`He's really hurting right now' (Bartman alert)

Chicago Tribune ^ | 10/16/03 | Staff (see article)

[Rebelbase]

By all indications, nobody at Wrigley Field during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series was rooting harder for the Cubs than Steven Bartman.

As a youth league and high school second baseman, Bartman's hero was Cubs infielder Ryne Sandberg. As a 26-year-old Northbrook resident, he was so passionate about baseball that he took time off from work to coach an elite youth team.

[machman]

[stainlessbanner]

I just tried "annoying"

LOL! Those are useless and annoying logins aren't they?!

[Prodigal Son]

Manager Dusty Baker even tried--and failed--to use Bartman as a rallying cry for his team in Game 7: "We've got to win for that kid. For us, it's just a ballgame. For him, it's the rest of his life."

Man, I feel sorry for that guy. I truly do.

[chimera]

The game is won or lost on the field, not in the stands.

A simple truth often overlooked. Steve Bartman was not playing the game on the field. To place the blame for the team playing the game on the field losing the game on a non-playing individual in the stands is just absurd.

The Cubs had plenty of chances to put the game away. They could have made other plays to end the inning. For whatever reason, they could not do it. Florida just came up with clutch plays and timely hits. That's what happens in baseball.

They had a whole other game the following day to play and put the Marlins away for the series. It didn't happen. I know full well that it hurts to lose, but I don't know of any sports team (serious ones, anyway) that haven't gone through it. I know Cubs fans are disappointed, but all I can say is, look, the world didn't end, nobody died (hopefully not, anyway), and life goes on. Give the wife and kids a hug and realize that there are more important things in life.

[Bikers4Bush]

That kid is toast. If a diehard fan doesn't find him some gambling interest will.

[Sabertooth]

That part is just not so. Alou's glove was over the top of the wall.

Nah, you can tell that Alou remained in the field of play from numerous pics online, but the best shot I've seen was on the front of the L.A. Times sports page yesterday (haven't found it online yet). It's a perfect eyeball view, straight down the rail, which shows the fan reaching into the field of play past his elbows, and Alou staying well within it.

There were two counts of interference (ball and glove), cut and dried. The ump missed both calls.

Here are a few pics that I have found online. The L.A. Times pic is virtually simultaneous with the top 3, and #2 in the four frame sequence below...

The fan's hips are against the concrete wall, he's leaning forward, and his arms are outstretched. The wall is about 6" to 8" thick. If an average sized man leans forward over a wall that comes to below his waist, his shoulders will be above the wall, and his arms will stretch out beyond it.

I've found another angle from almost the exact same instant...

Check out this series of pics below.

#1 shows Alou's glove open, and the fan's hands between his glove and the ball. This pic is a split second earlier than the pics above.

#2 is identical to the first pic on this post, but uncropped. The ball is boucing off of the fan's hands, and Alou's glove is closing on the empty space where the ball should have been. Alou's right arm is braced against the wall, in the filed of play, and his outstretched left arm is curving slightly over his head and right shoulder, both of which are in the filed of play. Therefore his glove was in the field of play.

#3 and #4 show Alou falling to the field as the fan bobbles the ball back into the stands.

BTW, #2 is the series just above show that the fan not only touched the ball in the field of play, but also Alou's glove. That's actually a second infraction of Rule 3:16 (Fan Interference)...

3.16
When there is spectator interference with any thrown or batted ball, the ball shall be dead at the moment of interference and the umpire shall impose such penalties as in his opinion will nullify the act of interference. APPROVED RULING: If spectator interference clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball, the umpire shall declare the batter out. There is a difference between a ball which has been thrown or batted into the stands, touching a spectator thereby being out of play even though it rebounds onto the field and a spectator going onto the field or reaching over, under or through a barrier and touching a ball in play or touching or otherwise interfering with a player. In the latter case it is clearly intentional and shall be dealt with as intentional interference as in Rule 3.15. Batter and runners shall be placed where in the umpire's judgment they would have been had the interference not occurred. No interference shall be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk. However, should a spectator reach out on the playing field side of such fence, railing or rope, and plainly prevent the fielder from catching the ball, then the batsman should be called out for the spectator's interference. Example: Runner on third base, one out and a batter hits a fly ball deep to the outfield (fair or foul). Spectator clearly interferes with the outfielder attempting to catch the fly ball. Umpire calls the batter out for spectator interference. Ball is dead at the time of the call. Umpire decides that because of the distance the ball was hit, the runner on third base would have scored after the catch if the fielder had caught the ball which was interfered with, therefore, the runner is permitted to score. This might not be the case if such fly ball was interfered with a short distance from home plate.
LINK

[Prodigal Son]

I mean, I understand supporting your team and pulling for them and all, but, geez, I mean, there's more to life than that.

