3800 The ball sold for..........
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Sports
Chicago Eatery to Destroy Infamous Ball
Fri Dec 19, 4:54 PM ET
By BENNIE M. CURRIE, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Here's one way to try to end the Cubs' curse: Destroy the ball that was in the middle of one of the team's most heartbreaking defeats.
AP Photo
Reuters Photo
Slideshow: MLB: Cubs
That's exactly what Grant DePorter wants to do.
Deporter, a friend of Harry Caray and managing partner of the late broadcasters' area restaurants, paid $106,600 at auction Friday for the foul ball that disrupted the Cubs' possible run to the World Series (news - web sites).
"We want to create some closure to the way the season ended," DePorter said.
The ball is to be destroyed in an act of exorcism. It is earmarked for death on Feb. 26, when the restaurant organizes a worldwide toast to Caray.
DePorter plans to ask fans for ideas on how best to banish the ball.
"Harry Caray was a true Cubs fan, and we think he'd want us to do whatever we can to make it easier for fans to put this thing behind us," he said.
Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected the ball in Game 6 of the National League (news) championship series on Oct. 14. The ball appeared headed for the glove of Cubs outfielder Moises Alou, but he was unable to catch it after it ricocheted off Bartman's hand.
The Florida Marlins (news) rallied to win the game, and the Cubs then lost Game 7 and their chance to reach their first World Series since 1945.
DePorter wants to make sure that if Cubs fans can't control the fate of their season they can at least control the fate of this ball.
"We weren't about to let it get into the hands of a Marlins fan," he said.
The auction was handled by MastroNet Inc. of suburban Oak Brook. Thirty-seven bids had been made on the ball by the time the auction closed about 4 a.m.
MastroNet said the seller was a 33-year-old Chicago attorney identified only as Jim. According to the company, he was sitting near Bartman and picked up the ball when it bounced his way.
The ball was authenticated using affidavits, ticket stubs and other information, MastroNet said.
DePorter said he was pleased his bid surpassed that for the ball that skipped through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series, helping the New York Mets (news) beat the Boston Red Sox (news). Actor Charlie Sheen paid $93,500 for that ball in a 1992 auction, and author Seth Swirsky bid $63,945 to acquire it in 2000.
"The Cubs fans' sorrow is worth more than the Red Sox fans' sorrow," DePorter said.
DePorter said Bartman will be invited to attend the event when the ball is destroyed.
Messages left Friday by The Associated Press with Bartman and his spokesman were not immediately returned.
He has sought to avoid the limelight since issuing a statement shortly after the fateful game, saying he was "truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart."
___
Chicago Eatery to Destroy Infamous Ball
Fri Dec 19, 4:54 PM ET
By BENNIE M. CURRIE, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Here's one way to try to end the Cubs' curse: Destroy the ball that was in the middle of one of the team's most heartbreaking defeats.
AP Photo
Reuters Photo
Slideshow: MLB: Cubs
That's exactly what Grant DePorter wants to do.
Deporter, a friend of Harry Caray and managing partner of the late broadcasters' area restaurants, paid $106,600 at auction Friday for the foul ball that disrupted the Cubs' possible run to the World Series (news - web sites).
"We want to create some closure to the way the season ended," DePorter said.
The ball is to be destroyed in an act of exorcism. It is earmarked for death on Feb. 26, when the restaurant organizes a worldwide toast to Caray.
DePorter plans to ask fans for ideas on how best to banish the ball.
"Harry Caray was a true Cubs fan, and we think he'd want us to do whatever we can to make it easier for fans to put this thing behind us," he said.
Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected the ball in Game 6 of the National League (news) championship series on Oct. 14. The ball appeared headed for the glove of Cubs outfielder Moises Alou, but he was unable to catch it after it ricocheted off Bartman's hand.
The Florida Marlins (news) rallied to win the game, and the Cubs then lost Game 7 and their chance to reach their first World Series since 1945.
DePorter wants to make sure that if Cubs fans can't control the fate of their season they can at least control the fate of this ball.
"We weren't about to let it get into the hands of a Marlins fan," he said.
The auction was handled by MastroNet Inc. of suburban Oak Brook. Thirty-seven bids had been made on the ball by the time the auction closed about 4 a.m.
MastroNet said the seller was a 33-year-old Chicago attorney identified only as Jim. According to the company, he was sitting near Bartman and picked up the ball when it bounced his way.
The ball was authenticated using affidavits, ticket stubs and other information, MastroNet said.
DePorter said he was pleased his bid surpassed that for the ball that skipped through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series, helping the New York Mets (news) beat the Boston Red Sox (news). Actor Charlie Sheen paid $93,500 for that ball in a 1992 auction, and author Seth Swirsky bid $63,945 to acquire it in 2000.
"The Cubs fans' sorrow is worth more than the Red Sox fans' sorrow," DePorter said.
DePorter said Bartman will be invited to attend the event when the ball is destroyed.
Messages left Friday by The Associated Press with Bartman and his spokesman were not immediately returned.
