Catching Hell

[Richard Chuggar]

Alright I'll start it.

I thought it was great.  I think Kubbiez fans are douchetastic.  I never really blamed Bartman for more than a day, but I'm glad they pointed out how shitty the team played after that play and how much of a turd Alex Gonzalez was for bobbling that double play ball.  I really felt awful for Bartman after showing all of the "new" footage and how people, including his 3 friends, treated him.  He really did handle it tremendously considering all of the shit happening around him.  I would have been about 12 Steveweisers deep and tried to fight all of those guys for sure.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

http://cubs.blogspot.com/2003_10_19_archive.html

I need to get this off my chest. Just about everywhere I've looked, everybody has adopted the politically-correct stance that Steve Bartman was not to blame for the Cubs' loss.

I disagree. This pud cost us a chance to appear in our first World Series in 58 years. Period.

...

But let's all the cut the crap here. I'm not looking for a scapegoat, I'm just calling it like I see it. And the truth is, Steve Bartman, in his best demonstration of modern fandom, immersed himself into the game, and allowed all of the subsequent events to be set in motion.

I've had people try to tell me that, if it was ME who was in that situation, that I would have done the same thing.

...

I've been to over two hundred Cubs games in my life, going back to 1979. It's not hard for me to realistically visualize what I would do if I were sitting in Bartman's shoes, or headphones, or what have you.

But that's not what happened, is it? No Steve Bartman, frustrated, repressed former ballplayer, little league coach (26 year old w/o kids coaching little league...'sup with that?), North Shore yuppie, Abercrombie turtleneck-wearing, arrogant Golden Domer...is he hoping, beyond hope that the ball will stay in play, and the Cubs will be four outs from the pennant? No, this asswipe has his eyes on the ball because he has a chance to catch it. Even though he's seated in the front row, this is his chance. His ONE chance. Hey--even Bartman's dad said that he "taught" his kids "to catch a foul ball" Way to go, pops. Even though your son didn't have to heed your senseless advice, by doing so you'll have to correspond with him via e-mail from now on. Not to mention that you didn't teach him very well, dad, because your son looked like a cross between Corky Thatcher and Larry "Bud" Melman in flailing at the popup.

We all know what happened after Steve Bartman's baseball fantasy camp moment. Prior, who was on fumes to begin with, was visibly upset, tried to lobby for an interference call (which it wasn't, technically), and then couldn't recover, throwing ball four in the dirt. And then Dusty, Gonzalez, Farnsworth, and Sosa put the game out of reach with their own indelible marks. But c'mon. Look at the replay. Moises had the ball pegged. He timed his jump. There's little doubt that he would have caught the ball and, if he had, the Cubs would be winning 3-0, with one runner on base, and two outs in the eight inning. Even if Prior gave up a moonshot to Rodriguez, the tone would still be positive. If that happened, and Cabrera hits the three-hopper to Gonzalez, Gonzo doesn't worry about starting a spectacular double play, takes his time, and guns down the slow-footed Cabrera. Assuming the Cubs then would not have scored in their half of the eighth, the Marlins would be looking at a two-run deficit in the ninth inning, with their #5, #6 and #7 hitters due up. In other words, no Pudge. Should have been a gimme. But Steve Bartman evidently didn't see it that way. Evidently, he felt that the 3-0 lead was secure enough that he could begin taking outs away from his supposed "favorite" team.

Just because a guy says he's a Cub fan doesn't make him a real Cub fan. This guy not only enforced the stereotype of Cub fans as ignorant yuppies not interested in the action on the field, but he did something, because of his self-centered, fantasizing sensibility, much, much worse.

He cost the Cubs the pennant.

MEATBALL PSYCHOANALYST!

[BH]

I didn't watch it. But Alou to me, flamed the fire as much as anyone... that jerkoff still blames bartmann for the reason the cubs lost. And him and ramirez purchased flights back to the DR before game 7 because they thought the cubs wouldn't win. Bartmann didn't deserve any of this..  oh, and phuck alex gonzalez. And Dusty.

[R-V]

http://cubs.blogspot.com/2003_10_19_archive.html

I need to get this off my chest. Just about everywhere I've looked, everybody has adopted the politically-correct stance that Steve Bartman was not to blame for the Cubs' loss.

I disagree. This pud cost us a chance to appear in our first World Series in 58 years. Period.

...

But let's all the cut the crap here. I'm not looking for a scapegoat, I'm just calling it like I see it. And the truth is, Steve Bartman, in his best demonstration of modern fandom, immersed himself into the game, and allowed all of the subsequent events to be set in motion.

I've had people try to tell me that, if it was ME who was in that situation, that I would have done the same thing.

...

I've been to over two hundred Cubs games in my life, going back to 1979. It's not hard for me to realistically visualize what I would do if I were sitting in Bartman's shoes, or headphones, or what have you.

