in defense of Bartman

It's interesting how particular names or incidents are able to capture the imagination of the public more so than others. Certain moments are able to capture that elusive 'it' factor that make them either famous or infamous in the minds of people. In this case, the name of a particular fan is known to almost every follower of baseball, most every citizen of Chicago, and certainly every fan of the Chicago Cubs: Steve Bartman

Separating the emotions from objectivity is asking a bit much and often isn't even worth the effort, but I'm going to do so anyway: Steve Bartman did what most every fan would have done. All he did was reach up to catch a foul ball.

Looking at replays, he wasn't the only one in his section and of those immediately around him to be oblivious to the oncoming outfielder running over to make a play on that ball. Like everyone else he was looking up. Had the ball landed just one or two seats to either side of him, then another person would have taken the blame. It's not as if all the other fans around him were leaning away from that foul ball to maximize the outfielder's chance of making the play. I sometimes wonder if it is expected of home team fans to pull away any fan that might interfere with a play (if it benefits the home team). Such is the attraction that people feel towards foul balls; I'd hesitate to grab a friend let alone a perfect stranger!

I bet that if one were able to direct the flight of any ball hit to the crowd, it would be like holding a magnet above metal shavings, with the fans reaching up with their outstretched hands. That the ball was directed at Steve Bartman was just happenstance. It could have been anyone and they would have reacted the same way as he did. I just hate to see him singled out as the target of blame.