Last night the Cubs lost game 6 of the NLCS to the Marlins after the Marlins pounded in an eight-run eighth inning, winning 8-3. The turning point in the game was when Chicago fan (!) Steve Bartman interfered with left-fielder Moises Alou’s attempt to field a foul fly at the wall. OK, so this wasn’t as cut and dry as Jeffrey Maier’s blatant interference in the 1996 ALCS when the Orioles were most egregiously robbed of Game 1, but it was pretty damn close.
As you’d probably expect, Bartman had to be escorted out of Wrigley Field by security amidst the pelting of beers and obscenities, although one fan was heard to say, “You could tell we’re better than Boston or he’d be dead already.” He has definitely turned into quite the pariah in Chicago, and I can’t say I disagree with long-overdue Chicago fans hoping for their first World Series bid since 1945. More than likely he wasn’t thinking of anything but a souvenir when he tried to grab the ball, but you need to have some kind of situational awareness when you’re at the ballpark, especially when you’re sitting at the wall like that and want your team to win. If he somehow makes it into Wrigley Field again I’m sure he won’t make the same mistake again…
