• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Deadspin: Steve Bartman Got A World Series Ring From The Cubs

S

slightconfuse

Banned
Fourteen years after reaching for a foul ball, tipping it away from Moises Alou in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, and entrenching himself forever in the tortured mythos of Cubs fandom, Steve Bartman will receive a World Series ring.

Cubs ownership apparently reached out and awarded Bartman with a ring as a “special gift,” per WGN, who first reported on the arrangement. Here’s the ring, which has Bartman’s name on it.
Click to expand...


http://deadspin.com/steve-bartman-got-a-world-series-ring-from-the-cubs-1797404733
 
latest
 
never heard of him but just looked it up:
Bartman declined interviews, endorsement deals, and requests for public appearances, and his family changed their phone number to avoid harassing phone calls.[13] He requested that any gifts sent to him by Florida Marlins fans be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.[14] In July 2008, Bartman was offered $25,000 to autograph a picture of himself at National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, but he refused the offer.[15] He declined to appear as a VIP at Wrigley Field. In 2011, eight years after the incident, he declined to appear in an ESPN documentary, and he declined a six-figure offer to appear in a Super Bowl commercial.
Click to expand...

dude just doesn't want anything to do with it. 8 years later declining 100k+ to make fun of yourself, jeez.
 
Good for him. The ring has his name on it which is sweet. The dude will never set foot in Wrigley ever again though.
 
Deserved, this guy was treated like absolute shit here. Not to mention his likeness and name were used to make money on shitty merchandise. I'd give him lifelong season tickets as well.
 
The team and it's fans should fuck right off with regards to Bartman. Acting like now that they won a title, it's okay for him to come out of hiding. Where was this make good in the days shortly after the incident, when crazy fans were ruining this dude's life?
 
whitemex88 said:
Deserved, this guy was treated like absolute shit here. Not to mention his likeness and name were used to make money on shitty merchandise. I'd give him lifelong season tickets as well.
Click to expand...

They probably offered him that at one point. The 30 for 30 on him is excellent.
 
How Cubs fans treated Steve Bartman after that game forever made me hate the Cubs. Dude didn't deserve that considering he wasn't even the only fan reaching for that foul ball, and it still wasn't the reason the Cubs lost that game or even that series.

The fact that it took the Cubs 14 years to tell him "we're sorry" after Cubs fanbase ruined his life actually pisses me off.
 
Cubs acting like typical Wrigleyville douche bags.

They aren't doing this for him, they are doing this to make themselves feel better for being assholes.
 
I think it's a nice gesture by the ownership and front office. Remember these people weren't in place when all the Bartman garbage went down.
 
Ninja Scooter said:
The team and it's fans should fuck right off with regards to Bartman. Acting like now that they won a title, it's okay for him to come out of hiding. Where was this make good in the days shortly after the incident, when crazy fans were ruining this dude's life?
Click to expand...

Goofalo said:
Cubs acting like typical Wrigleyville douche bags.

They aren't doing this for him, they are doing this to make themselves feel better for being assholes.
Click to expand...


You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? The team itself never perpetrated any of the invective toward him. And the team has been run by a different ownership & management group since 2009, well after the incident took place. You ever think the reason you're finding out about this NOW is that the team did it quietly?
 
Sephzilla said:
How Cubs fans treated Steve Bartman after that game forever made me hate the Cubs. Dude didn't deserve that considering he wasn't even the only fan reaching for that foul ball, and it still wasn't the reason the Cubs lost that game or even that series.

The fact that it took the Cubs 14 years to tell him "we're sorry" after Cubs fanbase ruined his life actually pisses me off.
Click to expand...

That's what infuriates me most about the whole situation. Every single fan in that section was just as culpable in preventing Alou from having a play on the ball, but because the ball lands on Bartman's seat he's the one that ends up getting his life ruined.
 
I feel like I wouldn't take it just out of spite for the organization .....
I'd probably take it in a heartbeat tbh
 
It's the least they could do after how shitty their fans treated him.

If anyone hasn't watched the 30 for 30 on him, I'd highly recommend it. It's pretty crazy.
 
cdyhybrid said:
It's the least they could do after how shitty their fans treated him.

If anyone hasn't watched the 30 for 30 on him, I'd highly recommend it. It's pretty crazy.
Click to expand...

I've hovered the cursor over it a few times but I can't bring myself to watch. Can't stomach it knowing I'll see a guy have his life ruined over some bullshit like that.
 
That's really cool of them. Stuff like that shows how many awful fans every team has. Now he's sitting pretty with a World Series ring and they are out in the cold.
 
Neifirst said:
You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? The team itself never perpetrated any of the invective toward him. And the team has been run by a different ownership & management group since 2009, well after the incident took place. You ever think the reason you're finding out about this NOW is that the team did it quietly?
Click to expand...

So it still took them 8 years to acknowledge and apologize for their fanbase ruining someone's life.
 
Fox318 said:
I never understood why Bartman got the blame.

Like 10 people were reaching for that ball.
Click to expand...

it was the commentators and the asshole cameramen who singled him out and had the camera on him for the rest of the game.

Also, because of Moises Alou's reaction.
 
Fox318 said:
I never understood why Bartman got the blame.

Like 10 people were reaching for that ball.
Click to expand...

That and it wasn't Steve Bartman's fault that Alex Gonzalez misfielded a ball that could have lead to an inning ending double play. It wasn't Bartman's fault that Kyle Farnsworth gave up a bases clearing double. It wasn't Bartman's fault that the Cubs lost the game that followed the Bartman game.

