While the real Steve Bartman politely declined an invite to attend the Chicago Cubs’ wild card showdown with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park Wednesday night, a doppelganger of the most maligned baseball fan in major league history did make an appearance.
A presumably pro-Pirates fan arrived at the ballpark dressed up as the man who in an instant became Public Enemy No. 1 in Chicago due to his interference on a catch in foul territory by Moises Alou during Game 6 of the NLCS. The Cubs of course went on to lose the series and Bartman went into hiding.
But a guy who sure looked a lot like him was at PNC Park Wednesday night.
The attempt at spooking the Cubs with a Bartman doppelganger obviously did not work, as the Cubs rode Jake Arrieta’s phenomenal start and some timely hitting to a 4-0 win to advance to a NLDS match-up with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Regarding the real Bartman, he declined to get swept up in the groundswell caused by a GoFundMe campaign started by a Cubs fan that pleaded with him to come out of his longtime hiding and take in a Cubs postseason tilt.
“It’s nice of these people to think of Steve, but he won’t be taking advantage of the offer,” Bartman’s longtime spokesman Frank Murtha told ESPN. “He’s perfectly capable of attending the game on his own, though he has no intention of being at the wild-card game.”
Perhaps absence will make his heart grow fonder and Bartman will make an appearance at Wrigley Field during the NLDS. Actually, there is absolutely no chance of that happening … in the coming weeks and perhaps never at all.
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