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Steve Bartman Still Rooting For Chicago Cubs World Series Win, 13 Years After Being Made Scapegoat

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 14:41 PST, Oct 27, 2016

Steve Bartman is still rooting for the Chicago Cubs to win the 2016 World Series, 13 years after his attempt to catch a fly ball scuttled the team’s efforts to beat the Florida Marlins in the 2003 National League Championship series.

Ever since that night, Bartman has gone into hiding, after he received a torrent of abuse, which included death threats, from irate Chicago Cubs fans because of his innocent actions. With the Chicago Cubs finally in their first World Series since 1945, and hoping to win their first since 1908, the attention has turned back to Steve Bartman, with many fans hoping that he will return from the wilderness so that they can both apologize and prove all is forgiven.

However Frank Murtha, a close friend of Steve Bartman’s, who has acted as his de facto spokesman while he’s tried to remain incognito, has insisted that Bartman just wants to be left alone, and won’t be returning to the limelight or the public eye to watch his precious Chicago Cubs. But Frank Murtha insisted that Steve Bartman is still cheering on the Cubs, despite all of the previous problems.

“Steve is cheering for the Cubs and continues to be a Cubs fan. He just wants everybody, moving forward, to respect his privacy and let his life continue to unfold as the grand plan has it. Unimpeded by things that… have been blown out of proportion. I think that’s the message. It’s not necessarily a new one,” Frank Murtha told USA Today.

Steve Bartman forever etched his name into the history of both baseball and the Chicago Cubs on October 14, 2003. The Chicago Cubs were not only leading the best-of-seven series three games to two, but they were also ahead 3-0 against the Florida Marlins in the eighth inning of Game 6. All the Chicago Cubs needed were five more outs and they would have reached their first World Series in 58 years.

Then Luis Castillo hit a high foul ball down the left-field line toward where Steve Bartman was sitting. Bartman, like every other fan in the vicinity of the ball, leapt to try and catch it, while the Cubs’ Moises Alou also tried to get it. If he’d succeeded, the Cubs would have only needed four more outs. He didn’t. Instead Bartman knocked it into the stands, and then the Marlins scored eight runs in the inning to win the game 8-3. The next day they returned to Wrigley Field to win the seventh game and the series.

Rather than blaming the Chicago Cubs players for the defeat, fans soon turned their ire on Steve Bartman and blamed his interference instead. In the immediate aftermath, Bartman, who at the time was 26, had to be escorted from Wrigley Field, while police had to protect his home after his name and address were made public.

During his conversation with USA Today his friend Frank Murtha admitted that Steve Bartman’s “greatest wish” was for this to “go away and fade into the sunset.” He also made sure to insist that despite these problems Bartman is “happy,” and then added, “A less solidly footed individual could have had serious problems with this… He’s wanted to and has been successful in getting on with his life.”

A Chicago Cubs World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians 108 years after their last triumph would help to erase the hate towards Bartman. But don’t expect Steve Bartman to actually be present at Wrigley Field for any of the Cubs’ encounters with the Indians. Because while Murtha refused to reveal whether Steve Bartman had actually been back to Wrigley Field since 2003, he did insist that “it’s safe to say Steve will not be in attendance” during any games there in the next few days.

[Featured Image by Scott Olson/Getty Images]

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