4 years ago today - October 14, 2003

Wayne Drehs of ESPN.com/The Mag searched him out and found him, wrote a fine Page 2/E-ticket story on him in early '05, I think. Bartman didn't seem too disturbed by being stalked, more or less, but he wasn't pleased, either.

It also was 99 years ago, Oct. 14, that the Cubs won it all against the Tigers. Sigh.

 

Very excellent piece. I remember reading that.

 

Gonzales boots the grounder, Prior serves up the fattest fastball ever, Derrek Lee doubles off the wall, and Game Seven is real.

Bitching about Bartman is as lame as bitching about Buckner.

 

Not quite the same, but there was still a Game Seven.

Which is why it was lame (until '04). Just pisses me off about Buckner since he was a pretty damn good ballplayer. But most people under the age of 25 don't know that -- unless they're a baseball die-hard.

 

I felt bad for the dude. Sitting there in his baseball cap, wearing headphones, likely so he could listen to the game broadcast. He probably heard the radio announcers talk about how the Cubs were three innings from their first pennant in 58 years, then two innings, the euphoria building as he began to ponder if fans would rush the field and if he would try to be among them . . . then heard the radio guys talking about the play that led to his gaffe. Then heard the aftermath as he shrank into his seat, the Cubs breaking his heart as they had so many times before.

At least, that's what I always think of. Maybe I misread the photos, but it looked to me like he had a headset on, and I can't imagine him listening to anything else.

Poor guy.

The same brand of ignorant Cub fan the small but vocal Brewers contingent here lambasted, the types who really think they got the good version of Harry Caray as opposed to the over the hill old drunk and thus pay homage to that idiotic statue, the people who really do treat Wrigley like it's the World's Largest Sports Bar, then pay attention to wins and losses only if the team is in the playoffs, they are the people who blame Bartman.

And they unfortunately are legion.

 

**bows to the SJ baseball god**

I had to Google that one.

 

99 years later, and all anybody wants to talk about is my "boner."

 

^Back in the days when the word "boner" caused mass hilarity (read: middle school), a buddy of mine called me "Merkle" for about two years because he had never heard the story of Merkle's Boner until I told him.

 

It was two days later the Red Sox were 5 outs away from putting away the Yankees (same as the Cubs at the Bartman point.) I told our Sox-fan copy editor, "Watch out." And the meltdown began.

 

And you're wrong again.
It was his fault.
He was a dope.
But he didn't deserve anything other than a good talk-radio chewout.

 

A single gunshot should do it.