In fact, one, Keque Escobedo, has invoked the name of all names among fans of a team that hasn’t been to a World Series since 1945 and hasn’t won one since 1908: Steve Bartman, infamous among Cubs fans as the scapegoat for the team’s collapse in the 2003 NLCS.
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Escobedo, a self-proclaimed lifelong Cubs fan, has started a GoFundMe campaign to get Bartman to the NL wild-card game in Pittsburgh.
The last time Bartman was known to be at a Cubs postseason game, he infamously interfered with outfielder Moises Alou’s attempt to catch a foul fly ball in Game 6 against the Marlins.
The GoFundMe campaign has a goal of raising up to $5,000 to take Bartman to the Cubs-Pirates game next Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
As of mid-morning Friday, the campaign had been shared 13,000 times but raised only $760, so maybe Cubs fans’ good nature — not to mention superstition — goes only so far.
If he cannot be found by time of the big game all the proceeds raised will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.
But a sure sign it’s all done in good fun: One $5 pledge was made by “Moises alou” accompanied by the message, “I forgive you.”
