Forget Boston, Chicago Has The Curse Instead

[TSA09 0]

If the Marlins win tomorrow and go on to win the World Series what're the odds this asshat ends up either:

 

a. Dead

b. Throws out the first pitch next season opening day at Pro Player Stadium

c. Signs deal as new Marlins batboy as part of a 'relocate me the hell out of Chicago' plan

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Told his friends "You know the law of averages says:

Anything will happen that can."

That's what it says.

"But the last time the Cubs won a National League pennant

Was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan"

 

Steve Goodman - A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request

And the ways he will die:

 

A. Mob beatdown

B. Assination

C. Suicide

[Guest Putty]

Assination?

 

Does that involve Bradshaw?

[JHawk 0]

Here's something I'm confused about. I flipped in just after this apparently (I saw Gonzalez's error and went "Marlins win in 7" out of instinct). But if the fan so clearly interfered with the play, why didn't the left field umpire just call the hitter out? It seems blatantly obvious that Alou had the catch if not for the fan.

 

Fan or no fan, there is absolutely no excuse to give up eight runs in the eighth inning of any game, much less that big a game.

[the pinjockey 0]

Because the ball was right on the fence between the stands and the field, so it really wasn't in the field of play.

 

Would the interference call have mattered anyway? I thought that the home team is the one who feels the consequences of fan interference, I didn't think fan interference could hurt the visitors.

[Tony149 0]

Here's something I'm confused about. I flipped in just after this apparently (I saw Gonzalez's error and went "Marlins win in 7" out of instinct). But if the fan so clearly interfered with the play, why didn't the left field umpire just call the hitter out? It seems blatantly obvious that Alou had the catch if not for the fan.

Maybe the ump thought since Alou jumped he figured the ball was out of play. To me the ball was out of play then started drifting back, before the hand and glove meant.

[JHawk 0]

Because the ball was right on the fence between the stands and the field, so it really wasn't in the field of play.

The fan appeared to be reaching onto the field of play. And even if he hadn't, if the ball would have been caught without the interference, the umpire is allowed to say the batter is out.

 

Would the interference call have mattered anyway?  I thought that the home team is the one who feels the consequences of fan interference, I didn't think fan interference could hurt the visitors.

 

How soon we forget the 1996 World Series then.

[TSA09 0]

Assination?

 

Does that involve Bradshaw?

It's late and I can't spell....sue me

[treble 0]

The ball was out of play, which is why no one argued that there should have been a fan interference call on the play. If you look at Alou's reaction, he was pissed at the fan, but not the ump.

 

Whether it would have made a difference in the long run, Alou clearly had that ball caught, and since it was followed up by a big hit in the same at bat, it did mean SOMETHING with regards to the outcome of the game.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Sorry. Giving up 8 runs in a single inning in still no excuse for crying foul on the fan.

 

It's like saying "oh, we (hockey team) only got 12 GOOD shots at our opposing team's net, 4 per period". Shit like that just doesn't cut it. Oh and for the reference, see the Vancouver vs. Oilers game at GM Place that happened before tonight's game. Did anyone ever notice that "gasp" no one was making excuses for the lack luster play? Shit, the fucking Coach (MacT) came down hard on the Oilers for the fucking bullshit they put on.

 

You know the reason why everyone's not bitching about the 8 run blow up? Because it wasn't the whole game. If it was the whole game, you would hear the story of "oh, that guy wouldn't have mattered." Seriously, he DOESN'T MATTER~!

 

Yes, it's an out, but you know what? When playing any sport, you still need to be accountable for fucking up.

 

Shit, so the fan screwed up. The Cubs fucked up 10 times worse by letting it bother them when they were in the driver's seat. Should the Cubs win game 7, if they let shit like that knock them up badly, then how the fucking hell do you expect them to win the Series?

[treble 0]

OK, the Cubs don't give up 8 runs if the fan doesn't get in Alou's way. I'm not saying that they don't give up any runs at all, the Marlins could have even tied it, but that one play changed the whole dynamic of the game.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Thank God for the Cubs. If the Sox are just going to lay down and take their loss...thankfully their is one cursed team who wants to go down in style.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Look at that kid closely.

 

Notice the colors of his sweatshirt. Black and white, with green trim.

 

He's an undercover Marlins fan, all the way. Dude was kickin' it Cointelpro style.

[Guest Choken One]

OK, the Cubs don't give up 8 runs if the fan doesn't get in Alou's way. I'm not saying that they don't give up any runs at all, the Marlins could have even tied it, but that one play changed the whole dynamic of the game.

