Several nights ago, I watched Catching Hell on ESPN. I enjoy documentaries and was pleased my wife and boys joined me. My boys have little interest in baseball, and I'm certain my wife got sucked in by the Bill Buckner opening, since she is a longtime Mets fan. Each of them found aspects of the documentary to be interesting and meaningful.
The story centers on Steve Bartman, a young fellow who may have cost the Chicago Cubs a shot at the World Series. It was an unlikely error on his part, one in which fault is questionable. As the documentary points out, many other fans were also reaching for that foul ball. He was unlucky enough to touch it. More importantly, an easy double play ball was booted by the shortstop just a few moments later. Certainly, the lost double play did more to cost the Cubs than a fan preventing a single out.
Regardless, many Cubs fans and baseball fans nationwide continue to view Bartman as the cause of this loss and extension of Cub pain.
What was intriguing about the documentary was the arc through not only the pain of the Cubs, but through another hard luck team: the Boston Red Sox. The director focuses on the Bill Buckner episode in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. A ground ball down the first base line, that would have ended the Series in favor of the Red Sox, went between Buckner's legs and eventually cost them the championship. This event is linked to Buckner's 1984 trade from the Cubs to the Sox, then related to Buckner's replacement on the Cubs, Leon Durham, who in the 1984 playoffs also let a ground ball down the first base line go between his legs. Indirectly, the pain of the Cubs in 1984 is tied to that of the Red Sox in 1986.
The relationship deepens. Buckner becomes the scapegoat for all that went wrong in Boston baseball. It was years, and 2 World Series Championships, before Buckner could return to Boston. The issue of the scapegoat closes the circle between Buckner, the Red Sox, and the Cubs. The events of the 2003 National League Championship Series, in which Steve Bartman becomes the ultimate baseball scapegoat, completes the cycle. The ability to find scapegoats is one thing hard luck teams share. There is a need to 'blame' failure on someone or something.
In the case of the Cubs, the original scapegoat was, in fact, a goat. The Curse of the Billy Goat is well known to baseball fans as the reason why the Cubs have not returned to the World Series since 1945.
In 2003, however, the Billy Goat took human form and was named Steve Bartman.
Director Alex Gibney closes with an interview of a minister who did a sermon on scapegoating, citing Steve Bartman. The minister discussed the source of the term scapegoat, which is traced back to the Book of Leviticus. On the Day of Atonement, a goat is chosen to carry off the sins of the people. This goat is led through a crowd, all of whom scream at it, burdening it with their sins, and throwing detritus at the goat as it passes by. The goat is led to the desert and released, to carry off the sins. The goat carries a heavy load, and is exiled, the sins cast out of society. Video from that fateful night eerily depicts a similar fate for Bartman.
Buckner was a scapegoat because a ball passed between his legs, and until the Red Sox finally won a World Series in 2004, he was persona non grata in Boston. Bartman still bears his burden. Each time humans seek to explain unfortunate events, we desire to place blame. We want to put a face on our disappointment and disgust. 'Catching Hell' does something rare in a sports documentary. It explains why we behave poorly. It shows why our initial emotions are unfounded and provides context but doesn't justify these emotions. The film winds its way through the fabric of time and 2 different cities suffering with failure. It then links these failures, attaches them to the respective scapegoats, and humanizes each event and the people involved. In doing so, viewers see themselves reflected in the passion of the fans and their desire for success.
It is a story for all families and all people, sports fan or not. For leaders, it is a tremendous teaching tool.
Yesterday, Bulldog wrote an excellent article, Baseball Confessional, on the blame game as it relates to baseball. Cubs fan Steve Bartman, sitting in the outfield bleachers, reaches out for a long fly ball — as one million baseball fans have done
Tracked: Oct 03, 10:29
Yesterday, our new guest blogger, Bulldog, wrote an excellent article, Baseball Confessional, on the blame game as it relates to baseball. In a playoff game in 2003, Cubs fan Steve Bartman, sitting in the outfield bleachers, reaches out for a long
Tracked: Oct 03, 10:47
Yesterday, our new guest blogger, Bulldog, wrote an excellent article, Baseball Confessional, on the blame game as it relates to baseball. In a playoff game in 2003, Cubs fan Steve Bartman, sitting in the outfield bleachers, reaches out for a long
Tracked: Oct 03, 10:49