But that's not what happened, is it? No Steve Bartman, frustrated, repressed former ballplayer, little league coach (26 year old w/o kids coaching little league...'sup with that?), North Shore yuppie, Abercrombie turtleneck-wearing, arrogant Golden Domer...is he hoping, beyond hope that the ball will stay in play, and the Cubs will be four outs from the pennant? No, this asswipe has his eyes on the ball because he has a chance to catch it. Even though he's seated in the front row, this is his chance. His ONE chance. Hey--even Bartman's dad said that he "taught" his kids "to catch a foul ball" Way to go, pops. Even though your son didn't have to heed your senseless advice, by doing so you'll have to correspond with him via e-mail from now on. Not to mention that you didn't teach him very well, dad, because your son looked like a cross between Corky Thatcher and Larry "Bud" Melman in flailing at the popup.

We all know what happened after Steve Bartman's baseball fantasy camp moment. Prior, who was on fumes to begin with, was visibly upset, tried to lobby for an interference call (which it wasn't, technically), and then couldn't recover, throwing ball four in the dirt. And then Dusty, Gonzalez, Farnsworth, and Sosa put the game out of reach with their own indelible marks. But c'mon. Look at the replay. Moises had the ball pegged. He timed his jump. There's little doubt that he would have caught the ball and, if he had, the Cubs would be winning 3-0, with one runner on base, and two outs in the eight inning. Even if Prior gave up a moonshot to Rodriguez, the tone would still be positive. If that happened, and Cabrera hits the three-hopper to Gonzalez, Gonzo doesn't worry about starting a spectacular double play, takes his time, and guns down the slow-footed Cabrera. Assuming the Cubs then would not have scored in their half of the eighth, the Marlins would be looking at a two-run deficit in the ninth inning, with their #5, #6 and #7 hitters due up. In other words, no Pudge. Should have been a gimme. But Steve Bartman evidently didn't see it that way. Evidently, he felt that the 3-0 lead was secure enough that he could begin taking outs away from his supposed "favorite" team.

Just because a guy says he's a Cub fan doesn't make him a real Cub fan. This guy not only enforced the stereotype of Cub fans as ignorant yuppies not interested in the action on the field, but he did something, because of his self-centered, fantasizing sensibility, much, much worse.

He cost the Cubs the pennant.

MEATBALL PSYCHOANALYST!

Shorter Pank: Why can't everyone be as good of a fan as *I* am?

[J. Walter Weatherman]

The interview with Moises in "Catching Hell" was almost as dumb as the bit with the two lawyers who wrote a 100+ page "commission report" arguing that Castillo should have been called out due to fan interference.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Fucking Bob Sirott...

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/opinion/bob-sirott-one-more-thing-steve-bartman-20110926

Chicago - One more thing about the Wrigley Field moment that just won't fade away. In fact, lately it seems to getting even more attention.

Tomorrow night at 7, ESPN premieres their motion-picture length documentary on the pop fly that changed Cubs history. "Catching Hell" is about the infamous foul ball in Game Six of the 2003 playoffs with the Marlins.

Projects like this are keeping the Steve Bartman story alive, and probably pushing him even further into seclusion. They tried very hard to interview Bartman for the documentary. Letters were sent to his attorney from the producers -- and from other people trying to convince him to talk. He's been offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to do commercials, card shows, you name it -- he's not interested.

...

By all accounts he is still in the Chicago area. And his loyal co-workers and friends won't reveal anything about him or say anything about him. Which in this day and age is an amazing story itself. Odds are Steve or someone who talks to him is watching us right now. So I'm going to make this offer. Steve, I realize no amount of money will influence you, but how about a way to finally tell your side of the story -- have your say -- without facing the media.

Just do this.

Go to our One More Thing Facebook page and put your comments down for the record. It'll finally get guys like me to stop chasing you too.

Now I know people claiming to be Bartman will post comments, but that's ok. We'll all read them and try to guess if one is the real deal.

[HumbleJerry]

I had surprisingly low expectations for this, and I thought it was done well.  Though there wasn't nearly enough time spent on the media's role and the fault that they should take.

[Brownie]

Honestly, if Dusty had just argued the fan interference call maybe he could have gotten tossed and then maybe he could have gone into a rage, chucking bats onto the field AT the umpires. Maybe one of them could have struck Alex Gonzalez, injuring him for the remainder of the game. There's the missed opportunity.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

I had surprisingly low expectations for this, and I thought it was done well.  Though there wasn't nearly enough time spent on the media's role and the fault that they should take.

Dane Placko is so punchable they could have filled the entire two hours with just Dane Placko face-punching.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Bump.

[Brownie]

Bump.

[Quality Start Machine]

Bump.