Cubs Fan: "Sorry"

CBS SPORTSLINE ^ | 10-15-03

[My Favorite Headache]

Unlucky Cubs fan says he's brokenhearted after deflecting ball Oct. 15, 2003 SportsLine.com wire reports

CHICAGO -- The fan who played in a key role in the Chicago Cubs ' collapse in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series apologized Wednesday, saying he was brokenhearted.

With the Cubs five outs from advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1945, Steve Bartman tried to grab a foul ball, preventing outfielder Moises Alou from catching it. That helped the Florida Marlins rally for an 8-3 victory to tie the NL Championship Series Tuesday night.

COMMENTARY Fan didn't lose Game 6 for Cubs -- Cubs did by Scott Miller

•What's Your Take? Tell Scott your opinion!

"I had my eyes glued on the approaching ball the entire time and was so caught up in the moment that I did not even see Moises Alou, much less that he may have had a play," Bartman said in a statement.

"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."

The 26-year-old Bartman was escorted by security guards from Wrigley Field after he was threatened by angry fans and pelted with debris.

Bartman apologized to Cubs fans everywhere, adding he was "truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart."

"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," Bartman said.

Hours after the Marlins forced the decisive seventh game, Bartman was the talk of the town.

Angry broadcasters castigated him. A local newspaper found in an Internet poll that thousands of people blamed him for playing a role in the Cubs' loss. Even the governor weighed in.

"Nobody can justify any kind of threat to someone who does something stupid like reach for that ball," Gov. Rod Blagojevich said.

In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush said an offer of asylum to Bartman might be a good idea, and an oceanfront retreat in Pompano Beach offered him a free three-month stay if he needed to get out of Chicago.

Earlier in the day, neighbors and other fans had various opinions on whether Bartman should have tried to catch the ball.

"If you are a fan who's been around for a while, you just know not to interfere with a player," said Don Emond, 66, a longtime season-ticket holder who was at the game. "I think these fans like that are sort of selfish or they don't really care about the consequences of what happened."

Bartman was described by neighbors as a youth baseball coach and such a big Cubs fan that he traveled to Arizona to see the team in spring training.

Don Kessinger went after countless popups near the stands while playing shortstop for the Cubs in the 1960s and '70s.

"I think he did what 40,000 people would have done," said Kessinger, now in the real estate business in Oxford, Miss.

Even Alou, who was initially furious, seemed to soften later.

"I kind of feel bad for the guy now, because every fan in every ballpark, their first reaction is they want a souvenir," he said. "Nobody's going to think about the outcome of the game."

AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2003, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

[Sabertooth]

All because he reached for a foul ball that was coming down a foot in front of him.

When he had a front row seat along the line.

That's not an ordinary seat, that's a "hey, I can reach out and touch the players" seat.

That's a "hmmm.... maybe I shouldn't," seat.

[Moonman62]

And why is it that baseball coaches have to wear the same uniforms as players??

This is just a guess, but I think it was more common in the olden days for managers to also be players.

[discostu]

I'm a very nice person to people that are polite and useful. People that feel a desperate need to tell everybody how much they don't like sports are egotistics dorks and deserve nothing more than the back of my hand, which is exactly what he's getting.

[Moonman62]

Yes there are a handful of dorks on FR that feel the need to jump onto sports threads and tell everyone about how they're too good for sports, just because you have followers doesn't make you right.

And every time there's a thread on golf, some twit has to jump in and state that golf isn't a sport.

[Sabertooth]

And all this over a GAME! That's right, boys and girls...all this over a game played by grown men wearing silly little uniforms.

To you it's a game. To the fans it's a game, maybe more.

To the players, it's their livelihood. Winning is why they play.

So, if you're sitting at a game and happen to find yourself lucky enough to be in the front row along the line, don't act like a dumb kid and reach out into the field of play and screw up another man's livelihood.

[Brimack34]

Our stupid commie paper tried to get a hold of the Women in the Hamline sweatshirt. Everything that has anything to do with MN. It is a commie law school in St. Paul. It is not his fault the Cubs put on a dresses and acted like women!!

