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As for the Yankees, what 185 million dollar payroll? I bet it tops 200 just to keep the Sox off of them. But we'll see if Pettite goes home to Texas and Wells to San Diego. Of course, winning has a way of overwhelming other considerations. So if the Yankees are somehow stopped, I bet Pettite and Wells will be gone, along with the entire front office and hopefully, Torre too.

From your lips to God's ear, as the saying goes :g:g

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And its not fate for the Cubs either. Its Baker, like Grady Little, being so certain that a struggling pitcher is still better than anyone in the pen that you leave him out there too long. After the funky foul ball, it was obvious Prior had little left. And yet no one was even getting warm.

I don't disagree, but it had more to do with that blown doubleplay that would have ended the inning....

As a lifelong Cubs fan I finally recognized the team I grew up with last night.

Word of advice to that fan: Move to Nebraska.....

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priceless.jpg

I'm sure this is only the beginning. If this guy is smart, he'll cash in on his 15 minutes.

He's been named by the Sun-Times

Man in stands described as diehard fan

October 15, 2003

BY ANNIE SWEENEY, FRANK MAIN AND CHRIS FUSCO

The man some fans blame for Tuesday night's Cubs loss because he reached out and touched a foul ball that Moises Alou was trying to catch is a diehard Cubs fan who coaches youth baseball in the north suburbs.

Steve Bartman, 26, works at Hewitt Associates, an international consulting firm in Lincolnshire.

"He is an associate at Hewitt, and he is not coming to work today because of the incident," Suzanne Zagata-Meraz, a spokeswoman for Hewitt, said this morning. "That was a decision that Steve and [Human Resources] made together. We have been in contact with Steve."

A man who answered the door at the Northbrook home where friends and a neighbor said Bartman grew up defended him, saying he only did what came naturally when a foul ball came his way.

"He's a huge Cubs fan," said the man, who responded to "Mr. Bartman." "I'm sure I taught him well. I taught him to catch foul balls when they come near him."

He declined to say any more and would not confirm what relation he is to Steve Bartman.

A neighbor, Ron Cohen, said he has known the Bartman family for 20 years. He and others said Bartman was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who played for and is now a coach for the Renegades, an elite youth baseball club in Niles.

Cohen said he saw Bartman on Sunday and that Bartman told him then that he had tickets to Tuesday's game.

"He felt great he got tickets to the game," said Cohen, 63.

Cohen was watching the game on TV with his son, who grew up with "Stevie," when they recognized the man in the Renegades shirt.

"I really was just surprised," said Cohen, who called Bartman's mother. "I think it's just a natural tendency. Everybody reaches. I'm not trying to defend him, but I think it's just a natural tendency. He may not have seen Alou coming."

He described Bartman as a baseball fanatic.

"He's a good kid, a wonderful son, never in any trouble," Cohen told a Sun-Times reporter. "I don't think he should be blamed at all. People reach for balls. This just happened to be a little more critical. If Florida didn't score all the runs, you wouldn't be standing here."

A parent whose son played baseball for the Renegades last year echoed Cohen's description of Bartman.

"He was a fine guy. He was a good baseball coach to my son," said Roger Shimanovsky, 41. "Believe me, I'm sure nobody feels worse about this than him."

Bartman is listed as a coach of the Renegades' 13-year-old team this year, according to the organization's Web site.

He also was a player on a 1992 Renegades team that finished with 47 wins and 10 losses. The team was the Palatine League champion and the Pekin Fourth of July tournament champion.

The home where Bartman grew up backs up to a baseball field where his dad would hit pop-ups for him and his friends to catch, said Ron Cohen's son, Gary Cohen, 34. He said Bartman's favorite player growing up was Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

Copyright © The Sun-Times Company

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Edited by Jim Dye
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I dunno about all this "it was just a natural reaction" talk. I saw pictures in the newspaper today that very clearly show every other fan in the area with their arms against their bodies leaning AWAY from the ball to give Alou a chance to catch it EXCEPT this jamoke and the other idiot. Seems a few people had enough sense to steer clear of the ball.

PLUS that was very close to a fan interference call. That ball was right on the edge of the stands. Yet another reason they should have stayed in their seats....

ugh..

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He should have gotten out of the way, for sure. If you're going to sit that close you should have half a brain and be prepared that you might need to get the hell out of the way of a big play once in a great while, even in the seats and out of the field of play. But I'm afraid the Cubs have only themselves to blame for the big fold. Believe me, I'm a longtime fan and it broke my heart to see the all-too-familiar self-inflicted wounds, but they could have won the game if they hadn't made all those mistakes after the "event". That guy was an idiot and while he didn't do anything illegal, his brain seemed to be on "pause". Let it go folks, and get behind our boys tonight! :tup

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Un FREAKING believable!

The Sox finally get out the whooping sticks and mash about 18 hits and 9 runs, kill the non-Rivera bullpen for a stunning two-run down comeback win and we're staring square at Pedro vs Rocket, Game Seven, Yankee Stadium.

The only reason I have hope to complete this miracle is precisely the fact that the bats came out of hibernation today, with every slumping player getting into the act, including Nomar, Manny, Ortiz, Millar and Mueller. If they can keep it up tomorrow, I like our chances, especially if Wakefield is available to follow Pedro.

And hey, who knows, maybe we don't have to actually win it. This game might get so ugly in the stands, maybe we'll win on a forfeit :g

And meanwhile, in Chi-town, Kerry Wood just crushed a three run homer to tie it up.

GO CUBS!!!!

