This Tuesday night, ESPN will present one of its 30 for 30 documentaries covering what I consider the most shameful and disgraceful event in recent sports history. The moment an ordinary Chicago baseball fan bore the full brunt of his team’s horrific playoff collapse.
Trust me I’ll be tuned in. I’ll be fascinated to see if ESPN attempts to humanize or exploit the story. My fervent hope is the former, my considered fear the latter.
In three decades as a sports fan, I cannot remember an on the field event that sickened me as much as the Steve Bartman debacle. It involves a despicable and frightening lack of perspective and class by everybody involved; the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago, the fans and the media.
Each played a role in nearly destroying the life of an everyday citizen and fan; a person whose only crime was deflecting a foul ball in a critical moment. A foul ball that probably though not definitely would have otherwise been caught by Moises Alou.
And he was not alone. Several other fans reached for that ball; Bartman just happened to be the unlucky SOB who made contact. I beg you all to make note of that should you watch the documentary. It was an instinctive reaction that nearly every fan would have; and it was a fluke. All of which seemed irrelevant in the subsequent witch hunt.
It should have been left at that. The Cubs were still leading game 6 of the NLCS 3 to 0, still five outs away from their first World Series in nearly 60 years. The game and the series were still very much in their control.
Instead they collapsed, and the fan became a convenient scapegoat for a second rate organization with a dreadful history of failure. Not to mention an underachieving group of players and an enabling manager that were subsequently exposed for a disturbing lack of character.
After the Bartman tip, the team imploded. Starting pitcher Mark Prior was working on fumes thanks to blatant and moronic overuse by his do nothing manager Dusty Baker. The bullpen was not good enough to bail him out. And on top of that, the teams’ $6 Million dollar all field, no hit shortstop tanked a routine double play grounder that would have put this entire story to rest.
Even with all of that, the Cubs had another chance in game 7. They lost that game as well, looking defeated before they even took the field. And with that loss evaporated their best chance in two decades to end a century long streak of championship futility.
Baker and his players should have taken the full blame for what was an epic collapse. They did not. The fans and the media jumped on the fan angle, and the Cubs happily went along for the ride. Some like Baker directly blamed Bartman. Others did so tacitly by refusing to dismiss the idea on site for what it was; patently ridiculous.
I remember watching Baker’s postgame press conference. When asked about Bartman’s interference he muttered something about, “we would like our fans to be smarter than that.” The minute I saw that, I knew Bartman was fried in Chicago. I knew the fans and media would jump all over it (though I did not expect the local gossip rag to publish his name address, and employer).
Can you imagine Bill Cowher blaming a fan for a Steelers’ collapse? Remember how he handled the disgusting miscarriage of officiating justice that was the overturned Troy Polamalu interception in the playoffs at Indy. In the most critical moment, under the greatest of pressure he told his defense; WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE JUST PLAY. And after the game he refused to blame the officials for the horrendous call.
That’s what leaders do. That’s what people with character do. Dusty Baker sat in the clubhouse chomping a toothpick while his team disintegrated, then delegated responsibility to a fan. And I don’t recall anybody associated with the Cubs, not one player, coach or management representative publically attempt to defuse the situation.
It only got worse from there. Chicago fans and media turned on Bartman, using the same myopic scapegoating previously applied to the likes of Bill Buckner and Scott Norwood. What happened to Buckner was also disgraceful; nobody ever mentions that the Red Sox choked away a two run lead BEFORE HIS ERROR, but at least he was a paid professional. His job included dealing with such criticism, deserved or not and he was well compensated for it. However unfair it was, Buckner signed on for what he got.
Steve Bartman did not.
Even worse, the Chicago media, led by the insufferable Jay Marriotti started a witch hunt that lasted for years. The national media jumped on board though only in fits and starts. Marriotti found a way to impugn Bartman in writing with regular frequency. He simply refused to let the non-story die even when Bartman, through his deafening public silence made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with it.
That’s the same Jay Marriotti whose resignation from the Chicago Sun Times was one of the most celebrated events in Chicago sports history; by fans and colleagues alike.
Over the next few years we learned the truth about the Cubs. They were not a dynasty in the making derailed by the careless act of an unlucky fan. They were in fact a team dreadfully lacking in character or accountability. The initial symptom was Alou’s three year old girl temper tantrum on national TV after the tipped ball. What followed was a steady collapse, first over two playoff games and then over three years where the team degenerated bit by bit.
Prior and Kerry Wood’s arms nearly fell off from blatant overuse by Baker. That includes Dusty’s mind numbing decision to leave Prior in game two for 130 pitches (including batting him in the 7th inning)…WITH A TEN RUN LEAD. Every think Prior might have gotten through that infamous 8th inning if Baker had let the bullpen deal with a double digit lead say 30 pitches earlier? One might even speculate that he would not have been out of baseball two years later.
The Sammy Sosa myth was subsequently obliterated as well. He went from lovable home run hero to steroid blow up doll and locker room parasite. The Cubs ran him out of Chicago and erased him from memory, even releasing Zapruder film like footage of him bailing on the team the next year. Several other players lead by Alou started threatening the team’s announcers, including former Cy Young winner Steve Stone, for obvious and accurate criticism of their increasingly miserable play. During this time Baker continued to publically support them at all turns, refusing to enforce even a hint of accountability.
And let’s not forget a young Carlos Zambrano was the number three starter on that club. We know now that Big Z and his budding psychosis were headed for much bigger calamities.
In short, the next three years exposed the 2003 Cubs as a phony; a fraud. The team had great talent; but lacked the heart, character, integrity or leadership necessary to win a championship. When faced with the slightest bit of adversity they crumbled on and off the field.
In the immediate aftermath of a crushing defeat and without visibility to the future most could not see that. Not the organization, the media, and certainly not the fans. Most could not see beyond another cruel blow to America’s most tortured fan base. And willingly or not, almost everyone turned a blind eye to millionaire athletes and coaches happily offloading responsibility for their failure on an unsuspecting fan.
Even worse, many fans and media members actively participated. It was sickening on every level.
There are absolutely no heroes or good guys here. Not one. Nobody had the courage or integrity to publically defend Bartman from a pathetic baseball inquisition. What was done to him was disgraceful and indefensible on any level. And as ESPN will prove for better or for worse Tuesday night, it’s still happening eight years later.
Everyone involved owes Steve Bartman a heartfelt apology, starting with the Chicago Cubs. Sadly, I doubt it will ever be delivered.
