It was the top of the eighth inning in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. The Cubs were leading 3-0 over the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field. Starting pitcher Mark Prior was still on the mound. Luis Castillo was at the plate. Juan Pierre was standing on second base. Facing a full count with one out, Castillo, a left-handed batter, popped the ball off the end of his bat and saw it drifting toward the stands down the left field line. A gust of wind could have sailed it a few rows deep, but that wasn’t the case. Outfielder Moises Alou tracked it perfectly, timed his jump, and waited for the fly ball to hit his glove. Instead, it hit a fan. Alou was pissed. Prior, who was in the middle of a masterpiece, couldn’t believe it. The rest of Wrigley Field went berserk. The entire city as we all knew it was about to riot. Was it fan interference? Did a Cubs fan really just take away an out from his favorite team? How close was Alou to actually catching the ball? So many questions, so little time to answer them. Umpire Mike Everitt ruled there was no interference on the play, and the Major League Baseball game continued on. The camera zoomed in on the infamous fan, who we later learned was Steve Bartman. He was the only one sitting down and wiping tears from his eyes in Section 4, Row 8, Seat 113 as everyone tried to gather their emotions. Bartman quickly became everyone’s top public enemy, a scapegoat, and the unfortunate star in the latest episode of the franchise’s World Series curse, but what happened in the minutes, days, months, and even years to come is no more his fault than the night that ruined everything. On the next pitch, Castillo walked. The next batter, catcher Ivan Rodriguez, singled to drive home Pierre and make the score 3-1. Miguel Cabrera then hit a potentially inning-ending double-play ground ball to Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who decided it was the perfect moment to bobble it. The Marlins scored eigh