Steve Bartman: Painfully Innocent

Before you read this post, make sure to check out this amazing story written by ESPN detective/writer Wayne Drehs in 2005.  This is one highly informative piece of writing and pretty much the closest anyone has gotten to having a full interview with Steve Bartman.  This baseball comedy news website posted an interview with Bartman in 2008; this is fake, but interesting nonetheless.  There is some truth in that story, like the fact that Bartman was at Game 3 of the 2007 NLDS in Arizona.  Although not proven, it is believed by many that he was there.  ESPN will document the game in their 30 for 30 series; the episode comes out sometime this summer or fall. 

Steve Bartman is an innocent man.  And when I mean innocent, I mean just like any other guy at ballpark.  And here's why: if you were sitting where Bartman was during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS against Florida and Luis Castillo's foul ball came flying to within three feet of you, what would have done?  You would have done the exact same thing that Bartman did; reach out for the ball.  Therefore, the fact that Bartman himself is an enemy at all is a matter of coincidence.  Bartman was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.  It's unfortunate that this had to happen to someone like Bartman, because as Drehs mentions in his article, Bartman is a diehard and devoted Cubs fan, even now while living in societally-imposed exile.  There's nothing you can do but feel bad for him, but then again we must remember; it was us, Cubs fans, who put him there in the first place.

I present to you the three reasons why the Cubs lost Game 6, none of which blame Steve Bartman:

3. Bernie Mac's Singing of the 7th Inning Stretch
It is an honor to sing the 7th Inning Stretch at Wrigley Field.  It is more of a honor there than any other ballpark in the Major Leagues because there is a celebrity conductor every single game.  Typically, the guest conductors keep it simple with 'Let's get some runs' after the singing.  But Bernie Mac had to go and take it to another level.  He had to go and change the words in the song to 'Root, root root for the Champs' and jeopardize the entire thing.

You would think that given the enormously pressured circumstances, Mac would have just not have tried something crazy like that.  But I guess not, and it couldn't have done anything to help the Cubs at all whatsoever.  With a 2-0 lead in the 7th inning, it wasn't even that sure of a thing that the Cubs didn't blow it anyway.  Overall, Bernie Mac screwed with the baseball gods, and as they always will if not treated with respect, they'll make you pay. 

2. Moises Alou's Reaction to Bartman
Any Cubs fan can probably replay the video again and again in their head.  There's Luis Castillo slicing the ball to the opposite field and tiptoeing out of the batter's box, followed by the Alou failing to catch the ball because of Bartman, and then there's Alou coming back down to the ground and slamming his glove on his knees and having a fit over not catching the ball.  As painful as a memory that is, it's important to remember whose blame it actually was instead of just scapegoating Bartman.

Not only did Alou's reaction contribute to the collapse that ensued for the rest of the Cubs, it effectively ended the public life of Steve Bartman.  And here we are, eight years later, and Alou has never apologized to Bartman.  If Alou had just walked away like a regular outfielder, Bartman's name would be unknown to the rest of the world.  But Alou reacted terribly, like some six year old throwing a fit because he lost.  Fans and the sports community have never blamed Alou nearly enough for what he did in that situation, but Bartman is the man who he is today solely because of Moises Alou.  Alou originally blamed Bartman for the incident, but took back his words in 2008, saying "You know what the funny thing is?  I wouldn't have caught it, anyways."  Alou's nonchalant attitude clearly shows he has no understanding of what he did.  This is because he either doesn't care or is too stupid to figure it out.  Most likely it's the latter, considering how dumb that reaction was in the first place.  Moises Alou, you owe that man an apology.  Man up and do it.

The negative mood that Alou left after the play definitely stuck around for the rest of the inning.  Because the player got upset, his teammates and the fans got upset.  Making his teammates upset and distracted probably also affected the next reason for the collapse.

1. Alex Gonzalez's Fielding Error
If not for Bartman, this play would be the play known for the collapse of the 2003 Cubs.  It would have been the 'error heard 'round the world'.  But Bartman had already taken all the attention by the time Gonzalez added to the Cubs' problems and his play has been all but forgotten.

The situation for the error was only a short while after Bartman entered the spotlight.  With one out and Juan Pierre on second, Luis Castillo fouled off the Bartman ball.  After the at-bat resumed, he walked on a wild pitch which sent Pierre to third.  Ivan Rodríguez followed with a single, scoring Pierre, bringing up a young Miguel Cabrera.  Now leading 3-1 and Marlins on first and second, it would be a perfect spot for a double play ball.  Sure enough, Prior got one.  The chopper reached Gonzalez, who could have turned it for an easy 6-4-3 double play, but Gonzalez angled his glove awkwardly and bobbled the ball.  He wasn't even able to get a single out and this left runners on every base with one out.  Derrek Lee would then tie it with a two-RBI double, and the rest is history.

Just try to imagine what getting this double play would have meant.  The 8th inning would have been over, sending the Cubs into the 9th with a 3-1 lead and Joe Borowski, who had blown only four saves all year, to close it out.  The Cubs would have gone to the World Series if Gonzalez had made this play.  There, I said it.  If Bartman hadn't gotten in the way of Alou, there's no way of knowing for sure if Alou would have even made the play.  I think the chances of Alou catching that ball were 50-50.  Gonzalez, on the other hand, made only 10 errors all season in 2003.  His defensive WAR was 0.8.  The error he committed right at that time is the most inexplicable thing I have ever seen in the game of baseball.  I guess the only answer is the baseball gods abhor the Cubs.  They gave us 2003 to toy with us, and now leave us with a frustrating franchise with little hope of getting back to where we were soon.  Any way you look at it, the 2003 Cubs infamously collapsed.  And it had nothing to do with the warranted villain of that collapse, Steve Bartman.