So, you have to wonder who is going to be desperae enuff to see the cubs game tonight in that exact same seat....
if the cubs lose tonight...i honestly believe this guy will be found dead somewhere. As dumb as that sounds. He will be the scapegoat....when Alex Gonzales is the one to blame. I think his double play would have made it 3-1 Cubs? I may be wrong. His name is out, his place of employment, his email address. It's only a matter of time.
Check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2759665773&category=11155 Nothing good can come out of this. There was another Ebay auction, where someone was selling the guy's address, but it has rightfully been removed.
Hey, he actually spoke out and gave his name...he made an official press statement, apologizing and trying to explain it. Steve Bartlett or something...
http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=1754356 There's the link to the article...sorry if this is a repost, I didn't see it in this thread yet.
Okay, here's the article for the lazy folks... CHICAGO (AP)— 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. "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 a Web 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."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/news/story?id=1638975 " A police guard was posted outside the suburban Northbrook home where he lives with his parents."
I think it's so typical of Cubs fans to blame some poor fool in the stands when their THREE stud pichers CHOKED!!!
Up 3 games to 1 and they lose.......they could mess up a wet dream. They can never accept the fact that they choke, first it was a freagin' goat, now it the Simpsons' BARTMAN, poor kid. It is never the players fault
First off, if you read the press you see that they don't completely blame the fan. It really was a play that changed the momentum of the game, I mean, here they have a chance to move 4 outs away from the world series and one of their own interfereswith a playable ball. It was huge. It was tragic. It was, the Cubs.
Steve Bartman, meet Bill Buckner, he might have some advise for you. Bartman, Buckner. Buckner, Bartman.
A quote from an article in today's Wall Street Journal: That opportunity is available, should Mr. Bartman wish to take advantage of it. Wednesday, the Holiday Inn Oceanside in Pompano Beach, Fla., offered him a free three-month stay at the hotel. "He probably needs a break from Chicago," says a hotel spokesman. He could move to Miami and be a hero.
It is nice to see that no one will ever blame Alex S Gonzalez for his role in this. Let's just pile on the poor schmuck in the stands! The more I see that play, the more I am convinced that Alou does not catch that ball even if the stands are empty. Regardless, great teams are supposed to overcome things like that and when it was all said and done, the Cubs failed in that regard and that is why they are not going to the World Series (even though I was pulling pretty hard for them).
