Steve Bartman incident

Steve Bartman is a Chicago resident who became famous on the evening of 10/14/03 for interfering with a catch by his favorite team, the Cubs.

He was sitting in the front row, down the third base line when a pop fly drifted toward his seat. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou was in position to make a catch, but Steve hadn't noticed and blocked the ball from Moises glove.

Immediately following his action the Florida Marlins went on a scoring binge and turned the game around with eight unanswered runs. Many in the fan world blamed Steve for the Cubs losing this game and, ultimately, the World Series.

The news media was more considerate. Surveys done in the days following the incident showed that online news sources were almost unanimous in their call to forgive Steve and urged fans to consider that one play couldn't account for eight runs in one inning.

Immediately following the incident Steve was hounded by reporters, shut off his phone and didn't go to work. Neighbors reported that he was a great guy, a lifelong Cubs fan and a little league coach.

The Cubs issued the following press release:

The Chicago Cubs would like to thank our fans for their tremendous outpouring of support this year. We are very grateful.

We would also like to remind everyone that games are decided by what happens on the playing field -- not in the stands. It is inaccurate and unfair to suggest that an individual fan is responsible for the events that transpired in Game 6. He did what every fan who comes to the ballpark tries to do -- catch a foul ball in the stands. That's one of the things that makes baseball the special sport that it is.

This was an exciting season and we're looking forward to working towards an extended run of October baseball at Wrigley Field.