Sammy Sofa

Well, I can't find bigger versions, but the images just before that basically show Bartman as part of a row of front seaters reaching up for the ball but not reaching over into the field of play (unless you're arguing that their hands several feet above the railing and technically a few inches over is interference). Everyone is reaching for it. Here's the biggest ones I can find: http://cubbiescrib.com/files/2011/01/cubs.jpg http://cdn.bleacherreport.com/images_root/image_pictures/0015/6299/steve_bartman_crop_340x234.jpg The pics we posted before are after the ball has come down. Anything that could have conceivably called as interference on Bartman occurred after the ball was already uncatchable. Everything before that Alou is clearly reaching into the the stands far more than any of the fans are arguable reaching over the railing. His entire glove and part of his arm are past the railing.

That's Alou already coming back down and pulling his arm back (note the closed glove). Here's Alou actually attempting to catch the ball (your pic would come in between these): http://danthemantrivia.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/steve-bartman.jpg He's going over the railing trying to catch it.

I mean, sure, the Ricketts could turn out be awful, and likely nobody here is going to disagree that Hendry should have been fired after last season, but even if that had occurred who really thinks this season would be that much different, if at all? Like it or not the Ricketts inherited a situation that effectively had to be sat out for at least the first two years of their ownership. This coming offseason is going to be the first real "trial by fire" where I think broad statements about whether they "suck" or not will start being a little more realistic. It all comes down to whether or not they overhaul the FO and how much/how well money is spent.

Alou was clearly reaching over the railing to attempt to catch the ball. Bartman is reaching pretty much straight over his head. Any reasonable conclusion is that the ball would not have landed in the field of play. Thus interference should not have been called. Yeah, I really don't understand how anyone could still think interference should have been called. I agree that Alou would have almost certainly caught the ball if nobody had gotten a finger on it, but (correct me if I'm wrong) since he's over the railing that means interference can't be called, right?

No, humor us. Break down why "the owner sucks." I'll bet good money that it'll be about trips to Africa, bathrooms and not throwing a tantrum over the team to the press. Oh, and let's talk about how Hendry "blew up" the 2008 team. If only those titans of baseball DeRosa and Edmonds had been there in 2009!

Yup. This guy is melting down worse than the Cubs.

They got really good pitches to hit and made good contact and the Yankees had some sharp defense to counter. Do you want them not to swing at pitches they can put good wood on? Johnson and Baker hit the ball to the opposite field. I don't consider that a good thing by two bench players. Plus the team is notoriously an impatient team. Tell me again how this works for them year in and year out. Quade makes another bonehead move having DeWitt pinch hit instead of Fukudome. Then he moves Baker to right. Baker promptly shows he has no business playing the outfield. A bad team with an idiot manager is a recipe for disaster. Hah, so now it's a bad thing if a player drives the ball oppo if they're not regular starters? You're talking like taking pitches is automatically a good thing or the right thing to do. Everyone drove the ball well in that inning off of good pitches to hit off of a good pitcher they were actually getting to. The problem was that the Yankees had some good defensive plays for 2 of them and the 3rd was driven right at someone.

What?

Yeah. The guy got a raw deal, but it's a pretty unique story in the way everything played out. About the only other thing I can think of in baseball that's similar is the kid who screwed over the Orioles with the home run catch. That kid was responsible for a key homerun in a playoff game. Bartman interfered with a ball in foul play that Moises Alou, despite his temper tantrum, probably wasn't going to catch. If Alex Gonzalez doesn't choke, Bartman is a non story. Yet somehow nobody remembers Gonzalez. Actually, the reviews of this doc make it sounds like it goes into everything that happened. That said, Bartman is clearly the heart of the story. Cubs fans can spin it all they want, but it was the start of a very dramatic series of events (and non-events in Dusty's inaction) wrapped in the larger context of where it was and what was at stake. Yes, Bartman was unfairly demonized and he didn't do anything wrong and he's not the reason the Cubs didn't go to the WS, but the repeated insistence of many Cubs fans like it's essentially a non-story and that the REAL story is Gonzalez booting the ball. It's not. A player screwing up a key play in a high pressure situation isn't unique. The Bartman situation and how people reacted to it is. That's why it's a story. Yes, most of the time people take a hack approach to remembering it or describing it, but it did inspire a very interesting reaction and series of events and a good documentary could do a lot with it. Hopefully this one will based on the skill of the guy behind it.

Lou's problem dressing himself was that he wore his uniforms way too tight for how sloppy he is. If he had brought back the classic baggy look it would have been fine.

Crud.

Yes, it would look even more stupid than that.

Plus it would look really stupid.

I'm pretty sure this guy is either senile or wants to kill himself if he's going to be hanging around in a suit in the Florida humidity.

Probably the managers, since they're still outside in the dugout.

That 2-0 pitch was the kind of dream pitch that hitters mess themselves over in their sleep.

They got really good pitches to hit and made good contact and the Yankees had some sharp defense to counter. Do you want them not to swing at pitches they can put good wood on?

Off the top of my head, indoors vs. summer heat. No kidding. Did you really not consider this, Truffle?

Well, Pat is only 55.

Yeah. The guy got a raw deal, but it's a pretty unique story in the way everything played out. About the only other thing I can think of in baseball that's similar is the kid who screwed over the Orioles with the home run catch.

Well, for a team as old as the Cubs they really haven't given the casual fan a lot to talk about.

Oh crap.

I'm really looking forward to the 30 for 30 documentary. It's by the same guy who made Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side.

And if someone else had posted Wells sucks without adding the so far this year part after only 5 starts, would you not have gotten on their case hardcore? If they had a history of really dumb posts, sure. But I have a history of almost nothing but brilliance so that doesn't apply.

What's irrational about rightly pointing out that the Cubs would have difficulty replacing Zambrano's production? Nothing. Unless a deal drops in their lap that's too good to be true there's little argument to just dumping him for salary relief. Even if he is in the stages of a significant permanent decline the Cubs only have him signed through next season so it's not like there's a pressing need to dump a contract that's going to bog them down for the foreseeable future. There's little supporting trading him short of a really, really good return, which they're not likely to get since he's hovering right in that "too valuable to trade but not valuable enough/too expensive to bring back a good enough haul"-zone.