Tom Ricketts plans to reach out to Steve Bartman for “closure”

Tom Ricketts, owner of the 2016 World Series champion Cubs, plans to reach out to Steve Bartman to provide closure, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Bartman, you may recall, was the fan who interfered with left fielder Moises Alou on a foul ball catch attempt down the left field line at Wrigley Field in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS between the Marlins and Cubs. The ball deflected off of Bartman, much to the chagrin of an angry Alou. The Marlins would go on to have an eight-run inning, overcoming a 3-0 deficit. They would also win Game 7 by a 9-6 margin to advance to the World Series.

Bartman was persona non grata in Chicago almost immediately. As the years went by, Cubs fans’ hatred of Bartman subsided, but he never put himself back in the spotlight. He declined interview and other appearance requests. There was even a push to allow him to throw out the first pitch before one of the Cubs’ World Series games this past postseason, but he declined that as well.

Ricketts said of Bartman, “I’m sure we’ll reach out to him at the right time and I’m sure we’ll figure something out that provides closure for everybody. Hopefully, we can make it work. But you know, I never focused on ghosts or curses or Bartmans or any of that stuff. It’s always been about needing a better team on the field. We wanted to eventually get to that point where we can pick out rings, like we did (Tuesday), and here we are.”