Baseball Can Makes Us Angry

The infamous catch at Wrigley Field

Oh, the wrath of angry baseball fans. No problem with booing, it is our right, but there have been times when the anger became destructive. Take the case of Steve Bartman, a devoted Cubs fan, who interfered with a catch that most likely cost the Cubs a pennant in 2003.

It was the worse catch that Steve Bartman has ever made. Apart from the story of the 2003 fan catch that prevented the Cubs from winning the pennant is the sad aftermath that young man experienced for the next thirteen years of his life.

The 26 year old fan was excited as any fan at Wrigley Field when the Cubs, who had a 3-2 game advantage in the NLCS against the Marlins, held a 3-0 lead going into the 7^th inning of Game 6, only 9 outs away from moving into the World Series and possibly win their first World Championship since 1908. With one out and one man on base, the Marlins Luis Castillo hit a hard line drive headed toward the left field corner until Cubs left fielder, Moises Alou, reached up to grab the ball as it was curving into the left field stands straight at Steve. With his glove in hand, Bartman reached out and snatched the foul ball from the reach of Alou. Despite shouts of interference and an obvious furious Alou, the umpire ruled foul ball and Castillo walked following the next pitch. The fans stood vetting their disgust at the call of the umpires and then turned their anger at Bartman. The screaming did not settle down until he was escorted from the game by security officers. The sky fell in on the Cubs as they proceeded to give up 8 runs to lose the game and then lost the final game of the NLCS to keep their streak of not winning a World Series for 95 years intact.

For Bartman, it was the worse day of his life. Anger words of hate and threats of violence were aimed at the young man, who had innocently followed his instincts, for the next thirteen years.He was forced to change his phone number after his contact information was posted online. He suffered through constant harassment whenever and wherever he was seen. He sought out of sight refuge and never went back to Wrigley Field until following the Cubs victorious 2016 World Series he was invited by team co-owner, Todd Ricketts, and was presented with a World Championship ring.

In receiving the ring, Bartman made the following statement:

"I humbly receive the ring not only as a symbol of one of the most historic achievements in sports, but as an important reminder for how we should treat each other in today's society," he said in his statement. "My hope is that we all can learn from my experience to view sports as entertainment and prevent harsh scapegoating, and to challenge the media and opportunistic profiteers to conduct business ethically by respecting personal privacy rights and not exploit any individual to advance their own self-interest or economic gain."

Closure at last.

P.S. Following the lost series, the news media reminded fans of the Curse of the Billy Goat that came from the anger of William Sianis, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in 1945. It has been reported, although many stories vary, that Mister Sianis, a devout Cubs fan, was seated at Game 2 of the 1945 World Series with his pet goat Murphy. He was required to leave the game after complaints from fans regarding Murphy’s behavior and noise. In a fit of anger, Sianis was heard yelling “ Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more” as he left the stadium. The curse continued for another 71 years.