The Bartman Reflex—let’s give It a rest

It happened again in a tense baseball game last night. Well, almost. A fan near a foul-line reached out for a ball coming towards him and probably cost a player a chance to catch that ball for an out.

The Fateful Event

It most famously happened in a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field on October 14, 2003. It was Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Chicago was leading the series 3-2 and needed to win only one more game to head to the World Series, a very rare event in Chicago. In the 8th inning of this game, the Cubs were leading 3-0. With one out, Luis Castillo of the Marlins lofted a foul ball down the left field line. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou ran over and tried to reach into the stands to catch it, but several fans also reached out and one—the fated Steve Bartman—actually deflected it away. The Marlins rallied, tied the score in the 8th, went on to win the game, and the 7th game as well. End of Cubs dream for another year. Bartman got (viciously) blamed for the play that supposedly turned the tide of the entire series.

In last night’s game there was another near “Bartman moment,” as the Fox announcers called it. Texas Ranger slugger Josh Hamilton was up in the top of the 5th with the Yankees leading 3-2. Two on, two out. A foul ball sailed down the left field line (again) and a fan reached out and deflected the ball away from Yankee left fielder Brett Gardner. This moment turned innocuous—Hamilton was retired, no one score, the game wasn’t affected. (The Yankees ended up on the losing end of a 10-3 score).

What happened in both of those moments, and in countless other fan/foul ball encounters, was entirely natural, and very much a reflex action. When a ball is coming towards someone—anyone—it is the totally natural thing to reach out to try to catch it. It looks fun and lighthearted, and in most cases it is. But it is also a defensive action. This is a dense, rock-like projectile (not a snowflake, not a marshmallow, not a butterfly) hurtling towards you after being smashed off a wooden bat by a professionally-trained (possibly steroid-enhanced) athlete. You see it coming, you reach out to catch it. It would be an incredibly self-disciplined moment for a fan, any fan, to lean back, put both hands at his (or her side) and hope the galloping left fielder actually makes the catch.

So, left’s give Bartman, and every other fan in those spots, a break. It actually happened earlier in this same game down the right field foul line. It is what happens when a ball comes into the stands. It is a natural, again I say, a reflex action. If the game is to be played scientifically-intact, with no threat of this “fan interference,” then play that game in an empty stadium with no fans in attendance and just put it on TV. Baseball can be messy. That’s part of the charm.

I want to add a personal memory to this non-debate. I was sitting in Candlestick Park watching a Giants game with my dad decades ago. We were sitting in the stands near third base. Suddenly, with the crack of a bat, a line-drive foul ball was heading straight for us. My dad, again with the reflex, reached out to grab it. At the last moment, realizing perhaps that the bones in his hand were going to be no match for this screaming line drive, he jerked his hand away. I have a faint memory that it actually hit the guy behind us right in the knee. Ouch. Where was Steve Bartman when we needed him? ◙