It’s been 13 years since the Steve Bartman game. It’s time for Chicago to forgive. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
I hope Steve Bartman throws out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field.
This is a trivial thought. I recognize that. The Chicago Cubs clinched their first World Series berth in more than seven decades Saturday night, and my mind turned to a man who has disappeared from public view for 13 years because of an incident at the very place I’d like to see him again.
Still, if the apocalypse is nigh – and the Cubs are facing the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, so start living large, people – it’s high time for some sort of closure in a particularly ugly part of Cubs lore.
For those who don’t remember, or simply have purged it from their memories, Bartman was the fan who did what almost any human being who had a hard projectile flying toward him would’ve done: reach for it. Now, this projectile was a baseball, and it was Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series, and the Cubs were five outs from clinching their first World Series appearance since 1945, and Moises Alou was barreling toward the left-field wall. And even though Bartman was far from the only one reaching for it, and Alou didn’t leap high enough to catch the ball, and Alex Gonzalez turned a routine groundball into a ghastly error, and Dusty Baker left Mark Prior in too long, the scapegoat wore a green turtleneck, round-rimmed glasses and a pair of headphones.
What followed – the death threats, the blame and Bartman’s eventual withdrawal from any sort of public appearances – showcased the absolute worst side of sports. Most Cubs fans have come to recognize the frivolity in it all and realize Bartman is owed a giant apology and a round of applause for handling the aftermath with such grace.
Never did he peddle his story, his face, his name, anything. He just wanted to live his life same as he did before Oct. 14, 2003. He was not Ken Bone, selling merch. He was not the latest meme who’s on “Ellen” 24 hours after he goes viral. He never bothered with a commercial, even if six figures awaited him.
Steve Bartman was the last man not to sell out.
For that, there’s something heroic about Bartman, about his insistence on refusing to allow others to brand him something he wasn’t. His words the day after – his only public statement since – showed he was not some fair-weather fool in the front row: “Had I thought for one second that the ball was playable or had I seen Alou approaching I would have done whatever I could to get out of the way and give Alou a chance to make the catch. To Moises Alou, the Chicago Cubs organization, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, and Cub fans everywhere I am so truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan’s broken heart.”
At the time, before anyone knew the dignity with which Bartman would handle the future, the words seemed idle. The last sentence resonates even more today: “I ask that Cub fans everywhere redirect the negative energy that has been vented towards my family, my friends, and myself into the usual positive support for our beloved team on their way to being National League champs.”
More:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-steve-bartman-should-throw-the-first-pitch-at-game-3-of-the-world-series-061105324.html
