Steve Bartman lookalike haunts Cubs fans at NL wild-card game
The Chicago Cubs’ playoff woes are well known at this point. The team hasn’t won the World Series since 1908, and has only reached the postseason 12 times since then.
The last time they came close to making a deep postseason run was 2003. With the Cubs up 3-2 over the Florida Marlins, things looked promising. That is, until the eighth inning. Luis Castillo hit a ball just barely out of play in the left field corner. Outfielder Moises Alou attempted to jump at the wall and make the catch, but the ball was hit by a now infamous fan named Steve Bartman.
Though it was entirely undeserved, Bartman received a lot of scorn after the Cubs blew the lead and lost the game. They would eventually lose the series in seven games. For days, Bartman was harassed by the local media and fans.
[Related: Cubs fan in Pittsburgh changes “Lets Go Bucs” sign to “Lets Go Cubs”]
Bartman has remained quiet since then, despite numerous interview requests. Cubs’ fans attempted to bury the hatchet prior to the 2015 NL wild-card game, starting a GoFundMe campaign to send Bartman to Pittsburgh for the contest.
Though the real Bartman refused the offer, an impersonator showed up.
Yep, a fan in Pittsburgh showed up dressed as Bartman for the game. He’s probably walking around, scaring the hell out of every Cubs’ fan in attendance. We have to say, he did a pretty good job replicating the look.
At the same time, Bartman never really deserved the level of scorn heaped upon him following the incident. The fact that he’s still talked about 10+ years later is somewhat ridiculous, considering he’s done everything in his power to avoid talking about the incident. Bartman could have opted to become a minor celebrity, giving interviews about the play for the rest of his life, but he chose to remain out of the spotlight.
[Also: The Pirates and the Cubs, they’ve taken similar paths to get here]
Bartman never wanted any of this and, honestly, that makes us pretty sad. We’re not saying we can’t appreciate the comedy behind this fan’s intention, but we’re kind of hoping something happens to the Cubs during this postseason that takes Bartman off the hook.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
