Happy 2,000th: Some thought on “Catching Hell”

Today marks my 2,000th post on EFD since starting this blog during the Spring of 2005. I have had days when I did not post and I hardly ever write anything on weekends. I’ve been sidelined by hurricanes, business trips, long days at work and days when I just felt like Fido’s a**. I’ve tried to stay true to my beliefs that this space is my space and it is a place where I can practice the art of writing regardless of my ability to otherwise do so because of those instance such as long work days, hurricanes, business trips, vacations and weekends which have kept me from that practice. No matter what I write, how badly, how good, I have realized that if I don’t continue to practice I could lose abilities which were gained through more than 20 years as a professional writer. That is what keeps me going. Now, onto today’s big shoe show.

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Last night I watched for the second time a portion of “Catching Hell,” one of ESPN’s “30 For 30” film series. It is so named because the series features 30 stories from 30 filmmakers on subjects of the past 30 years. I have yet to see this particular film from start to finish, I hope to sometime, although I have seen the most important portions of the documentary.

The story tells of what might be otherwise just a quirky example of Americans and their superstitious obsession with sports were there not such dark socio-pyschological undercurrents involved. It is a cautionary tale of what could happen to anyone who might jump up to catch a foul ball, something one sees hundreds of times in ball parks and on TV. Except in this example, when the person emerges victoriously with the popped-up foul it evolves in something revealing the mean and even dangerous side of people who take their sports much too seriously.

Here are the important facts leading up to what has become known as the “Steve Bartman incident:”

• In October 2003 the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from winning the National League pennant. The Cubs had not played in the World Series since 1945 and had not won the world championship in 95 years.
• Mark Prior had pitched a three-hit shutout through the eighth inning with the Cubs leading 3-0 and led the Florida Marlins 3 games-to-2 in the sixth game of the best of seven series.
• The Marlins’ Luis Castillo was at bat with one out and a man on second.
• Castillo popped a foul up to the left field corner wall, behind the bullpen. The Cubs left fielder Moises Alou  jumped up for the foul as the ball drifted toward a seat.
• Steve Bartman and several other Cubs fans reached out to grab the ball, but Bartman deflected the ball away from Alou’s glove as the fielder and Bartman tried to catch it. Alou slammed his glove down in frustration and yelled at several of the fans. The Cubs pleaded to the umpires for interference but did not get the call.

Castillo continued playing, drew a wild pitch from Prior and as some said in the documentary, “the wheels began to come off” for the terminally-unlucky Cubs. Ivan Rodriguez singled bringing in Juan Pierre, the runner who advanced to third on the wild pitch. In the end, the Marlins sent 12 batters to the plate and beat the Cubs 8-3.

The crowd became agitated and eventually starting shouting “A**hole” at Bartman, who had to be led away by security. The next night, the Marlins came back to beat the Cubs 9-6. They won the league championship and beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. The Cubs have not won a  playoff game since the incident.

Bartman became personna non grata among many of his fellow Chicagoans. He received death threats and could  not use his credit card fearing someone would recognize him. He has never given an interview, despite issuing an apology and having a number of Cubs officials and players who absolved  him of blame. The Cubs organization issued a statement saying:

 “We would also like to remind everyone that games are decided by what happens on the playing field — not in the stands. It is inaccurate and unfair to suggest that an individual fan is responsible for the events that transpired in Game 6. He did what every fan who comes to the ballpark tries to do — catch a foul ball in the stands. That’s one of the things that makes baseball the special sport that it is.”

Alou eventually said it was time to forgive the incident and move on.

The film “Catching Hell” provides some tremendous insight into the American mob mentality, its members whom often go to great links to explain how much more “civilized” they are than their European and South American counterparts who spark riots at soccer matches.

Sports games — especially those in which one really can get wrapped up in watching — can bring moments of high emotion. I had several of those yesterday calling Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub a few choice names when he failed to do something productive with the football in the last seconds of Houston’s disappointing five-point loss to Oakland. Schaub ended up throwing the ball into the end zone into the hands of an Oakland defender, ending the game. After the game I saw a replay showing Schaub did not have all that easy of a choice. He could have thrown the ball high up in the air but it still might have been picked off or ruled incomplete.

Sports look easy on the tube, all in the first seconds when you see it. That is even to experienced practitioners such as Moises Alou. But what “Catching Hell” shows best is that we need to move beyond those emotional plays and moments. To blame an individual for the failure of team, is both irrational and fraught with danger. Baseball and football are “just a game” too often they are treated as something way beyond that. It is during those times when we lose perspective and gaining it back can often be difficult or even impossible.