ESPN planning Bartman documentary

[Tampa Bay Giants]

ESPN planning Bartman documentary
Chicago Cubs players think controversy should fade away

By Paul Sullivan

Tribune reporter

August 2, 2009

MIAMI -- ESPN's plan to produce a documentary on Steve Bartman isn't going over too well in the Cubs clubhouse.

According to an ESPN press release, the documentary will try to answer the question: "Can Steve Bartman ever forgive Chicago?"

Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee both played in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series, when Bartman's attempt to catch a foul ball preceded an eight-run eighth inning for the Marlins. Some blame Bartman for the collapse, and he has avoided publicity ever since.

Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano are the only two remaining Cubs from that team, while Lee played for the Marlins.

"I don't know what difference it's going to make for the fans of Chicago, or for Bartman himself," Ramirez said of ESPN's plans to forge ahead with or without Bartman's cooperation. "To me, I don't see anything positive coming out of it for me as a player, or for us as players."

Lee, who was part of the Marlins' rally, said Bartman already has been absolved by most knowledgeable fans, and a documentary would make things worse for him.

"They should probably let it go," Lee said. "It's a non-issue. It didn't change the game, no matter what anyone says. He did what any fan would've done, and there were five other people trying to do the same thing. He just happened to get his hand on it. At the time, we saw Moises [Alou] get upset, but it's a play that happens quite a bit.

"It's not like it was some crazy, random thing. It happened. Now let it go."

Ramirez agreed with Lee and said the foul ball did not have a bearing on the game's outcome.

"Mo had a chance to make that play, but the ball was in the stands," he said. "Otherwise, they would've called the batter out [for fan interference]. After that [ Alex] Gonzalez made an error and they scored five more runs, so it wasn't Bartman's fault. We just didn't get it done."

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

[Tampa Bay Giants]

Originally posted: July 30, 2009
ESPN orders documentary on Chicago Cubs scapegoat Steve Bartman

Steve Bartman, an accidental icon of Chicago Cubs futility, is getting thrust into the spotlight once more.

ESPN announced Wednesday that it has commissioned a one-hour documentary on Bartman, the Cubs fan whose attempt to catch a foul ball late in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship series was cast as some kind of catalyst in the long-hamstrung team's eventual collapse that year.

The revisiting of the Bartman incident and a look at its ugly legacy by Alex Gibney, writer-director of the Oscar-nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and the Academy Award-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side," will be part of ESPN's "30 for 30" series.

According to ESPN, Gibney will attempt to answer the question: Can Bartman ever forgive Chicago?

"30 for 30" has the cable sports network presenting 30 documentaries from various filmmakers, each covering a different topic from the past 30 years, to mark ESPN's 30th anniversary. The first is set to debut in early October, with the last scheduled for late next year.

EDIT: These should be interesting.

Ron Shelton's "30 for 30" contribution will be a film on basketball great Michael Jordan's baseball sabbatical. John Singleton is looking at disgraced track star Marion Jones. Ice Cube is examining how the Los Angeles Raiders became linked with "gansta rap" and the hip-hop scene. Mike Tollin's project is about the short-lived USFL. Peter Berg's piece is on the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. Barry Levinson takes on the Colts' flight from his hometown, Baltimore, to Indianapolis.

And, well, you get the idea.

Other filmmakers working on the project include Barbara Kopple, Joel Surnow, Albert Maysles, Morgan Freeman, Spike Jonze, Brett Morgen, Dan Klores, Johnny Knoxville, Frank Marshall, Reggie Rock Blythewood and Steve James.

The project is the brainchild of the estimable Bill Simmons, ESPN.com's The Sports Guy.

The Cubs, like the Chicago Tribune, are owned by Tribune Co.

[abolishthedh]

The thing that bothers me is that Steve Bartman struck this observor as someone who truly loved his team. I remember him wearing headphones, probably listening to a radio broadcast of the game. I also remember he had an expression on his face as if he had let his grandmother's dog get lost after leaving the fence gate open.

Wherever he is, let him be. After the Cardinals, I'll always root for the Cubs on his behalf. ESPN doesn't love baseball; its first love is football.

[EdTarbusz]

Why not just do a documentary on every idiot that has tried to interfered with a ball that was still in play?

[Joltin' Joe]

Why not just do a documentary on every idiot that has tried to interfered with a ball that was still in play?

Yeah man let it go. You see idiots in attendance every single MLB game where they try to grab balls in play.

[Scoops]

Well, if the idea of the doc is, as originally posted, "Can Bartman forgive Chicago?", it could be interesting. He was treated horribly at the time, and still exists in some circles as a face of the Cubs "curse", along with the goat and the black cat.

Derrek Lee is right, I don't think most informed observers see Steve Bartman as a big part of that game. The media, while not so much demonizing him directly, still use him as shorthand for that collapse. They show that play, but not Alex Gonzalez booting a DP grounder, for example. Maybe this doc will cast some more light on that entire collapse. And the next game, when the Cubs also blew a lead.

[64Cards]

Alou probably would have dropped it anyway.

[ol' aches and pains]

The Cubs had another chance the next day, and lost that one too. The better team won, get over it already.

[Melottfan]

Why persecute(sp) the poor guy further?

[Brian McKenna]

Why not just do a documentary on every idiot that has tried to interfered with a ball that was still in play?

I'd prefer not to see that Maier(?) kid again, thank you.

[Gary Dunaier]

Alou probably would have dropped it anyway.

Wasn't the ball already over the wall and into the fans' space by the time Bartman touched it?

[Paul Wendt]

Yes, in the stands, according to Derrek Lee (quoted in #1).

Jeffrey Maier reached into the field, over the warning track.