Cubs don't give up ANYTHING if gonzo did his job...Gonzo's fuckup loaded the bases...The fan's did nothing and once again Chain effect is bullshit.

[treble 0]

But there would have been less people on base when Gonzalez booted it and the entire situation would have been different. Gonzalez should have made the play, but there's no way the Marlins put up 8 if the fan gets out of Alou's way.

[alfdogg 0]

Three people, including the guy who should have been out, had scored when Sosa caught the fly ball for the second out. If the fan doesn't go for the ball, Alou clearly would have made the catch and eliminated one of those runs. Sosa's catch is the third out, and it's still 3-2 Cubs lead after that, despite Gonzo's error.

[Guest Choken One]

more stupid what ifs...What if alou caught the ball but the next 3 at bats were homers?

 

You people need to stop taking what actually happened and asuming that if alou caught the ball...then they would have had the fly ball to Sosa...We don't know that but it's completely the players for not adapting to the situation...

[alfdogg 0]

It's like arguing with a brick wall...

[CanadianChris 0]

more stupid what ifs...What if alou caught the ball but the next 3 at bats were homers?

 

You people need to stop taking what actually happened and asuming that if alou caught the ball...then they would have had the fly ball to Sosa...We don't know that but it's completely the players for not adapting to the situation...

This from someone saying, "What if Gonzalez catches that ball?" There's no guarantee he turns two.

[alfdogg 0]

Well to be fair, there isn't. But if Alou catches the ball, he doesn't have to turn two.

[Guest Choken One]

Of course there isn't a gurantee but Alou's play didn't hurt NEARLY as much as Gonzo's botched play...

 

It's amazing...people are acting like in 20 years that the fan was bucker and he ruined it for the team...

 

If the players allowed this effect them with the bullshit Chain Effect rationale, they aren't deserving of a world series berth then if they can't dust off a play that shouldn't be that god damn important.

 

Cub fans are more willing to blame an overall innocent fan then the screwups of their players.

[alfdogg 0]

You know what...

 

I have to apologize to Choken here.

 

I just realized how much of a hypocrite I look like for saying, more or less, that this was all the fan's fault, when I just got done doing the opposite for the Colts/Bucs game last week. I mean, if the penalty hadn't been called, who's to say the Colts wouldn't have intercepted the next pass and returned it for a TD.

 

So sorry Choken.

[The Tino Standard 0]

Bill Simmons' column last week explains things perfectly as we head into Game 7 tonight...

 

"I'm convinced that a Cubs-Red Sox World Series would be the biggest sporting event of my lifetime, just because everyone in the country would be interested to see who won (even people who don't care about sports). On the flip side, a Cubs-Yankees series would be the closest thing we will ever have to another "USA-USSR 1980 Olympic Hockey Game." With the Yankees being Russia, of course. Who wouldn't root for the Cubs in that series, other than the loathsome Yankee fans? Would any team galvanize the country like the Cubs against the Yankees? I hope we never find out ... but still.

 

 

And if the Marlins are involved ... I mean ... isn't this why they created officials like Dick Bavetta, for situations like this? "

[C Dubya 04 0]

I'm really annoyed with this whole situation. Sure, the fan should have been smarter and not interfered, but I think it's natural instinct to try and catch a foul ball anyways.

 

To me, the real problem is the Cubs let it get to them. Prior didn't have to walk the batter then. Baker didn't have to leave Prior in the game for way to long (he was hanging pitches like crazy to Pudge). Gonzoles didn't have to boot the ground ball.

 

If the Cubs shift the blame to a fan's reaction to a foul ball, they have no chance tonight. They need to realize that they control only what happens on the field and go out and take care of business.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Goatboy will pay.

[CanadianChris 0]

It's amazing...people are acting like in 20 years that the fan was bucker and he ruined it for the team...

If you mean Buckner, that's one of the biggest fallacies in sports.

 

From your friend and mine, Bill Simmons:

 

Today, it's assumed Billy Buck squandered the '86 Series himself. Only one problem: He didn't. Sure, a hobbled Buckner was running on fumes by the time the Series rolled around, wearing high-tops to support ankles more wobbly than a Danny Wuerffel spiral and giving way in late innings to a defensive replacement. But in Game 6, Buckner didn't send himself out in the 10th; that was manager John McNamara's decision. And Buckner didn't allow three two-out singles; that was doe-eyed closer Calvin Schiraldi. Buckner didn't unfurl a game-tying wild pitch to Wilson; that was Bob Stanley. And Buckner wasn't the one who couldn't block the pitch; that was Rich Gedman. Only after 16 pitches failed to clinch the game -- and only then -- did the cruel spotlight find him, following a lazy grounder that skipped along like a rabbit in a cornfield.