No doubt. You can't even get the nation to pull coherently for its own military but you can get millions of people wanting to kill one poor schmuck who did something many of them would've done in the same situation. A baseball fan loves his team- win or lose. He stands by them through thick and thin. But let the going get even a little bit tough for our military and you get the same people wanting to quit the endeavor and not see the task through.

One is a game, one is not. I wish people could work up the same fervor for what is serious as they do for their recreation.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Your humor will go right over the heads of non-baseball people.

[InvisibleChurch]

i would think that conservatives would look past this kid as a reason for the cubs' failure ... aren't we past curses and voodoos and 'someone else's' fault for the cubs losing three in a row? ... i'm not doubting that that his screw-up cost the cubs an out against a good team (and those extra outs almost always hurt) and the cubs lost some momentum as well as perked up the marlins, but let the cubs take some personal responsibility for losing ... let conservatives deal with facts and figures while the liberals hang their hats on the boogie-man

[Prodigal Son]

The Cubs had plenty of chances to put the game away.

And not just that. They had four other games they didn't win ih which they could've done something differently. If you expect to win a championship in baseball- you have to make those plays in at least one of those four games. You have to. Luck will only get you so far in the playoffs and the Series. If you aren't good enough to be there it will become abundantly clear to everyone and yourself very soon.

This Marlins team impressed me mightily. They would not be stopped. They would not be beat. They would not let anything so trivial as a few runs or a 3-1 deficit or lack of fan support or a stupid fan stop them on their quest.That is the markings of a champion. The ALCS winner better watch out. They've got a very good team who appear to be hungry for it coming their way.

All I can say for the Cubs is, they need to spend this off-season figuring out what they need to do and who they need to aquire to make up that extra little bit that they were lacking last night.

[beckett]

Why must Chi Tribune articles be excerpted? To my knowledge the paper had no part of the suit against FR.

[Prodigal Son]

The Cubs ought to give that guy free tickets for some games or maybe even tickets for the playoffs for next year.

[flying Elvis]

So how do the Cubbies explain the other three games they lost?

[Hegewisch Dupa]

I just swear I saw his mitt hit the rail on the wall in the TV shots

[Sabertooth]

i would think that conservatives would look past this kid as a reason for the cubs' failure ... aren't we past curses and voodoos and 'someone else's' fault for the cubs losing three in a row? ... i'm not doubting that that his screw-up cost the cubs an out against a good team (and those extra outs almost always hurt) and the cubs lost some momentum as well as perked up the marlins, but let the cubs take some personal responsibility for losing ... let conservatives deal with facts and figures while the liberals hang their hats on the boogie-man

What's the old saying...?

"For the lack of a nail a shoe was lost,
for the lack of a shoe a horse was lost,
for lack of a horse a rider was lost,
for the lack of a rider a battle was lost.
All for the lack of a horse shoe nail."

Wouldn't conservatives want the blacksmith who failed to nail the horseshoe to accept responsibilty, even though that lost nail was just the first in a string of mishaps that cost the battle?

Sure, there's responsibility all along the way, but there will always be an extra onus on the person who pulls the bottom apple from the fruit stand and sends the whole heap to the floor, or kicks the first pebble of an avalanche.

The Cub fan's apology indicates he still doesn't get his mistake. He apologized for not seeing Alou. His mistake was reaching into the field of play to interfere with a batted ball, period.

[P-Marlowe]

Alou would have dropped the ball anyway.

[Richard Kimball]

Oh, good grief. The Cubs folded. They quit playing. They gave up. They screwed the pooch. They bopped the baloney. They whacked their wankers with a tire iron. The only curse was that they quit trying to win and stood around for a game and a half looking like they dropped out of a tall cow.

[freedomlover]

Rule 3.16

Now I get it. Those homemade signs have been warning John not to interfere with the ball.

[Sabertooth]

I just swear I saw his mitt hit the rail on the wall in the TV shots

I wish I could find the L.A. Times pic that I mentioned. It's the perfect shot that ends all debate. The rail going up the line is completely vertical in the pic. Picture one of those sitcoms where feuding characters paint a stripe right down the middle of the room. The pic shows exactly where Alou and the fan are in relation to the rail. Alou's throwing hand does touch the wall, but his glove hand is clearly within the field of play, and so are both of the Cub fan's arms.

I may have to scan it and post it if I can't find it online.

[freedomlover]

After all their misery, I still have some good news for Cubs fans -

I JUST SAVED A BUNDLE ON MY CAR INSURANCE !!!!