Steve Bartman Today, A Look Back

Back in 2003, Steve Bartman unintentionally found himself in a world of controversy and the target of ire for an entire fanbase when he did what any fan would do at the ballpark: reach for a foul ball. Sadly, this particular foul ball would change Bartman's life forever. The tragic figure is now the subject of a much talked about documentary for ESPN's 30 for 30 series. The film Catching Hell, which aired last night and will be repeated frequently, dissects the unfortunate reality of scapegoating in sports and investigates the Bartman incident in detail with fresh, insightful outlooks from fans, athletes, writers, and other Game 6 attendees.

Back in 2003, Steve Bartman unintentionally found himself in a world of controversy and the target of ire for an entire fanbase when he did what any fan would do at the ballpark: reach for a foul ball. Sadly, this particular foul ball would change Bartman's life forever. The tragic figure is now the subject of a much talked about documentary for ESPN's 30 for 30 series. The film Catching Hell, which aired last night and will be repeated frequently, dissects the unfortunate reality of scapegoating in sports and investigates the Bartman incident in detail with fresh, insightful outlooks from fans, athletes, writers, and other Game 6 attendees.

If you're not a sports nut or simply don't remember the meek fellow known as Steve Bartman, allow us to paint a picture of that ill-fated night at Wrigley Field in downtown Chicago. It was Game 6 in the ALCS, and the Cubs, a team many believe is cursed and who haven't won a World Series in over a century, were leading the game 3-0 and the series 3-2. In the eighth inning, Marlins' Luis Castillo popped a fly ball into foul territory, but close enough to the wall that Cubs' outfielder Moises Alou had a chance to make the out. Then it happened: As Alou went up for the ball, a cluster of Cubs fans instinctively reached for their shot at a piece of ALCS history. Steve Bartman was the unlucky fan who made contact with the ball, disrupting the field of play and preventing Alou from making the catch.

If you're not a sports nut or simply don't remember the meek fellow known as Steve Bartman, allow us to paint a picture of that ill-fated night at Wrigley Field in downtown Chicago. It was Game 6 in the ALCS, and the Cubs, a team many believe is cursed and who haven't won a World Series in over a century, were leading the game 3-0 and the series 3-2. In the eighth inning, Marlins' Luis Castillo popped a fly ball into foul territory, but close enough to the wall that Cubs' outfielder Moises Alou had a chance to make the out. Then it happened: As Alou went up for the ball, a cluster of Cubs fans instinctively reached for their shot at a piece of ALCS history. Steve Bartman was the unlucky fan who made contact with the ball, disrupting the field of play and preventing Alou from making the catch.

The rest, as they say, is history: The Cubs went on to lose the game and two days later lost Game 7, ending their World Series hopes. Bartman took the blame. He received death threats and was so harassed that he essentially went off the grid in fear of his safety and with the unwarranted shame and guilt that he was somehow responsible for ruining his beloved Cubs' championship opportunity.

Eight years later, and with the ESPN documentary to help, we hope that hindsight has helped those irate Cubs fans forgive Bartman. In reality, "forgive" is a strong word because it implies wrongdoing. Steve Bartman did what any fan, including the other fans around him that night, would do. And Steve Bartman didn't lose the World Series for the Cubs; the Cubs did. The team could have still won Game 6 (remember Bartman's influence came on a non-scoring play), and they still had Game 7 to put away the Marlins.

While many Cubbies found the incident as confirmation of the curse, it was Steve Bartman who suffered the most, and despite being offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to come out of hiding, Bartman just wants to get on with his life. Although he doesn't appear in the film, we hope that this documentary serves as both closure and redemption.

How Has Steve Bartman Avoided Showing Up On The Internet After All These Years?

It seems strange—miraculous, even—that sites like ours or other media outlets have yet to catch even a glimpse of Steve Bartman post-hibernation. No candid cellphone pic popping up on a Chicagoan's Facebook page. No first-hand account of a Bartman sighting at the laundromat or the gym or an Applebee's in Schaumburg. Finding a photo of him without the Cubs hat and dopey headphones, wearing some expression other than one of frozen sadness, would be like finding a photo of a Yeti in a national park. Except that this Yeti still works a desk job outside of Chicago, if Catching Hell's information is still up to date.

The photo seen above is from a personal blog called Osler's Razor, whose author was a friend of Bartman's roommate at Notre Dame. The roommate passed along the pic for Osler's Razor to publish. Weird, right? Your eyes go straight to Lou Holtz in the middle. Unless someone pointed him out, you'd never notice the kid crouched on the left, who is now just as famous a personage as the football coach he's posing with. Once you realize it's Bartman, though, Holtz fades away, and the photo feels more substantial and spooky, like seeingOswald in Minsk.

Catching Hell director Alex Gibney did reach out to Bartman for the film, but Bartman, as he's done with all requests (interviews, six-figure endorsements) over the past eight years, politely declined. It's a remarkable feat, almost monastic in its self-discipline, one that makes Bartman's story even more intriguing and heroic in its own way. The cynic in you wants to say he's staying quiet merely to drive up the price of an interview or a TV appearance, but that's not right. I don't imagine that he's tortured by all this anymore. He's controlling his story's ending. He's grabbing it clean out of the night sky and pulling it into his chest. Good for him.

Remembering The Time “Steve Bartman” Prank Called SportsCenter

During last night’s 30 for 30 documentary on reviled Cubs fan Steve Bartman, filmmaker Alex Gibney highlighted a funny moment on SportsCenter when a Howard Stern fan prank-called then-anchor Dan Patrick.

After scoring what they thought was a monumentally huge get in the reclusive Bartman, who up to that point had refused to talk to the media, ESPN’s producers put Patrick on the phone with him. Or so they thought.

There was some back-and-forth about the Game 6 incident, then the person on the other end of the line (it turned out to be a Stern fan by the name of “Capt. Janks”) asked Patrick if he “liked Howard Stern’s butt cheese.” Patrick handled the moment well, and actually seemed slightly amused by it.

Although he handled it well on air, Patrick would go on Stern’s show a few weeks later and tell the host that he wanted to “crawl under the desk” after this call. The prank occurs at the 1:35 mark.