OT: "Catching Hell" 30 for 30

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

The show is scheduled to be re-broadcast tonight, on ESPN2,
at 11:00 p.m., EST.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

As for Bartman, recalling watching the game on TV and seeing the replay ad nauseum for days and days after the debacle, it’s clear he deflected the ball before Alou could make the catch. Whether Alou could have made the catch had Bartman not touched the ball is debatable. I will say however in my 45 years of watching MLB games, I’ve seen countless times where savvier fans on front rows of the stands deliberately make space for their hometown players on similar types of plays.

However, to put the blame on Bartman for what occurred during the rest of that inning is absurd. The Marlins went on to score 8 runs that inning with the Cub’s Alex Gonzalez flubbing one the easiest ground outs and possibly a double play. In addition Sosa missed the cut-off man forcing the Cubs to intentionally walk a batter, and Prior admitted hanging a curve ball on a key hit and one could go on and on.

If Bartman did anything, he inadvertently triggered the most catastrophic display of absence of mettle in a group of professional baseball players. In short, the Cubs from that point on allowed themselves to self destruct and beat themselves and have no one else to blame but themselves for being so mentally and emotionally fragile.