Forgive Bartman?

(The seat of the infamous Bartman)

All I can hope for is that no one pulls a “Bartman” tonight at the Tigers game.

Catching Hell, a new documentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 series, is about the infamous man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time: Steve Bartman.  Bartman interfered with a foul ball that could have been caught by Moses Alou. Alou, angered, failed to make the catch, and the Cubs did not get the out that could have moved them closer to a World Series bid.  The Marlins, the team they were playing, went on to win the series. It was apparent in the film that this was not Bartman’s fault, but the media blew the story up and made it look like he was the reason why the Cubs did not make it to the World Series that year.  He was the easy scapegoat for the fans in that situation, and he has been hiding since that day.

In video from the documentary, you can clearly hear fans shouting death threats to Bartman and saying that he should have never interfered with that ball.  The documentary highlighted the fact that the 7 or so other fans around him also reached for the ball; he was just the unlucky one.  But how is this case, where the fans will hate Bartman forever, it is different from other times when fans get involved? Most of the time in baseball, fan involvement is celebrated because they are either throwing a home run ball back on the field, stealing a home run catch from a center fielder on the opposing team, or attempting to “help” their team by taunting the other players.  In arena football even, the team on the field celebrates fans’ interference in some cases.

The one time a fan interferes at a pivotal moment, everyone makes him a villain. I would admit that I would do the same as Bartman and 7 others, look up and make an attempt at the ball.  Bartman was even a lifetime Cubs fan, and now he cannot even show his face around Chicago.  Fans should not interfere with the field of play but if it happens by accident, do not try to ruin a man’s life and use him as a scapegoat for the team’s collapse.  I am not a Cubs fan, but I am interested in what fans of the team have to say today, almost 8 years later.  Do you forgive Bartman? Or is the lynch mob still after him?