After taking 2 out of 3 games in Florida, the Cubs returned home needing to win 1 game to go to their first World Series in 58 years, and their top two starters, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, were scheduled to take the bump for games 6 and 7.  Prior was dominant in Game 6, giving up only 3 hits heading in to the 8th inning.  The crowd was starting to anticipate that, after years of futility, their team was about to make it to the promised land.  With only 5 outs standing between the Cubs and the World Series, Luis Castillo came up to bat against Prior and hit a foul ball down the left field line.

That’s when things started to fall apart, and one man’s life was, at least temporarily, destroyed.

Tonight is the 10 year anniversary of what has become known as the Steve Bartman game.  From my vantage point in the upper deck down the left field line, I couldn’t see the play as it happened.  The ball disappeared as the 400 section blocked my view, but, based on the crowd’s reaction, you could tell instantly that something could happen.  The replays quickly showed what we had missed, that a young man, decked out in a goofy sweatshirt, Cubs hat, and bulky Walkman headphones, tried to catch the foul ball, getting in the way of left fielder Moises Alou, who was not exactly hiding his displeasure.  The crowd grew angry and, as we would later learn, Bartman had to be escorted from the stadium for his own safety.

On the field, things turned sour quickly.  With a steaming Alou in left and a crowd going crazy, Dusty Baker left Prior out there and he started to melt down.  Castillo ended up walking, and a wild pitch allowed Juan Pierre to advance to third base.  Ivan Rodriguez singled, knocking in Pierre.  Things should have ended there, with the Cubs still up 3-1, as Miguel Cabrera hit a double play ball to shortstop Alex Gonzalez.  Gonzalez booted the ball, however, and all of the runners were safe, loading the bases.  Future Cub Derrek Lee doubled, knocking in 2 runs to tie the game and knocking out Prior.  Kyle Farnsworth entered the game and, after an intentional walk to Mike Lowell, coaxed a sacrifice fly from Jeff Conine, which gave the Marlins the lead.  Another intentional walk to future Cub Todd Hollandsworth reloaded the bases for Mike Mordecai, who doubled to clear the bases and break open the game, giving the Marlins a 7-3 lead.  Mike Remlinger then entered the game and, after giving up an RBI single to Juan Pierre, mercifully induced a pop-up from Luis Castillo, the man who started this whole mess.

As the Cubs were falling apart on the field, the fans in the stands, along with those at home, were starting to fume about poor Mr. Bartman.  There was plenty of blame to go around: to Alex Gonzales, who committed an error on a sure double play ball that would have ended the inning with minimal damage, to Dusty Baker, who chose not to come out and calm down his young starter after all of the hubbub down the line, to Fox, who fanned the flames by continuously showing the replay and focusing in on Steve Bartman, and to Bartman himself, who reacted to the foul ball in a most unfortunate way.  However, all of the blame fell on Bartman, with the others escaping the wrath of the Wrigley faithful.

After the game, as the stunned and angry crowd left Wrigley Field, focus turned to the future of the fan who would eventually be identified as Steve Bartman.  In my group, one person opined that by morning, the fan would be forgotten and everyone’s attention would turn to the players who fell apart.  The rest of us knew the truth, though.  That the poor, unidentified fan who dared to try to catch a foul ball would become a pariah, identified to the world and blamed for one of the bigger collapses in baseball history.  By the next morning, of course, everything we predicted came to pass.

Of course, the Cubs could have turned Steve Bartman into a funny footnote by rebounding and winning Game 7.  With ace Kerry Wood on the mound the following night, the Cubs held a 5-3 lead, but the Marlins stormed back again, winning the game 9-6 and sending them off to their second World Series title.  Bartman continued to be the butt of jokes at best and death threats at worst.  He made a brief statement and then went into hiding and, in the intervening 10 years, has not been heard from since.  The Cubs, meanwhile, have not won a playoff game since, getting swept in their two playoff appearances since.

One day, the Cubs will end their now 105 season championship drought.  When that day comes, perhaps Steve Bartman will be able to breath a little easier.  He may even be able to be celebrated by the rest of Cubs fandom.  Only time will tell.