Once Again NY Times Distorts History

NYT writer Jack Curry, who should know better, once again resurrected the most magical moment in the history of sports. A fan almost caught a foul ball -- and what happened? Eight runs scored. (Sometimes I say 17, it depends on how you count.) Curry, in Saturday's edition of the Times, was writing about what a great reliever Kerry Wood is. Just like Murry Chass has urged on more than one occasion that the Marlins be abolished, Curry has to make sure that it was magic, not the Marlins, that caused that wondrous event in 2003: "The Cubs came within five outs of getting to the World Series. But Steve Bartman interfered with a foul ball in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins, and Wood lost Game 7. Well, the Marlins scored EIGHT runs in that inning after Bartman allegedly interfered. There was a lot of bad pitching and a big error by the Cubs shortstop, but how can sports writers keep blaming a fan for EIGHT runs? And Wood could have sent them to the WS the next night, in game 7, but he gave up SEVEN runs and Farmsworth another TWO . ... Josh Beckett pitched four innings in relief in that seventh game to preserve a 9-6 victory. But it's so much easier to blame the fan.