OCTOBER 15--Meet Steve Bartman.
He's the poor 26-year-old Chicago Cubs fan who last night got his hands on that foul ball headed for outfielder Moises Alou's mitt. Bartman, who attended the University of Notre Dame, works for a Chicago-area consulting firm and serves as coach for a local youth baseball program.
We wanted to speak with Bartman about last night's incident, but he did not return messages left on his office voicemail. And when we dialed Bartman up at his apartment--about three miles from Wrigley Field--we got a recorded message saying that his number had been disconnected. Which is probably not a bad idea.
In a statement released this evening, Bartman apologized "from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart." He said that he had his "eyes glued on the approaching ball the entire time and was so caught up in the moment that I did not even see Moises Alou, much less that he may have had a play. Had I thought for one second that the ball was playable or had I seen Alou approaching, I would have done whatever I could to get out of the way and give Alou a chance to make the catch." (1 page)
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