Almost
Famous (ESPN Outside The Lines), "The entire stadium started chanting
"a--hole."" In that story, Drehs reported that the day after the
incident, the Chicago Sun-Times revealed Bartman's name as the man many considered
responsible for causing the Cubs to lose.
The Cubs organization released
a statement soon after that game, absolving Bartman. They stated that the game
had been lost on the field, and the actions of a fan in no way contributed to
that loss. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Chicago from condemning Bartman.
According to several sources,
many in Chicago took that incident as part of the so-called Curse of the Billy
Goat; yet another of the 'reasons' why the Cubs could not win. Those people
obviously didn't understand that, as per the Cub Organization's statement,
games are won and lost on the field. Such things as curses, goats, and
overzealous fans have no bearing on what happens between the lines, a sane
person realizes.
A number of news organizations
went after Bartman for interviews, but other than his "I'm sorry"
statement, he refused to comment publicly. ESPN hounded him (referred to as
"stalking" by the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan). More madness
followed as Chicago latched onto the insane notion that Bartman was responsible
for the Cubs inability to win when it counted.
Bartman was placed under police
protection for awhile, when his name and address were made public by people
obviously intent on bringing harm to the guy they believed had caused the Cubs
to lose.
Blame Steve Songs and Detonating A Baseball
Tom Latourette of the Beachwood
Reporter recorded a video, 'Go Blame It On Steve Bartman.'
Local Chicago restaurateur Grant
DePorter, who happened to be the managing partner of Harry Caray's (former Cubs
announcer) chain of Italian steak houses, took on the Bartman problem and the
curse as a personal crusade. DePorter bought the ball in question at auction,
paying in excess of $100,000 for it. Then he hired a special effects expert to
blow it up. Supposedly, he was trying to end the goat curse (of which he determined
that the Bartman ball was a component). After detonating the ball, DePorter
boiled the remains, captured the resulting steam, distilled it, infused it with
beer and other spices, and added it to a spaghetti sauce – all in an attempt to
end the curse.
Paul
Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reported from Bartman spokesman Frank Murtha
regarding the ball detonation and subsequent making of the spaghetti sauce: "We
are no more fine with it now than we were then. No one person has perpetuated
the storyline more than (DePorter) did."
These people are more than a
little crazy.
Murtha said, as reported by Nancy
Armour in USA Today:
"Steve became the perfect
cover for bad baseball and bad managing of baseball."
Although Bartman maintained a
low profile in the 13 years since the incident, people still remember it.
Because the Cubs are in the World Series now, we have been reminded of that
game and that fly ball.
The Continuation of Bartman Bashing
A ridiculous Daily Mail.com
headline appeared in mid-October 2016: 'Notorious fan Steve Bartman is too
scared to go to The World Series after ruining the Cubs’ chances 13 years ago.'
Daily
Mail reporter David Burke is responsible for that bit of stupidity. We can
be reasonably certain that Burke knows nothing about American baseball, but
that didn't stop him from continuing the Bartman bashing.
ESPN.com quoted
Alou in 2008 from a Palm Beach Post story: "It's time to forgive the
guy and move on. I said that the night it happened."
Cleveland infielder Jason
Kipnis, born and raised a Cubs fan, said in a Bob
Nightengale/USA Today story in October 2016:
"He didn’t deserve that.
He’s a nice guy. He didn’t need to be put in that situation."
Kipnis wanted Bartman to throw
out the first World Series pitch.
"If he threw out a first
pitch, I think everyone would go nuts," he said in the Nightengale story.
If any such offer was made to
Bartman he apparently declined, just as he has refused every opportunity to
speak about or cash in on the fame (or infamy) brought on by his involvement.
In any case, what this story comes down to is what effect his actions had on that
2003 NLCS Series, and the alleged continuation of the so-called curse.
Was Bartman blamed for the loss
of the game and the series? For sure.
Was any of that his fault? Absolutely not.
Is thinking he was the cause insane? Yes.
Should he be forever absolved
of any complicity in the Cubs inability to win playoff games? That is a
no-brainer.
So once and for all – for those
who still insist that the goat and/or Bartman had anything to do with what
happened or didn't happen on the field – leave Bartman alone.
Stop blaming him for something for
which he was not responsible.
Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist.
His books include: 'The Toughest Hundred Dollars & Other
Rock & Roll Stories', 'A
Sports Junkie', 'The
Avery Appointment', 'Between
the Fuzzy Parts'.
He also writes about
baseball for Climbing Tal's Hill, food and travel on Miles
& Meals, and music/guitars on
The Backbeat.
He lives in Central
Texas with his wife and family.
No comments:
Post a Comment