RBP
03-15-2011, 06:44 PM
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By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter
9:59 PM CDT, March 14, 2011
PEORIA, Ariz. — ESPN Films' "30 for 30" documentary on Cubs fan Steve Bartman and the infamous foul ball during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series will premiere next month at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film, "Catching Hell," by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, was to have run Oct. 26 on ESPN as part of its documentary series, coinciding with the World Series. But the date was postponed so Gibney could have more time to work on it. It's scheduled to run later this year.
Bartman has stayed out of the public eye since apologizing the day after the episode, in which he reached for a foul ball that Cubs outfielder Moises Alou also was reaching for. The ball bounced off Bartman's hands, and Alou couldn't catch it to record the second out of the eighth inning. Through the years, the Cubs have defended him repeatedly.
When the film was first announced during summer 2009, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez told the Tribune that nothing good would come of spotlighting Bartman so long after the episode.
"To me, I don't see anything positive coming out of it, for me as a player or for us as players," he said.
Ramirez added that Bartman was not to blame for the Game 6 loss to the Florida Marlins.
"After that (foul ball), Alex Gonzalez made an error and they scored five more runs," he said. "So it wasn't Bartman's fault. We just didn't get it done."
The Cubs still had a chance to go to the World Series, but they lost Game 7. The only players from that '03 team on the 2011 Cubs are Ramirez, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano.
According to a news release from the film festival, Gibney's film "explores the psychology of die-hard sports fans, the frightening phenomenon of scapegoating, and the hysteria that turned mild-mannered Bartman into the most hated man in Chicago."
The festival takes place from April 20-May 1 in New York City.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-talk-bartman-movie-0315-20110314,0,5770438.story
By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter
9:59 PM CDT, March 14, 2011
PEORIA, Ariz. — ESPN Films' "30 for 30" documentary on Cubs fan Steve Bartman and the infamous foul ball during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series will premiere next month at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film, "Catching Hell," by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, was to have run Oct. 26 on ESPN as part of its documentary series, coinciding with the World Series. But the date was postponed so Gibney could have more time to work on it. It's scheduled to run later this year.
Bartman has stayed out of the public eye since apologizing the day after the episode, in which he reached for a foul ball that Cubs outfielder Moises Alou also was reaching for. The ball bounced off Bartman's hands, and Alou couldn't catch it to record the second out of the eighth inning. Through the years, the Cubs have defended him repeatedly.
When the film was first announced during summer 2009, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez told the Tribune that nothing good would come of spotlighting Bartman so long after the episode.
"To me, I don't see anything positive coming out of it, for me as a player or for us as players," he said.
Ramirez added that Bartman was not to blame for the Game 6 loss to the Florida Marlins.
"After that (foul ball), Alex Gonzalez made an error and they scored five more runs," he said. "So it wasn't Bartman's fault. We just didn't get it done."
The Cubs still had a chance to go to the World Series, but they lost Game 7. The only players from that '03 team on the 2011 Cubs are Ramirez, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano.
According to a news release from the film festival, Gibney's film "explores the psychology of die-hard sports fans, the frightening phenomenon of scapegoating, and the hysteria that turned mild-mannered Bartman into the most hated man in Chicago."
The festival takes place from April 20-May 1 in New York City.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-talk-bartman-movie-0315-20110314,0,5770438.story