He has sought to avoid the limelight since issuing a statement shortly after the fateful game, saying he was "truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart."
___
The following is a letter that a Sox fan wrote to the Tribune and was printed in their paper:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...1,3510100.story
Advice for cry-baby Cubs fans: Could you people move on?
Published December 23, 2003
Of course, the "Bartman ball" was purchased by an owner of Harry Caray's restaurant and, of course, he plans to destroy it in a ritual designed to purge the curse of Chicago's legendarily star-crossed team. This will, of course, add to the mythology surrounding Chicago's North Side franchise.
Because it is so much more interesting to build up silly myths about the haunted space at Addison and Clark Streets than to just acknowledge that Cubs manager Dusty Baker left pitcher Mark Prior in too long; that the Florida Marlins were teeing off on him like it was batting practice; that Sammy Sosa missed the cut-off man and Alex Gonzalez booted a routine grounder. The Cubs had played amazing, unexpected baseball to that point, but the team ended up choking under pressure, like a thousand other less storied and less glamorized losing ball clubs. It happens.
Remember, Steve Bartman wasn't the only fan going for that ball during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. He was just better situated than the rest. But he fits the "Cub Fan Profile" to a "T." Young guy, devoted to the Cubs, so caught up in the age-old tradition of catching a souvenir at the old ballpark that he forgot that he was sitting so close to the wall that any ball catchable by him was perhaps also catchable by someone who mattered to the outcome of the game.
So we focus, first our wrath, and then our forgiveness, on a kid in the stands instead of a group of highly paid professionals who couldn't get the job done when it mattered. The Cubs: It's not a baseball team, it's a morality play.
When the Sox lose, we Sox fans get mad and throw things and curse the owner, the manager and the players. We say they screwed up, so-and-so has gotta go, and we vow never to return again to Comiskey or "Nextel One" or whatever it's called now.
That's what baseball fans do when their teams disappoint.
But the Cubs aren't just another baseball team. They're The Loveable Sunshine Boys of the Golden North Side, where the sun shines brighter, the Bud Light flows longer and hope springs eternal. The Cubs are America's "Superstation" Sweethearts, a repository of all our hopes and dreams and other gooey feelings about the way life should be. The Sox are just our local baseball team.
My team, the White Sox, isn't necessarily better than the Cubs year in and year out. In fact, last year it was worse. But when the Sox lose, "certain" worshippers aren't elevated to demigods or demons and we Sox fans don't try to turn the loss into some kind of divine lore. That's why the White Sox still is the franchise of choice for discerning local baseball fans who like their teams straight up without all that sappy stuff. Go Sox.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...1,3510100.story
Advice for cry-baby Cubs fans: Could you people move on?
Published December 23, 2003
Of course, the "Bartman ball" was purchased by an owner of Harry Caray's restaurant and, of course, he plans to destroy it in a ritual designed to purge the curse of Chicago's legendarily star-crossed team. This will, of course, add to the mythology surrounding Chicago's North Side franchise.
Because it is so much more interesting to build up silly myths about the haunted space at Addison and Clark Streets than to just acknowledge that Cubs manager Dusty Baker left pitcher Mark Prior in too long; that the Florida Marlins were teeing off on him like it was batting practice; that Sammy Sosa missed the cut-off man and Alex Gonzalez booted a routine grounder. The Cubs had played amazing, unexpected baseball to that point, but the team ended up choking under pressure, like a thousand other less storied and less glamorized losing ball clubs. It happens.
Remember, Steve Bartman wasn't the only fan going for that ball during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. He was just better situated than the rest. But he fits the "Cub Fan Profile" to a "T." Young guy, devoted to the Cubs, so caught up in the age-old tradition of catching a souvenir at the old ballpark that he forgot that he was sitting so close to the wall that any ball catchable by him was perhaps also catchable by someone who mattered to the outcome of the game.
So we focus, first our wrath, and then our forgiveness, on a kid in the stands instead of a group of highly paid professionals who couldn't get the job done when it mattered. The Cubs: It's not a baseball team, it's a morality play.
When the Sox lose, we Sox fans get mad and throw things and curse the owner, the manager and the players. We say they screwed up, so-and-so has gotta go, and we vow never to return again to Comiskey or "Nextel One" or whatever it's called now.
That's what baseball fans do when their teams disappoint.
But the Cubs aren't just another baseball team. They're The Loveable Sunshine Boys of the Golden North Side, where the sun shines brighter, the Bud Light flows longer and hope springs eternal. The Cubs are America's "Superstation" Sweethearts, a repository of all our hopes and dreams and other gooey feelings about the way life should be. The Sox are just our local baseball team.
My team, the White Sox, isn't necessarily better than the Cubs year in and year out. In fact, last year it was worse. But when the Sox lose, "certain" worshippers aren't elevated to demigods or demons and we Sox fans don't try to turn the loss into some kind of divine lore. That's why the White Sox still is the franchise of choice for discerning local baseball fans who like their teams straight up without all that sappy stuff. Go Sox.
