WSJ -- How One Man Went From Regular Fan To a Cubs Legend.
October 16, 2003
How One Man Went From Regular Fan To a Cubs Legend
Steve Bartman's Foul Play Was an Instant Hit on Web
By RON LIEBER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Thanks to the rage of Chicago Cubs fans and the speed of the Internet, Steve Bartman Wednesday made a swift journey from anonymity to ignominy.
Mr. Bartman is the man who stood up in the stands at Chicago's Wrigley Field Tuesday night and made contact with a foul ball hit by Luis Castillo that appeared poised to drop into the glove of Cubs outfielder Moises Alou. The ball ended up in the stands, Mr. Castillo walked, and the Florida Marlins went on to score eight runs that inning to defeat the Cubs 8 to 3.
At the time, nobody knew who the fateful fan was. But by midday Wednesday, anyone with a Web hook-up had access to his name, his e-mail address, several spoof posters and a mock MasterCard ad featuring his picture, as well as instructions on how to buy a T-shirt with his face on it. A spokeswoman for his employer, Hewitt Associates, a benefits consulting firm in Lincolnshire, Ill., confirmed that the 26-year-old Mr. Bartman was the Cubs fan at the center of the storm. "He chose not to be in the office" Wednesday, added the spokeswoman.
Now, Mr. Bartman may well go down in the sports-history books as a maker of destiny. The Cubs lost to the Florida Marlins 9-6 in the decisive game of the National League Championship Series Wednesday night. The Cubs haven't made an appearance in the World Series since 1945. The team hasn't won the Series since 1908.
Wednesday night, Mr. Bartman issued a statement saying he was "truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart," according to the Associated Press.
The moment that made Steve Bartman famous
Mr. Bartman's moment in the limelight took place at the top of the eighth inning of Tuesday's game, with one out. After the incident, Mr. Bartman was ushered out of the stands by Cubs security.
He didn't speak to reporters and the Cubs didn't release his name. "We'd have no reason to release who he is," said Sharon Pannozzo, a Cubs spokeswoman. "He didn't do anything wrong, he didn't do anything illegal."
Wednesday morning's newspapers didn't identify him by name. On the Internet, however, he was outed almost immediately. Within minutes of the end of the game, fans had posted Mr. Bartman's personal information on message boards linked to MLB.com, the Web site of Major League Baseball. The information had to be removed half a dozen times, said Jim Gallagher, a spokesman for MLB Advanced Media, the league's new-media and Internet division. "Nothing surprises me," Mr. Gallagher said of how quickly the information was posted. "These fans are very resourceful."
Mr. Gallagher said the organization routinely removes any mention of personal information, other than that of the person sending the message. "We're very, very serious about ensuring the privacy of the fan, so as a matter of course, the minute it was posted, it came down," he said of Mr. Bartman's information. "Several additional times during the course of the night, there were fans who attempted to get that back up, and it came down immediately."
Overnight, amateur graphic artists also got to work. By morning, arriving office workers found a variety of links or images in their e-mail in-boxes commemorating the incident. A fake FBI "Ten Most Wanted" poster accused him of "breaking the heart of an entire city." A parody of the MasterCard "Priceless" ad campaign declared: "Tickets to the Cubs game: $200; Chicago Cubs hat: $20; A 1987 Walkman: $10; F-ing up your team's chances of winning the World Series: Priceless."
Around lunchtime, the online edition of the Chicago Sun-Times and a Web site called the Smoking Gun posted his name. William Bastone, the Smoking Gun's editor, says one clue to finding him was his shirt, which had the name of a local youth baseball team on it.
By afternoon, Mr. Bartman's business card, which contains his e-mail address, was being offered for sale on eBay. Another eBay seller was offering the Web domain name stevebartman.net. A third was selling $14.95 T-shirts. On the front: the words "Anger Management." On the back: "is not killing the Cub fan who keeps the curse alive!"
For decades, the Cubs have labored to erase the curse of the Billy Goat. According to legend, the curse was placed on the team after a fan was refused entry to a 1945 World Series game at Wrigley Field because he tried to bring his goat along with him.
At the Chicago Tribune, whose parent company Tribune Co. owns the Cubs, editors decided Tuesday night not to use a clear picture of Mr. Bartman in Wednesday's paper, says sports editor Bill Adee. The Tribune's Web site wasn't using his name Wednesday out of "concern for his well being," he says. "Geez, the poor guy. Do we really want to point everybody in his direction?" After Mr. Bartman issued his statement, the Tribune began using his name.
Mr. Bartman clearly wasn't the sole cause of the Cubs collapse in Tuesday's game. Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez bobbled a routine ground ball later in the eighth inning, and Cubs pitchers share some of the blame for the fact that eight runs scored. After the game, Mr. Alou, the Cubs outfielder, was quick to deflect blame from Mr. Bartman, though he seemed to lash out at him right after the foul-ball incident.
Chris Festa, a local T-shirt maker who honored Cubs manager Dusty Baker with "In Dusty We Trusty" T-shirts earlier this season, says he isn't planning to capitalize on Mr. Bartman's calamitous situation. "I think this gentleman makes a convenient and tempting scapegoat for the mass depression that has settled over the north side of Chicago," he says. Nevertheless, Mr. Bartman kept him up all night. "I had nightmares last night that I was him, and that I would have to leave town," Mr. Festa says.
That opportunity is available, should Mr. Bartman wish to take advantage of it. Wednesday, the Holiday Inn Oceanside in Pompano Beach, Fla., offered him a free three-month stay at the hotel. "He probably needs a break from Chicago," says a hotel spokesman.
--Amy Merrick contributed to this article.
Write to Ron Lieber at ron.lieber@wsj.com
Updated October 16, 2003
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