Cub Fan who messed the game up last night...
 

Here's the article from the Smoking Gun, damn do I feel sorry for him.

[ click here ]

Here's an article from today's Chicago Sun-Times:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fan15.html

It was kind of a bonehead thing to do, what with him being a Cubs fan, but I don't think he cost them the game. Ideally he should have yielded to Alou, but its kind of instinctive for people who are diehard fans to grab for a ball as a souvenier. It probably cost them an out, but poor fielding and pitching ultimately cost them the game. That dudes a convenient scapegoat though. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

Fuck that, bonehead or wrong. It's nothing anyone else would not have done to reach that ball.

What cost them an out was Dusty Baker leaving Prior in the game int he 8th, when he wa clearly throwing cheese to the plate in the 7th. The 3 outs in the 7th were all long balls, the 8th started, he was down to 90-92 on the fast ball, was losing inches on the curve. It's the Cubs, not some fan reaching out to possibly get a piece of Cubs history. You can blame who you want, reality is, if you can't get the pitches down and over the plate, your going to lose.

This is pathetic, it really is. His name has been posted now, where he grew up, the apartments he lives in, what college he attends. WTF do these people think is going to happen? Seriously, I'd find me an attorney, and go to town. At least if somthing like this is going to put your name out there, I'm sure people will come and destroy his car, make fun of him, etc.. etc.. He may as well get money out of it.

I'm a Cubs fan, and it's wrong.

seriously....the cubs would've won if Moises made that catch...plain and simple....but then again if he pulled his hands back another fan would have prolly tried to catch it

You can speculate all you want, maybe so, maybe not. The fact is, Prior's pitches were falling off, he was throwing cheese to the plate, and you STILL have to throw pitches to win a ballgame, you can't just blame some fan doing what fans do.

the boys at Pardon the Interuption are calling this guy "meat" which is exactly what I think, i aint even a fan of the Cubs or MLB in general, but this guy should hide for a while

If they had gotten that out, the game would have only been tied by the end of the 8th, if not have the Cubs still winning. 5 runs can be attributed to that play, and its impossible to measure the effect something like that had on the players concentration and momentum - I know I would certainly have been extremely pissed and a little lacking in my focus after that.

Either way, I truly do feel bad for the guy. I originally wanted to beat the crap out of him, but now that I see how much he's probably beating the crap out of himself, I feel sorry for him.

Hopefully the Cubs win tonight so he doesn't have the weight of a missed World Series on his shoulders.

No way...
 

I can't believe people actully think this is some fans fault. It's what fans do. Forget the foul ball, the double, then the next batter Alex Gonzo bobbles a ball that allows another runner on? How come no one remembers that. A gold glove SS bobbling a ball to possibly cut the rally short? Gonzo gets that bobble, the inning ends, Cubs are still ahead 3-2. It was an easy double play ball. No one remembers the play that was infact NO ONES fault buy the Cubs. Just the easy scapegoat.

Look, you can call it his fault, or whatever. But if your a true baseball fan, you'll realize it's no different then what anyone else would do. If a foul ball was enough to disrupt an entire defense, and MADE Prior throw complete cheese for 2 innings in a row, well, then I guess it's Bartman's fault.

Really, it's not anyones fault but the Cubs.

Coulda/woulda/shoulda, you can speculate all you want. But it happend, so you can't assume anything.

its a shame its come to this. It didnt matter who it actually was. Anyone who was there would have tried for that ball. Hope the guy gets out of town for a while or for his sake the Cubs actually win tonight.

If a team rests its future on what a fan is going to do, they deserve to lose. The pitching didn't come through, the defense was questionable (Gonzalez' error and Sammy's throw) and the Marlins teed off. The fan didn't give up an 8 spot.

I guess it's easier to blame a fan rather than admit that your favorite team needs the Heimlich.

Damn staight. Everybody was reaching for the ball. Just tough luck that it was him who had to touch it first.

i agree with everyone else whos sticking up for Bartman. cubby fans, bone up. you lost because a) your pitcher was tired and b) your defense made errors.

cut the kid a break. if a national league championship foul ball came your way, youd reach for the ball too. let it go...you still have 'da bears' to look forward to.

well.. for me.. this is a cause n effect theory ..

cause: the interference occured..

effect:
fans get mad.. crowd begins to quite down.. leading to cubs momentum going down..:|

thats my theory and im sticking 2 it!

besides.. why the heck was he wearing a headphone? he had front seat FFS! what more could he want!.

oh well.. im moving to FLA anyway..

hellllllooooooo MARLINS!

This is the perfect post. It sums up everything quite nicely.

The only blame to lay about the Cubs losing this game lies on the shoulders of the Cubs.

But like it says above, it's a lot easier scapegoat this poor guy, who did what 99% of us would do in a similar situation, or better yet, some ancient voodoo curse involving a goat.

HE DID NOT CAUSE 8 RUNS TO CROSS THE PLATE!!

