An overdue reprieve


Think of what it must have been like to live in Steve Bartman's world these last five years.

There were rumors he'd undergone plastic surgery and moved to England in an effort to escape one moment of ignominy, when jumped out of his Wrigley Field box seat and reached over the railing a foul ball with his beloved Chicago Cubs a mere five outs away from their first World Series trip since 1945.

Chicago left fielder Moises Alou was rushing over to make a play, but couldn't make the catch because the ball bounced off Bartman's outstretched hand.

You know what happened next.

Chicago's 3-0 lead lost its shape faster than Donald Trump's hair in a wind tunnel.

The Florida Marlins staged an impossible rally for eight runs, claiming Game 6 and effectively sticking another pin in the voodoo doll that has cursed the Cubs for all of these years. They went on to clinch the NLCS, depriving the Cubs of a joyful moment and making Bartman the enemy of an entire city.

Bartman left Wrigley under the protection of security guards after Game 6 as fans hurled insults and cups at him.

It didn't get any better.

The governor of Illinois suggested Bartman join the federal witness protection program. Letterman and Leno created laughter at his expense. His Game 6 outfit -- blue Cubs cap, glasses and headphones -- became a Halloween costume. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush went so far as to offer him asylum in the Sunshine State.

Bartman went underground like Punxatawny Phil, retreating from view, declining interviews, getting an unlisted phone number and attempting to return to a Regular Guy existence.

All because he reached for a foul ball in his vicinity, an impulse few fans are able to resist. He can't be blamed for the collapse that followed because he wasn't pitching to the Marlins yet, to see the editorial cartoons and Internet spoofs that followed, it was Bartman and not Mrs. O'Leary's cow who kicked over the lamp that started the Great Chicago Fire.

Here's the truly sad part.

He wouldn't have spent five years looking over his shoulder, worried that maniacal Cubs fans would recognize him and perhaps stone him to death, if Alou had reacted to the foul ball fiasco the way he did earlier this week.

"You know what the funny thing is?'' Alou told Associated Press sports columnist Jim Litke. "I wouldn't have caught it, anyway.''

Alou expressed hope that Bartman would be able to move on without hassle.

"Hopefully, he won't have to regret it for the rest of his life,'' Alou told the AP.

Um, yeah, we can only hope.

Think of the penalty he's paid these last five years.

He's been forced to live in the shadows, as if he crossed the Mafia, all because of a foul ball that Alou probably wouldn't have caught.

Where were Alou's words of comfort oh, I don't know, five years ago?

Now that Alou has removed Bartman from the Bunsen burner of Chicago's hatred, perhaps the regular guy in the Cubs cap and headphones can return to Wrigley and not fear for his safety. Maybe the Cubs could even welcome him as a special guest.

That might actually make up for the last five years.