Wednesday, October 15, 2003

The most famous man in Chicago

Yesterday it was somebody else. Tomorrow it'll be somebody else yet again. But today it's a man with no name. Here's his face, though.

Just another fan at Wrigley field, enjoying a post-season Cubs game--a rare enough event. The Cubs had won three of the previous five games in the championship series, and were ahead in this one, 3-0 in the eighth. The Cubs were bound for the World Series. Their first National League championship since 1945.

But no.

The Marlins' Luis Castillo fouled to left, directly at him. He stood and reached for the oncoming ball. He reached up, not out, the umpire ruled. He didn't reach over the fence into the field. The ball was headed into the stands, out of play, directly at him. He didn't see Moises Alou charging in from left field to try to field it: Alou didn't see him. Alou ran, leaped--and his gloved hand hit the fan's hand.

Here's the moment.

The ball was deflected: Castillo was still "alive". The at-bat ended with a walk. Followed by two singles, a double, another walk, a sacrifice fly, a double, and a single.

Before the inning was over, it was 8-3 Marlins.
"I don't know about the fan robbing them," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "I don't think that was the turning point of the game."

He might've been the only person in the ballpark who felt that way.

Even though the Marlins are the team who beat the Braves, at this point I want the Cubs to win. They're due.
"Anyone that thinks this is over - they're not a Cub fan," [Cubs manager Dusty] Baker said.

Political columnist George Will once wrote that "Cubs fans are 90 percent scar tissue."

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