Dusty left Prior in WAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOOOOOO LONG and after THE ERROR Prior should have been pulled to try to change the momentum in the game.

Dusty is a IDIOT..........PERIOD!!

Hmmmmm.... remember last years World series when he handed his pitcher the game ball before the game was even over and pissed off my Angels? Kinda bit him in the ass did it not?

There were 4 others reaching for that foul ball beside the one that actually touched it, why are they not being hounded and threatened??

It's just like the DUMBASS FANS to blame it on a curse, a goat, a fan, anyone but the actual cause of the loss which was the Marlins scaored more runs PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!

The sad thing is that the media is feeding the hatred against this guy and they are and should be held responsible for any harm that comes to this fan.

Yea, I really wanted to see the Cubbies in the WS but I guess it was NOT MEANT TO BE!!

Probably the best and safest thing he could do right now is to move to Florida. He'll be a folk hero down there! He'll never have to buy another drink again!

I posted this in another thread, but I think it has more relevance here.

I think it's really pathetic that people are going after this guy and trying to blame him for the Cubs loss. The fact that he caused Alou to miss that ball DID NOT cause the Cubs to lose the NLCS. If he hadn't hit the ball, one of the twelve other people going for it would have. If you look at all the photos taken of that moment, you'll notice that not a single fan in the area was watching where Alou was. They could have just as easily been the ones to hit the ball.

To top that off, the Cubs had a multitude of opportunities to finish that inning with at worst, a tie game. Instead they made some bad plays and had some poor pitching performances. The bottom line is that there's no reason to use that guy as a scapegoat. The Cubs had their chance, and blew it.

If I were that guy, I'd get me a lawyer and start suing all the local papers and radio stations for giving out his name, neighborhood, college, little league team, and place of employment. There are some really stupid people in this world, and I'm sure they comprisied this man's safety by publishing this information. His life is not over, he won't lose his job, and he'll probably still coach little league. If anything is taken from him because of this incident, then the city of Chicago has more problems than the Cubs not going to the Fall Classic.

The majority of the people blaming him were drunken morons. Maybe all professional sports needs to rethink alcohol sales. (Oh, don't tell Mr. Wirtz I said that, he won't allow Hawks games on TV. Hey, wait a minute, he doesn't does he? :crazy: )

The Cubs blew the game in their usual way, mistakes on the field.

Was the guy that touched the foul ball at game 7 last night???? I don't think he was, but i just can't help but think .... "man, if it wasn't for him touching that ball 2 night ago..... Wood wouldn't have given up 7 runs last night..... "

That has to sound stupid to even the most diehard cubs fan. The cubs lost... end of story.

That guy did not cost the Cubs the game. Fielders have to make
plays and pitchers have to make good pitches. The Cubs would
have found a way to lose!

If you are a fan, and somehow lucky enough to get in the front row, you get out of the damn way and hold back everyone in the vicinity at the same time.

For better or worse, this guy is going to have to move. The legend will live until the Cubs break thru.

Thanks for listening.

I feel bad for the guy he is probably going to have to move and start his life over.

Another event blown way out of proportion by the media. If baseball didn't want things like this from ever happening then put netting around the entire stadium. It was unfortunate for the guy that hit the ball but seriously, one non-catch should not be blamed for the loss of the game. The team was responsible...not the fan.

That guy wasnt the only reason the Cobs lost that game. they played horribly through the entire season. The just fell apart. Sportscenter made a comedic highlight out of it though lol

Some hotel in Fla. offered the guy three free months to stay there....I thought that was funny.

I agree it was not his fault. If you want to blame anyone, try the shortstop who made the error.

i feel quite sorry for this guy.
what a horrible thing to have happen, i mean, all he wanted to do was catch the ball... and he screwed up...

hope his horrible 15secs of fame ends soon.

It is amazing that people will blame some fan for trying to get a souvinir and extrapolate that into eight runs!! Not his fault.

well.. if ever he accepted those offers.. don't he dare coming back 2 chicago again ;).

It's all Alou's fault for throwing such a hissy fit. If he had remained calm and gone back to his position it wouldn't have rattled the Cubs so much. But all his whining and throwing his glove psyched everyone out, IMO

Poor guy, the Scape Goat for poor playing.

I watched the frustrating play of Alex Gonzales' in a Blue Jays uniform for seven looonnnggg years. He's a slightly above average fielder, and one of the worst hitters in the game. Gonzo should be thanking the Baseball Gods for Bartman, because it took all the heat off of HIS error that cost the Cubs their shot at the World Series.

I'm not a Gonzales fan, does it show? ;)

I think that if he let Alou catch the ball, they wouldent have gotten 8 runs in one inning on 1 out left. But you can't blame him for wanting a ball. Then again Aliu would have thrown the ball into the stands after he caught it most likely. So in a way it was his fault a bit, but the Cubs had errors too. As far as feeling sorry for him? Not a chance, you reap what you sew, in his case, many angry ppl who want him dead.

anyone see the best damn sports show period last night?

Real funny opening bit they had with him in it.