[metalboy]

Why doesn`t he just admit he was imitating his hero Hillary?

The Cubs fan (front center) who tried to catch a foul ball hit by Florida Marlins (news) Luis Castillo (news) sits in the stands in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the National League (news) Championship Series in Chicago, October 14, 2003. The ball would have been the Cubs second out of the inning and the Marlins went on to score 8 runs in the inning. The Marlins defeated the Cubs 8-3 to even the series at three games apiece. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson

[Moonman62]

So, if you're sitting at a game and happen to find yourself lucky enough to be in the front row along the line, don't act like a dumb kid and reach out into the field of play and screw up another man's livelihood.

But if you do, don't wear a cap, glasses, and headphones that make you look like a dweeb.

[FreedomCalls]

Any bets as to how soon it will be before he puts the ball up for bid on e-bay?

[thoughtomator]

I'm surprised that it's not self-evident why people are annoyed. In that one moment this fan epitomized everyone who would dash the hopes of millions for a small gain for himself. The symbolism here is enormous.

[Lancey Howard]

Yeah, but if it wasn't for that fan trying to catch that foul ball, the Marlins would never have pounded Cubs' pitchers for 8 runs.

/sarcasm

[Sabertooth]

Anyone who's ever been at a ball game knows that your eyes follow the ball, especially when it's coming toward you

Right. Just as...

Anyone who's ever gone to a movie theater knows your ears listen to your cell phone ringing, because you're a self-absorbed, need-to-be-wired narcissist.

Or do you turn it off, because you respect other people?

If you have a seat along the foul line, then you need to bloody well realize that you have an ethical obligation to keep your two clutching, overreaching, needy little hands out of the field of play, and let the professional athletes do their jobs.

[discostu]

Then there's the "intra sport rivalries", almost as bad as the "I hate sports" people. Don't know why so many of us attack our own. Wish I understood what it was about sports that make people feel such a need to lodge their formal protests against them, if I could figure that out I could figure out a way to make money on it, and if I could get a nickle for every time people felt the need to tell everybody they don't like sport X I'd be obscenely rich.

[Lancey Howard]

ROTFLMBO!!!

That is some piece of graphic design there!
Perfect!!

[Let's Roll]

Right - foul ball guy didn't have the Marlins down 3 games to 1 and then fall apart. If it hadn't been him it would have been something else.

[Optimist]

and screw up another man's livelihood

Sorry Saber, but I have to agree and disagree. True, any fan at a championship baseball game should be watching THE GAME, meaning not just the ball, but the fielding and potential fielding of the ball - even when it appears to be out of play. How many videos of overextended arms, wild launches into the netherworld, and unbelievable plays have we seen that would make a trrue fan believe -no KNOW - that anything is possible.

OTOH, these men (or at least several of them) screwed up their own livelihood. Whether it was a poorly fielded ball by the 2nd baseman, a poor job of pitching, or a pitcher that was left in too long, a reliever that couldn't "shut 'em down", or a batting cycle that failed to put it together, THE CUBS TEAM lost the game.

Let's face it the cub's guy is just a convenient vent, a single face to focus on, and a way for the team to avoid accepting their share of the responsibility (at least for that game), and a way for Cub's fans to avoid actually criticizing their team.

Remember To the players, it's their livelihood -- no excuses for being "flustered". As they say: "that's why they get paid the big bucks".

[My Favorite Headache]

GET YOUR TICKETS!
Individual-game tickets for the World Series go on sale
Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Tickets will ONLY be
available via FloridaMarlins.com, by clicking on the
link below, or by phone. Don't forget to choose the Ticketfast
option for delivery and have your tickets in your hand
immediately by printing them at home.

More >> http://lists.mlb.com/u/307055/14680675

[My Favorite Headache]

GET YOUR TICKETS!
Individual-game tickets for the World Series go on sale
Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Tickets will ONLY be
available via FloridaMarlins.com, by clicking on the
link below, or by phone. Don't forget to choose the Ticketfast
option for delivery and have your tickets in your hand
immediately by printing them at home.

More >> http://lists.mlb.com/u/307055/14680675

[scott7278]

I don't think he even got the ball, did he?