Can Bartman Come Out Of Hiding?

Call me whatever you like, but I don't get what the big deal is about Steve Bartman. Did he lose that game for the Cubs? No. The Cubs defense and pitching did that after this foul ball into the stands. The Cubs were still very much ahead in the game when the "Bartman Incident" played out.

Don't blame Steve Bartman for the Cubs woes. The Cubs were up 3-0. After this foul ball, the Cubs gave up eight runs, six of them were unearned. Steve Bartman had nothing to do with Alex Gonzalez misplaying a ball, which could have been an inning ending double play if handled properly. Steve Bartman didn't throw a wild pitch for ball four to Luis Castillo which allowed Juan Pierre to advance to third base.

And no, Steve Bartman did not blow a 5-3 lead in the next game to end the Cubs season. That was Kerry Wood. The Cubs did all of this by themselves. And the biggest crybaby (and my award for worst overacting), Moises Alou, even admitted years later that he would never had been able to catch the ball anyway. This grain of truth comes from a player who urinates on his hands before he goes into a game.

The umpires rules correctly about there being no fan interference, but that hasn't stopped some Cubs fans from cursing Steve Bartman's name and burning images of him to change the Cubs luck each year.

Now, what is a White Sox baseball card blog doing writing about Cubs stuff? Well, an e-mail landed in my inbox concerning Steve Bartman. It seems that Steve Bartman is being offered $25,000 to sign one photo of himself catching that infamous ball at the upcoming sports collectibles convention in Chicago on July 31, 2008 at 1 P.M.

Who's willing to give Steve Bartman a briefcase full of $100 bills? SportsBuy.com (formerly Naxcom.com) will be footing the bill, if Bartman shows up. The press release promises plenty of security for Steve. Not that he needs it. He still lives and works in Chicago. At least as of 2005, he still did.

Personally, I'd tell Steve Bartman to come in, sign the photo, take the money, and move on with his life. That moment changed the entire course of his life. It's about time he got paid for that.