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Cubs owner says he hopes to find closure for the Steve Bartman saga

mike oz

The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series, starred in an epic parade, stomped out the Curse of the Billy Goat and now owner Tom Ricketts has another saga he says he needs to wrap up — the one involving Steve Bartman.

You know Bartman, the ever-infamous Cubs fan whose interference with a fly ball in the 2003 National League Championship Series made everyone in Chicago and elsewhere blame him for the Cubs not winning the World Series yet again.

Bartman has decidedly stayed out of the public eye since the incident, even this year as the Cubs made it to the World Series and some people — our pal Jeff Passan among them — called for Bartman to return to Wrigley. Now that the Cubs have won, other people have suggested Bartman return to throw out the first pitch of the 2017 season.

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts says he wants to find closure with Steve Bartman. (Getty Images)
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts says he wants to find closure with Steve Bartman. (Getty Images)

The Cubs have heard the chatter, of course, and Ricketts told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he’s hoping to find closure with Bartman. Ricketts doesn’t know what that exactly looks like just yet — and, heck, knowing what we know of Bartman, he might not want any public attention at all. Still, Ricketts said the Cubs will make an effort:

“I’m sure we’ll reach out to him at the right time,” Ricketts revealed, “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.”

It would be nice if the Cubs did something to apologize to Bartman on behalf of fans who harassed him and let him join in the celebration like everyone else — that is, if he wants to. And if Bartman doesn’t want to be bothered anymore by the Cubs or their fans, that should be OK too.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!