A different image of Bartman on ESPN
Chicago Cubs left fielder Moises Alou reaches into the stands for a foul ball as Steve Bartman, left, interferes. (Oct. 14, 2003) Credit: AP
The image never changes, no matter how many times we see Steve Bartman stick his hands where they technically did not belong.
There he is again, in the familiar Cubs cap, green turtleneck and headphones, and there he goes again, getting in the way of Moises Alou and of Chicago's World Series dreams.
Alex Gibney replays that video repeatedly, from many angles and with computer-generated visual aids, in his film "Catching Hell,'' which has its television premiere at 8 tonight on ESPN.
But the director's real achievement is that by the end, the way we perceive those images does change. Bartman goes from one of the most hapless goats in sports history to a symbol of quiet dignity.
The bad guys, instead, are fellow fans at Wrigley Field who during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS turned viciously on one of their own -- something many of the rest of us would have done, too.
That is clear in interviews with people at the scene, and with a minister who discusses scapegoating as an age-old part of the human condition.
One highlight is an interview with the security guard who escorted Bartman from the ballpark that night and hid him in her apartment until the coast was clear. Recalling his demeanor brings her to tears.
The most important missing witness is Bartman, who has resisted all invitations to speak publicly or to cash in on his infamy. Gibney tried, even sending an early version of the film. No dice.
After a screening in April, Gibney said he dreamed the Cubs had won the World Series and held a Bartman Day in which fans dressed up as him "out of affection, not mockery,'' but that Bartman didn't come.
"Having gone so far for so long with his approach,'' the director said, "I kind of feel like that would be a magnificent moment if he stuck with it and even if the whole city gives him a cheer and parade that he doesn't show up.''
Gibney, a Red Sox fan, came to the Bartman story through his memory of Bill Buckner's boo-boo in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. That event is recounted in "Catching Hell,'' too, but the 13 minutes spent rehashing it is an unnecessary tangent, an apples-and-oranges comparison with Bartman -- a fan being a fan, not a pro making an error.
"It was not necessarily a natural connection, but I tied it together through the pain of the fan,'' Gibney said last week. "That seemed consistent to me.''
Perhaps, but wait out the Buckner part to get to the good stuff from another memorable Game 6. Still, no Bartman.
"I was confident, maybe arrogant would be a better word, that I'd be able to persuade him,'' Gibney said. "But in my failure there was a hidden treasure.''
"Catching Hell'' originally was to be part of ESPN's excellent "30 for 30" series. Instead, it will kick off a seven-week run of Tuesday documentaries under the ESPN Films brand. (Next Tuesday brings another keeper, about the life and times of tennis player Renee Richards.)
Gibney said much of his and Buckner's pain was lifted when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and '07, a relief not yet experienced by Cubs fans.
Here's hoping when -- if? -- that day comes, Bartman does decide to show up for the tribute Gibney dreamed about. Chicago owes him one after what went down at Wrigley in '03.
"I thought I was just going to make a carefree film about sports,'' Gibney said. "Somehow I managed to find the dark side.''