The Chicago Cubs fanbase ruined a man's life because they didn't want to accept that their Cubs weren't that good and fucking choked.
 
Really is a shame what happened to this guy. Nice of the cubs to show some class albeit 15 years late. Sports can be a fickle mistress. Anybody know the name of the other fan(s) trying to catch that fly ball or did they get out of the stadium with their lives intact?
 
SlimySnake said:
it was the commentators and the asshole cameramen who singled him out and had the camera on him for the rest of the game.

Also, because of Moises Alou's reaction.
Click to expand...

And how he looked w/ the dorky get-up, he was a perfect punching bag for mob mentality. The 30 for 30 was really, really great, highly recommended. Best part was that even if Alou catches that ball they still could have gotten out of that inning numerous times.

The only saving grace for Bartman was that it happened pre twitter/social media. As bad as the guy got it, his life would have been even worse in terms of people harassing him/taking videos+pictures in public, etc. if it happened today.
 
Ninja Scooter said:
The team and it's fans should fuck right off with regards to Bartman. Acting like now that they won a title, it's okay for him to come out of hiding. Where was this make good in the days shortly after the incident, when crazy fans were ruining this dude's life?
Click to expand...

Fans don't blame him for shit.
 
I always think about the image of him in the outfield, and how he had his headphones on to listen to the radio broadcast, and how he probably was sitting there, listening to people shit talk him and he just sat there...

How terrible is that...

Good that they extended the olive branch on this.
 
I'm glad he will receive the ring, but I'm still not happy about how this all went down. This man LOVES this team, and the city did him dirty for a while.
 
Diprosalic said:
never heard of him but just looked it up:


dude just doesn't want anything to do with it. 8 years later declining 100k+ to make fun of yourself, jeez.
Click to expand...
Dude went through hell and high water and I bet some folks are still mad about it. I don't blame him
 
I was a huge Cubs fan in the 90s when I lived up there. Moved away in 1999 and lost some fandom. Seeing how Bartman got the blame for the Cubs completely self inflicted fuck ups made it very easy to drop the team entirely.

I'm glad the current management team has done the right thing here. Hopefulky this helps him move on a bit and get some birmalcy back to his life.
 
I remember watching that live. He did what every fucking fan does at a baseball game when the ball is heading toward the stands. They ran the man and his family out of town while sending death threats over a fucking foul ball that Alou likely wasn't going to catch anyway. Yet they don't blame the botched play that would've ended the inning a few pitches after the "incident".

Good on the Cubs for doing this.
 
The Cubs as an organization did a pretty good job between the Bartman Incident and now to try and help Bartman out; it was the fans that were the ones that really mistreated him. He didn't do anything wrong; I can understand the immediate anger and frustration from those at the game and those watching live at home, but everyone should have woken up the next day and realized it wasn't his fault that things spiraled, nor did he even really go out of his way to interfere.

I'm really happy he got this ring. I hope it can make up for even a fraction of the crap he went through.
 
Fuck, I love happy endings. Not enough of them in modern news.

Also, as a Cubs fan who abandoned them for the Marlins when they were brought in as an expansion team (local team = free transfer of fanship rules and all that) that whole series was bizarre for me to watch. Really, really bizarre.
 
Everyone who even has a remote interest in this story HAS TO watch Catching Hell. It goes through this whole debacle so well and shows us what douche bags people are. You can watch it for free on ESPN:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=13883887

Catching_Hell_web.jpg



Fox318 said:
I never understood why Bartman got the blame.

Like 10 people were reaching for that ball.
Click to expand...

Catching Hell has a great part about the history of "scapegoats" - that was what he was, he got the blame for no reason, it was a horrible representation of society. No different than Buckner, everyone forgets they blew game 7 too.

andthebeatgoeson said:
Weren't they pouring shit on him during the game?
Click to expand...

Yep. He was getting death threats when they were taking him out of the stadium.
 
El_TigroX said:
I always think about the image of him in the outfield, and how he had his headphones on to listen to the radio broadcast, and how he probably was sitting there, listening to people shit talk him and he just sat there...

How terrible is that...
Click to expand...

Same. It's incredibly upsetting.
 
NYR said:
Everyone who even has a remote interest in this story HAS TO watch Catching Hell. It goes through this whole debacle so well and shows us what douche bags people are. You can watch it for free on ESPN:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=13883887

Catching_Hell_web.jpg





Catching Hell has a great part about the history of "scapegoats" - that was what he was, he got the blame for no reason, it was a horrible representation of society. No different than Buckner, everyone forgets they blew game 7 too.



Yep. He was getting death threats when they were taking him out of the stadium.
Click to expand...

My girlfriend watched this with me and all she could say the entire time was "this is incredibly sad, holy shit".

I mean, the entire story is so fucking sad that Catching Hell has to transition to the Bill Buckner redemption story near the end just to end on something resembling an optimistic note.
 
Still remember this like yesterday.

giphy.gif

It's pretty much the moment in that season. I don't even remember who won that year or anything else about that season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Elden Ring film
7
315
Hyet replied
Disney+ working on a Animorphs series
22
609
0neAnd0nly replied
New Amazon Stargate series canceled
2
93
253
Warspite replied
On This Day...1776 - TIME's AI-Generated Short-Form Historical Series from Darren Aronofsky
46
971
ResurrectedContrarian replied
The Boroughs | New Series | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix
36
800
jason10mm replied
Top Bottom