Fan pays to blow up ball

CHICAGO , ILLINOIS • A die-hard Chicago Cubs fan paid $106,600 on this date in 2003 for a baseball so he could destroy it. Gary Deporter got custody of the ball Chicago Cubs' left fielder Moises Alou was trying to catch before Steve Bartman got in the way. Deporter had the ball blown to smithereens on former Cubs announcer Harry Caray’s birthday in February ‘04 as an act of exorcism.

Bartman is unfairly blamed for the Cubs not getting to the World Series that year, but none of the “fans” around him appeared to have the foresight to clear the way so Alou could catch the ball, and help the Cubs get to their first World Series in almost 60 years. Everyone was focused on the souvenir. Bartman just happened to be the closest to it.

Had Alou caught the ball, the Cubs would have been four outs from the World Series. The Florida Marlins would have had two outs in the eighth with a man on second and the Cubs ahead 3-0. Instead, the Marlins had one out and Luis Castillo had new life. He ended up walking, and then the flood gates opened, aided by a botched double play ball to the Cubs' shortstop. The Marlins ended up scoring 8 runs beating the Cubs 8-3 and the Marlins won again the next night. For Cub fans, wait till next year, again.

Contributing sources:
The Chicago Tribune, October 15, 2003
Darren Rovell, ESPN
Steve Bartman

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