 

Hey, I'm not excusing the error. He blew it. But even if Buckner had stopped the roller, he never could have beaten Wilson to the bag. The Mets would have had runners on first and third, with Howard Johnson coming up, the Grim Reaper on the mound, Shea rocking and the Sox reeling like Tommy Hearns to the Mets' charging Marvin Hagler. You think this team could rally from such a stunning collapse? Please. Catatonics don't regroup.

 

In short, I will assign as much blame to this fan as people think Bill Buckner deserves.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

ok, here is the complete list of post fan fuck ups

 

1. Prior walks Castillo on the next pitch

2. That same pitch ends up at the backstop and Pierre moves to third.

3. Prior goes up 0-2 on Pudge...and promptly servers him a change up over the plate for a hit.

4. grounder to short...boink!

5. Sosa throws home on the sac fly, apparently oblivious to the fact that if he throws to the cutoff man he gets the third out at 2nd base.

 

the only thing the fan did is give the mental patient Cubbies an excuse to meltdown like they were playing in 3 Mile Island Stadium. Hell even Dusty blamed the fan. This is so Cubs.

[Guest Choken One]

Dusty is never wrong. He'll tell you that no matter what

 

"Dusty, Was it right to shoot the little kid at the hospital because he called you Dustin?"

 

"Of course it was, the kid had no right to call me that, I'm totally right here"...

 

But Hey...Chicago Fans, go ahead and mask the REAL screw up and point at the fan, whom I can only hope never has his name revealed...

[TSA09 0]

Too late, I believe his name is already being pastered all over Chicago newspapers, radio, and TV.

[Guest Choken One]

Damn...I hope it's some hard to spell so people will give up and continue to call him "THAT FAN" or "Goatboy"

 

But i'm sure since he was white as snow...It's Bob Johnson or something like that.

[the max 0]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fan15.html

 

The man some fans blame for Tuesday night's Cubs loss because he reached out and touched a foul ball that Moises Alou was trying to catch is a diehard Cubs fan who coaches youth baseball in the north suburbs.

 

 

Steve Bartman, 26, works at Hewitt Associates, an international consulting firm in Lincolnshire.

 

"He is an associate at Hewitt, and he is not coming to work today because of the incident," Suzanne Zagata-Meraz, a spokeswoman for Hewitt, said this morning. "That was a decision that Steve and [Human Resources] made together. We have been in contact with Steve."

 

 

A man who answered the door at the Northbrook home where friends and a neighbor said Bartman grew up defended him, saying he only did what came naturally when a foul ball came his way.

 

 

"He's a huge Cubs fan," said the man, who responded to "Mr. Bartman." "I'm sure I taught him well. I taught him to catch foul balls when they come near him."

 

 

He declined to say any more and would not confirm what relation he is to Steve Bartman.

 

 

A neighbor, Ron Cohen, said he has known the Bartman family for 20 years. He and others said Bartman was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who played for and is now a coach for the Renegades, an elite youth baseball club in Niles.

 

 

Cohen said he saw Bartman on Sunday and that Bartman told him then that he had tickets to Tuesday's game.

 

 

"He felt great he got tickets to the game," said Cohen, 63.

 

 

Cohen was watching the game on TV with his son, who grew up with "Stevie," when they recognized the man in the Renegades shirt.

 

 

"I really was just surprised," said Cohen, who called Bartman's mother. "I think it's just a natural tendency. Everybody reaches. I'm not trying to defend him, but I think it's just a natural tendency. He may not have seen Alou coming."

 

 

He described Bartman as a baseball fanatic.

 

 

"He's a good kid, a wonderful son, never in any trouble," Cohen told a Sun-Times reporter. "I don't think he should be blamed at all. People reach for balls. This just happened to be a little more critical. If Florida didn't score all the runs, you wouldn't be standing here."

 

 

A parent whose son played baseball for the Renegades last year echoed Cohen's description of Bartman.

 

 

"He was a fine guy. He was a good baseball coach to my son," said Roger Shimanovsky, 41. "Believe me, I'm sure nobody feels worse about this than him."

 

 

Bartman is listed as a coach of the Renegades' 13-year-old team this year, according to the organization's Web site.

 

 

He also was a player on a 1992 Renegades team that finished with 47 wins and 10 losses. The team was the Palatine League champion and the Pekin Fourth of July tournament champion.

 

 

The home where Bartman grew up backs up to a baseball field where his dad would hit pop-ups for him and his friends to catch, said Ron Cohen's son, Gary Cohen, 34. He said Bartman's favorite player growing up was Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg.