re: The Steve Bartman game was 15 years ago

Cubs fans are the scum of the earth.

In all seriousness, bartman would’ve happened to any fan base. It’s human nature to want to have a face to blame. It’s always easier to blame one person instead of an entire team.

idk if any fanbase would, but absolutely any long suffering fanbase

still doesnt excuse it though

Scene you've never seen.

Fans blocking out and pushing away a fan who is trying to catch a foul ball "because circumstances."

Yeah, fans are so savy. Every drunk monkey goes for the ball - hell everyone around Bartman went for the ball.

If Jeffrey Maier had seen a fricking Oriole hit that near dinger like Jeter he still would have reached over the fence for the souvenier and cost the Yankees the win.

Oh and then he went on TV and acted like some hero. He was just a kid reaching for a ball not some fan who knew precisely the game situation and what it mean't as if he had planned to alter the outcome of the game.

You see a ball coming at you, you react...especially if it may hit you.

The media is fricking stupid. They made this stupid kid a Yankee hero because he was just doing what fans do...but they acted like he knew what was up.

And so conversely they made Bartman the goat because he did what fans do but he should've known what was up.

Both were the fricking same. One just caught the ball that benefited his favorite team and ESPN's choice of teams. That kid didn't know apples and oranges from that current situation. He's a kid! And he was just wandering around apparently munching on a hot-dog and boom, hey a ball!

But he's some hero because NY wins and Bartman is a GOAT because Cubs lose.

And they were both doing the same thing.

I remember Steve Lyons saying “I’m surprised someone hasn’t thrown that fan on the field”. I did a double take to make sure I heard him right. And then I celebrated as the magical meltdown ensued.

Some ESPN writer eventually tracked Bartman down sometime later. But after a brief interaction with him, he quietly faded away forever.

quote:

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and has been back to Wrigley Field for games

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As of 2016 (when they sent him the ring) he definitely had not been back, but I'm not sure about since then.

The Cubs broke down mentally after that point. Alou’s temper tantrum was unprofessional and immature, and seemed to knock the whole team out of the game.

Interestingly, a similar event happened this year as Rizzo went for a foul ball. Luckily for that fan, the Cubs won in extra’s.

Not lost in this was Dusty Baker riding Prior and Wood as far as they would take him. Prior was bound to break at some point, Wood shortly thereafter.

There was also video shown on Chicago media at the time of the incident showing other near foul ball incidents of other teams where the fans backed off “smartly”, insinuating the Cubs fans didn’t know what they were doing. I think it was only after that where people finally realized “wait, this is crazy, he doesn’t deserve this” and the media realized they were in part flaming a dangerous fire.

I wonder if baseball could take a page from football (with their, “quiet: offense in progress” type brief in game announcements) and have game annoucements periodically saying “make the field larger for your Astros, Cubs, Sox, whomever, don’t reach out for balls when your team is on the field”

That’s a dumb comparison. A guy running onto the field is making a conscious decision to interfere with the game. A fan reaching over and accidentally interfering with a catch is just that: an accident.

The 2003 LCS in both leagues were phenomenal.