For The Sake of Steve Bartman . . . Go Cubs!

For those of you don't know him, Steve Bartman supposedly is a really nice guy. Unfortunately, he's one of the most despised men in Chicago.

On October 14, 2003, Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs were 5 outs away from going to the World Series - a would-be first for the Cubs since 1945 - when a foul ball was hit in Bartman's direction. The admittedly poor quality video below will remind you what happened next . . .



"Historians" point to that incident as the moment that shifted momentum in the game and ultimately caused the Cubs to lose the series to the Florida Marlins.

So, now all of Chicago's north side believes that it was Bartman who kept the Cubs from going to the World Series and he has since become vilified by Cub fans everywhere.

"Bartman had to be led away from the park under escort for his own safety, due to Cubs fans shouting profanities towards him, as well as others throwing debris onto the field and towards the exit tunnel from the field. The game was delayed for approximately 6 minutes." (Wikipedia)



"According to The Wall Street Journal, Bartman's name, as well as personal information about him, appeared on Major League Baseball's online message boards minutes after the game ended. The next day, the Chicago Sun-Times also released his name, as well as his address and place of business in an online article. The editor justified this by saying Bartman's information was already "out there." Bartman was hounded by reporters; he had his phone disconnected and did not go to work. In his defense, childhood neighbors said he was a great guy, a lifelong Cubs fan, and a Little League coach for the town of Niles." (Wikipedia)

Apparently, even beer companies got in on the scape-goating.



I bring all of this up to say that, at least for this one month out of the year that I actually give a hoot about baseball, I'm going to cheer for the Cubs!

Why, you ask?

Because Steve Bartman deserves the right not to be ambushed by lunatic Cub fans as he walks from his front door to his mailbox every morning!

And from now on, every year that the Cubs make it back to the playoffs, we're all going to have to relive that oh-so-terrible day in sports history when those lovable loser Cubs were yet again denied their "precious right" to a Pennant!

So now maybe if the Cubs could actually win a playoff series, much less a World Series, maybe me, Steve and rest of the wide, wide world of sports will finally be able to move on with our lives!

So will you all please join me as we collectively yell, "Go Cubs!"

(I got your back, Steve!)
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PS: My next post will be about the phone interview with Bartman and Dan Patrick. If you know the whole story of that interview, please don't let the "cat out of the bag" before I get a chance to post about it - we'll talk about it then.