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:angry::angry::angry::angry::angry: Just try and tell me the Cubs aren't jinxed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

Statistically impossible for a team to go this long without getting in the world series, now the Marlins go in twice in their 10 year existance????? Can't wait to watch the Yanks and the Marlins.....no, won't watch at all if that happens....

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Can't wait to watch the Yanks and the Marlins.....no, won't watch at all if that happens....

Who's to say that's going to happen? God only knows w/the Yanks and the Bosox this year; NY took the regular season series 10-9, and now they're tied at 3-3 in the playoffs. This will be the first time in baseball history that two teams have played each other 26 times in one year. Like I said yesterday, no way would I count Boston out.

I think Clemens and Martinez will both throw great games tomorrow night. Torre better hope he can get 7 out of Roger because I don't think he trusts the bullpen against Boston outside of Rivera. Wakefield will undoubtedly be on tap for the Bosox in the late innings. It's gonna be a war of inches...

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Yeah, baseball lore it is. But when it comes right down to it, this was a grade-Z choke by a team that had the Marlins in their grasp and let it go. Come on: they brought out their two best pitchers, two guys who hadn't lost back-to-back games since 2001, and they got rattled. And then there was the non-existent Cubs offense in the last three games. Hell, the pitcher accounted for THREE of the Cubs runs tonight.

Like Brad said,

They don't have the killer instinct. What else to explain what has happened to the Cubs now and 1984

and the Marlins, apparently, do. They came right out swinging, and didn't let up, even after giving up a HR to the pitcher and then losing the lead. The Cubs. on the other hand, played like a team defeated from the 7th on, swinging for the fence at every pitch. It was heart- and gut-wrenching.

I also hereby revoke all bad will towards that fan from last night's game. It's not his fault the Cubs gave away the game, and eventually, the series. Again, like Brad said, the good teams put this behind them and move on. The Cubs played tonight like they were still rattled.

Having said all that, I'll be rooting for the Marlins this series for one reason and one reason only: PUDGE RODRIGUEZ, far and away one of the greatest players in the game right now, racking up the numbers, and steadily moving from hero to legend status. We loved him here in Texas, laughed at the Marlins when they signed him, and now we're (at least I am) eating crow for laughing. But in between gulps, I am extremely happy for this guy: he never would've gotten to where he is now with his former team. 95 years will seem like a drop when, 200 years from now, the Rangers will have yet to make it into the ALCS.

So, GO PUDGE!!!

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Right or wrong, this is what will be remembered in Chicago...

t1_alou_fan_ap.jpg

It's part of baseball lore now. I do really feel for that guy--yet another reason I wanted so badly to see Chicago win tonight. That's a mistake he's going to be a long time living down.

I wonder if that guy is having suicidal thoughts tonight. (I'm almost not kidding.)

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My wife had to fly to Chicago for a work-related trip today (Wednesday), and she'll be back tomorrow (Thursday) -- so I asked her to grab both today's and tomorrow's copies of the Chicago Tribune (one of the best daily papers in the country, I might add -- and that's coming from someone who's never lived in Chicago).

Should be interesting to read the local perspective on the interference from the fan, and the loss tonight.

A very good friend of mine here in Kansas City is a huge Cubs fan – so much so that she was seriously thinking about dropping $2,000 on tickets to the World Series, if the Cubs had gotten in. So close, and yet – so far...

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Brutal. Just brutal.

And heartwrenching for me and my Dad, as we had spoken since May of a Red Sox-Cubs WS. After the Sox forced game seven I gave him a quick call just to say, "we're both a game away from the dream. Let's get it done" and when Alou hit the homer, I thought it was. But the difference was the Marlins pulled out all the stops, turning to practically every pitcher they had to try to stifle the Cubbies, and the Cubs felt like they had to ride Wood all the way, just like they did with Prior. And I do not see how game seven was a choke at all. Wood had nothing left, and the bullpen couldn't keep it close enough, those last two runs were just killers.

On the positive side, the Cubs are going to be a good team for a long while. They need to add a couple of arms to the bullpen, maybe resign Flash Gordon? And add a bat. I'd love to see Sheffield hitting behind Sammy, but Alou has another year to go on his contract.

**************

Meanwhile, what does this mean for the kharma of tonite's game seven?

Does it show that cursed teams find a way to lose and another chapter will be written in the Book of Misery?

Or do the Marlins prove that it *can* be done, you can go into the heavily favored opponent's park and win back-to-back with backs to the wall?

It will depend on:

What kind of stuff Martinez has. If he can toss 93 MPH fastballs early, it means he's begun to recover from his 130 pitch A's outing and should be very tough.

Is Wakefield ready to be the hero, and how long can he do it? Pedro is a seven inning pitcher nowadays, but if Wake can pitch seven and eight and that saves Timlin and Williamson for the ninth, we'll have a chance. And its gotta be tough to go from Pedro's assortment of pitches to a 65 mph knuckler!

And finally, do the hits keep coming? Of course, Clemens will have a lot to say about that.

Can there be any better way to "reverse the curse"? Game seven, Yankee Stadium, Roger Clemens on the mound? If they win this, I don't think it will matter what happens with Florida, the season will be a wondrous one.

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That's a mistake he's going to be a long time living down.

There was no mistake. The guy is clearly sitting about 10-feet up and his eyes would have been following the trajectory of the ball from the time it left the bat and he wouldn't have even seen that whiner coming over.

At home under police guard??? He should go on camera and tell the city of Chicago to eat flaming death. :tdown

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The only curse the Cubs had in this series was Dusty Baker! This guy just does not know how to manage a play-off series. Of course, being a Dodger fan, I already knew that, plus he thinks he's the smartest guy in the game. Second year in a row his managing has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. He must be thinking there's still a game today.

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