[jtulliakat0628]

So I DVR Catching Hell last night on ESPN (Steve Bartman Story) and as I was starting to watch a little bit of it this morning, I thought I would come on here and ask you guys if you remember seeing him trying to catch that foul ball and how you guys felt about it. OR, if there are any cubs fans on here that REALLY still believe he kept the curse of the Billy Goat alive?!

I remembered Alous face! UGH! I am a die hard Ranger fan but have also watched a few games of the lovable losers because growing up I would go to a tennis camp in Chicago with my uncle and while I was there, he would always take me to cubs and sox games.

That Cubs have been pretty historically bad but that 03 team was special! ]

Can they ever bounce back from the goat or Steve Bartman?!

[JASCards]

It was a good flick. People forget that right after the Bartman play the cubs SS booted an easy double play ball and they were also still up 3-0. Also Bartman didn't cause the Flubs to blow a 3-1 series lead....

As a Cardinals fan I can say that "Catching Hell" is the feel good movie of the year.

[sastahl]

I really dont think bartman did anything wrong, if you, me, or anyone else was in his seat we would have done the same thing. The marlins were a really good team in 03. Like JASCards said, Gonzales def had more of an impact on that game then Bartman. If the double play was made, we would not know Steve Bartman's name. The Cubbies will win .. eventually... i hope...before im gone..

[keyser soze]

I think Bartman should have been more aware of the situation and his surroundings, however, the hell he's endured is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Alou made the situation worse by acting like an idiot, only later to admit that he probably could not have caught the ball. His reaction misled people into believing that he would have made the catch and fanned the flames of Bartman hatred. It's a huge black eye for Chicago and sports in general that people would ruin Bartmans life, yet Alex Gonzalez gets a free pass. A horrible case of misguided hostility

[ceocards]

I wanted to, but couldn't bring myself to watch it...

That 03 team is why I collect Mark Prior & Kerry Wood to this day.

I've cried a total of 2 times in my life during sporting events. One was tears of joy when UNI beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament. The other was at the end of game 7 of that series. Game 6 was a downer, but Game 7 was totally an emotional roller coaster for me. Bummed out when they fell behind. Overwhelming joy when Wood hit the home run to give them the lead, and then total devastation at the end.

All that said though, while I wish those fans (all of them - Bartman was not the ONLY one with his hands in there) would have at least given Alou the chance to make the catch, the resulting treatment of Bartman sickens me. That a young man would have his life completely ruined by doing what comes naturally to any baseball fan is beyond the pale.

I think most of the Cubs' fan base treats the situation as it is - another tally mark in the column of 'bum luck'. I even ate at Harry Caray's this summer when I was in Chicago and saw the remains of the ball that got blown up. But any fan that threatened, stalked, etc poor Bartman is no fan I want to be a 'brother' to.

[phillies816]

I never understood why that guy caught so much crap when quite honestly it was SS Alex Gonzalez who was more to blame for them losing IMO. BTW Ceo, I too cried when UNI beat Kansas but mainly because my NCAA pool instantly became worthless

[john1580]

The dude that was next to him tried to catch the ball too and missed. And alou never woulda made that catch. Plus like others mentioned the ss booted the next play. People were saying on the show that he ddnt help his cause by looking straight ahead and listening to the headphones, but i thought that was nonsense...You could see in his eyes that he was terrified and just trying not to enrage people anymore than they already were. What was he supposed to do turn around and argue with 40,000 people who were throwing beer on him ?

[zeprock]

Bartman was the scapegoat for the Cubs that year. I felt sorry for him and still do. I would have tried to catch the ball too.

[yankeeempire]

Did Bartman get any compensation from the Cubs? If not i would have sued the dickens off the Cubs,the vendors and any other concession stand that sold items that were thrown at me. What people forget is that Bartman was assaulted and that is a crime whether it was verbally or by beer being thrown at him. I'm just wondering what played out after that incident because i didn't follow it after i saw that because it sickened me to see fans act the way they did.

[kata78]

I'm sure Cubs fan will forgive him when they win a World Series. Just like how Red Sox's fans exiled Bill Buckner to Idaho. So when the Red Sox won the World Series 18 years later in 2004 and a sign said “Bill Buckner: We Forgive You”, I would have responded by saying "F u all" Kinda messed up....the way some fans treat other fans and players for a screw up really brings out the ugliness in the human race....