Bartman 'overjoyed' by Cubs' World Series win, won't attend parade
A spokesman for infamous Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman says that he is overjoyed that the team finally broke its 108-year championship drought, but says he won't attend the victory parade scheduled for Friday.
The Cubs won their first World Series title since 1908 after a thrilling 8–7, 10-inning Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, overcoming a 3–1 series deficit.
“He was just overjoyed that the Cubs won, as all the Cubs fans are," Frank Murtha, a lawyer who is Bartman’s spokesman, told USA Today. “We don’t intend to crash the parade."
Bartman, of course, was mostly blamed for the Cubs' collapse in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins, when Cubs outfielder Moises Alou was deterred from his attempt to catch to a foul ball when Bartman and other fans reached for it.
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Chicago led the game 3–0 at the time and went on to lose Game 6, 8–3, and eventually lost the series. The Marlins won their second World Series title in a six-game victory over the New York Yankees.
Bartman has not granted any interview since the incident. Murtha says Bartman still lives and works in the Chicago area.
“The one thing that Steve and I did talk about was if the Cubs were to win, he did not want to be a distraction to the accomplishments of the players and the organization," Murtha said.
– Scooby Axson
