2003 NLCS Game 6 (Steve Bartman)

Lore & Background

The incident occurred in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), with Chicago leading 3–0 in the eighth inning and holding a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series. Marlins batter Luis Castillo hit a fly ball into foul territory in left field. Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou attempted to make the catch near the wall, but multiple Cubs fans reached for the ball and Steve Bartman deflected it. The umpire judged the play not to be fan interference. Following the ruling of no interference, the Cubs' defense collapsed. On the very next pitch, Mark Prior threw a wild pitch to walk Castillo and allow Juan Pierre to reach third base. After a run-scoring single by Ivan Rodriguez to cut the Cubs' lead to 3–1, Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez mishandled a ground ball by Miguel Cabrera that could have resulted in an inning-ending double play. The Cubs ultimately allowed eight runs in the inning and lost the game 8–3. They also lost Game 7 at Wrigley Field the following day and were eliminated by the Marlins.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Wrigley Field was thick with humidity and anticipation. It was the bottom of the eighth, the score knotted at three, and the path to the World Series lay just one out away. Moises Alou tracked the pop-up, his eyes locked on the spinning leather sphere. He moved with the grace of a man who had seen this play a thousand times before. But then, a hand shot up from the front row. The ball veered off course, slipping past Alou's fingertips and into the crowd. A collective gasp sucked the oxygen out of the stadium. In that split second of chaos, the roar of the home crowd turned to a confused murmur. Castillo took first base. Then came the walk. Then the errors. The dream dissolved in real-time, leaving only the echo of a deflected ball and the silence of a city holding its breath.

Reader's Guide

In the moments following the play, Cubs fans shouted insults and threw debris at Bartman. For his safety, Wrigley security was forced to escort him from the ballpark. Minutes after the game, his name and personal information were published online, necessitating police protection at his home. He faced further harassment, including four death threats, from fans and the media after the Cubs' loss in the series. Bartman apologized for the incident and stated his desire to move past it and return to a quiet life. Many Cubs players came to his defense, emphasizing that their performance was to blame for their loss. To compensate Bartman for his treatment, the Cubs sent him a championship ring after the team's victory in the 2016 World Series 13 years later.

Did You Know?

• In 2011 ESPN released an original documentary on the incident called 'Catching Hell'.
• If Alou had caught the ball, it would have been the second out in the inning, and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning their first National League pennant since 1945.