From the Windup: Enough Is Enough With Steve Bartman

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

So I was on vacation last week. Anyway, I got home to the horror of this: "ESPN Orders Documentary On Cubs Scapegoat Steve Bartman." As if I wasn't in a bad enough mood returning home and having to get back to real life.

You see, the name Steve Bartman conjures a slew of emotions in me. Any time I hear his name, I find that I can simplify all these thoughts into three simple complaints about how this entire "situation" aggravates me.

Fans Don't Cost Teams Games or Series

I'm sure some readers who know my allegiance are thinking the worst -- that I blame Bartman for the 2003 NLCS loss of my beloved Cubbies. To borrow a line from one of my favorite movies, "that is ridiculous to the point of being offensive." (Bonus points if you can name the movie). Fans aren't paid to play the game and they don't do anything on the field. Anyone with half a brain knows this and would never blame their team's loss on a fan.

Really, in a seven-game series, you can't blame a failure on any one person. The Cubs had several players, and a manager, upon whom you could blame the 2003 NLCS loss. In Game 1, at home, Carlos Zambrano couldn't hold a 4-0 lead after the first inning. Joe Borowski allowed two ninth-inning runs to break a tie. Kerry Wood was dreadful in Game 7. The Cubs got shutout by Josh Beckett in Game 5. And then, you have Game 6.

- The Cubs led 3-0 heading into the eighth. Mark Prior took the ball with over 100 pitches.
- Prior got an out.
- Juan Pierre doubled.
- Luis Castillo walked -- following the infamous Bartman play.
- Ivan Rodriguez singled.
- Miguel Cabrera hit a textbook double-play ball to Alex Gonzalez of the Cubs, who promptly boots it.
- Derrek Lee doubled in two runs to tie the game.
- Finally, Dusty Baker pulled Prior.
- Kyle Farnsworth doesn't help matters, though, and when the inning ends the Cubs trail 8-3.

Can you seriously blame any of this crap on a fan? If so, please do me a favor. Don't ever tell anyone you are a Cubs fan. You are the reason Cardinals, White Sox, Brewers, Astros, Reds and probably legions more fans think we are all stupid.

If you want to blame one person, blame Alex Gonzalez. In just looking at this inning, I have to put some blame on Baker and Prior as well, but most people want one scapegoat. If you are one of those people, choose Gonzalez. Just check out this quote from Cubs third baseman, Aramis Ramirez:

"Mo [Moises Alou] had a chance to make that play, but the ball was in the stands," he said. "Otherwise, they would've called the batter out [for fan interference]. After that [Alex] Gonzalez made an error and they scored five more runs, so it wasn't Bartman's fault. We just didn't get it done."

He tried to pin the collective blame on the team, but notice that he singles out Gonzalez.

And who could blame him? The Marlins scored seven runs (not five as Ramirez states) after the Gonzalez error. Had a double play been turned, the inning would have ended with the Cubs leading 3-1. Yet, Gonzalez has gotten off scot-free, while Bartman has shouldered the load of the stupid fake-curse since that fateful night. We're blaming a fan instead of a guy paid millions to play -- and the player's mistake was much more egregious.

Just Leave Bartman Alone

As far as fans go, I'm pretty sure most individuals would just as soon forget about the guy and move on. That's a little hard when there are these constant reminders, though.

Remember in Men in Black when Will Smith said "people are smart," and Tommie Lee Jones disagreed? His point applies. "No, a person is smart. People are stupid," Jones said. In other words, mob mentality usually reduces a group to its lowest common denominator. You get a group of people together and tell them someone cost their favorite team a game, and of course poor Mr. Bartman is going to bear the brunt of a century of futility.

Does everyone remember where the real problem began, though? The same place that the problems with Bartman's life continue. The media.

All people knew after Game 6 was that some dude wearing glasses and headphones got in the way of a possibly spectacular catch by Alou in foul territory. The next morning, the Chicago Sun-Times ran his name and employer in the morning paper, which made it easy for any wacko to track him down. Talk about unethical, reckless journalism. Honestly, what good could they possibly have thought would come of doing that?

And now, ESPN is running a documentary about him, nearly six years after his life was altered forever.

Apparently, the basic premise is going to be on whether or not he forgives Chicago, though they haven't yet convinced him to take part. I'm guessing it would be a lot easier if he could get some separation from the incident and be allowed to move back into obscurity. It's obvious that's all he wants. He's reportedly turned down six-figure book deals and has never moved away from Chicago. Many people would have taken the money and moved across the country. Bartman just wants to be left alone.

Ramirez, who probably had the best view of the incident in 2003, doesn't understand the value of the production either.

"I don't know what difference it's going to make for the fans of Chicago, or for Bartman himself," Ramirez said of ESPN's plans to forge ahead with or without Bartman's cooperation. "To me, I don't see anything positive coming out of it for me as a player, or for us as players."

It's not lost on me that I might be perpetuating the problem by writing about him, but this is the first time and the last time I'll ever mention him on FanHouse -- and I'm doing so as a reaction to a network, that has just a few more viewers than I have readers, keeping him in the limelight.

While we're on ESPN: Before last season, Gene Wojokowski ran an article called "Free Bartman." The basic premise was that fans need to forget about him -- which I obviously agree with -- and then, there was an implication.

"You Know You Would Have Done the Same Thing"

I can't tell you how much this angers me. "Sure, he did something pretty stupid and in the moment, but you would have done the exact same thing ... even though I don't know you." Hell, look at the picture! The two people to Bartman's left had their hands back and were getting out of the way.

Of course, the two to his right were also trying to catch the ball. We see situations similar to this every day during the regular season. Sometimes the fans try to interfere, and sometimes they sit back and make sure the home team has a chance to catch the ball. When someone does make a mistake and interfere, it doesn't make what Bartman did right. (It's important to understand also that when I say interfere, I'm not saying he committed the rules violation of fan interference) He's admitted that mistake, though, and there's no reason to harp on it.

If you want to exonerate the guy, do so by leaving him alone, not by trying to guilt people into forgiving him. All guilt trips do is make people more venomous, especially in situations like this, because many fans believe they would always do the right thing. I know I do. The last thing fans need is a reason to keep thinking about him.

Just leave Bartman alone and turn the page.