Does Steve Bartman Know What's going on in Chicago?

Here come the insufferable Cubs!  I'm not bitter because half of their good players came from Boston.  I promise.  I'm tired of listening to the Cubs talk.  I asked C who he was rooting for int eh World Series.  He scoffed and answered "Cubs!  What you want the Indians to win?"  No, I just don't care as much as everyone wants me to.

The Indians are not that much better.  They lost their last appearance on a walk off single to the Florida Marlins.  Add the fact that Lebron James is glomming on to the team with his Cavs buddies and the Indians are becoming insufferable too.  But we're not here to talk about the Indians.  Although I was expecting James to call Cleveland the "City of Champions."

The Cubs haven't been in the World Series since 1945.  They haven't won since 1908.  The Indians haven't won since 1948.  I get it.  These are Major league Baseball's longest champion  The desperation series.  The Suffering Fanbase Series.  THE FUTILITY SERIES.  Some team will have the longest Champion drought in two weeks.

Steve Bartman in Happier times.

Which brings me to one of the most fascinating stories in all of Baseball history.  Back in 2003, The Marlins (there they are again) were playing the Cubs in the NLCS.  The Cubs were a few short outs (5 actually, but that detracts from the urgency of the curse) away from going to the World Series when a foul pop was lifted into the Left Field stands.  Moises Alou was loping over to the stands when...you know what happened next.

Bartman then went into hiding.  No one was sure what happened to him.  They made a 30 for 30 Film about him.  They purchased and blew up the baseball that Bartman could not grasp.  Everything an insufferable fan base would do make a buck or draw attention to themselves.  When the inevitable questions about Bartman surfaced in earnest last year when the Cubs made the NLCS, all we knew was that he remained in the Chicago area, he had a spokesman and he did not want to be involved anymore.    

When the Cubs made the series this year, chatter started about Bartman throwing out the first pitch of Chicago's first home game.  Uh, are you kidding?  What if the Cubs don't win the World Series?  What if Kris Bryant breaks a finger? What if Jon Lester throws a ball away on a come backer? What if Anthony Rizzo strikes out?  It's all Bartman's fault!  Throwing out the first pitch would have been the worst idea in modern history.  Not that Bartman gave it any thought, his spokesman immediately retorted that Bartman unequivocally wanted nothing to do with the Series.  He did mention that Bartman was rooting for the Cubs, although I think more to remove his curse than actually having a vested interest in the team's fortunes.

So here we are.  A vociferous supporter wanted nothing to do with his team's first world Series in 71 years because he was afraid of the backlash.  Maybe he should just come out and say he was rooting for the Indians and move to Northeast Ohio...unless the Indians lose.  Then he would be royally screwed.

Nevermind, stay in Chicago.  And accept the invitation to throw out the first pitch next year on Opening Day.