Updated: November 4, 2011, 4:05 PM ET

ESPN Films: 'Catching Hell'

By Staff
ESPN.com
Catching Hell: Alex Gibney
In the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, Cubs fan Steve Bartman reached for a foul pop fly and tipped the ball away from Cubs left fielder Moises Alou, which caused anger and rage from fellow Cubs fans. Watch "Catching Hell" Tuesday September 27th 8pm EST on ESPNTags: ESPN Films, Alex Gibney, Catching Hell
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FILM SUMMARY

In the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field, Cubs fans had every reason to believe they would finally host a World Series for the first time since 1945. With their ace pitcher going strong, the Cubs led the Marlins 3-0, only five outs short of a pennant. And then the sky fell. Or a foul ball fell from the sky, tearing the cosmic fabric, when a home team fan, Steve Bartman, reaching for a foul pop fly, tipped the ball away from the outstretched glove of leaping Cubs left fielder Moises Alou, who seemed certain to make a spectacular catch.

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As the TV cameras focused on the isolated fan, frozen in his seat and staring straight ahead as if in a trance, Cubs fans felt the familiar sense of doom and dread, one that quickly turned to anger as the Marlins then staged a lightning eight-run rally. Even though sure-handed shortstop Alex Gonzalez booted a routine inning-ending double-play ball and the Cubs still had a Game 7 left to try to win it and the mild-mannered Bartman made a sincere public apology, the fans focused their disappointment and rage on Bartman. He fulfilled the ancient need for a scapegoat to explain the inexplicable to Chicago -- why, on the threshold of victory, the door was once more slammed in its face, capping a near-century of losing and frustration.

In a shift from addressing social big-picture topics such as the Enron scandal, the fall of Eliot Spitzer and the detainment of innocent political prisoners, Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney explores the unsettling phenomena of scapegoating in sports with intimate looks at Bartman and Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. The parallel stories are told in a suspense-filled style, made particularly chilling for Bartman. With never-before-seen footage of Game 6 from inside the stands of Wrigley Field, we see, step by step, how the Friendly Confines turned into a dark place as Cubs fans tried to hold Bartman to account for their collective nightmare.

MEET THE DIRECTOR

Alex Gibney directed the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Taxi to the Dark Side" and the 2006 Oscar-nominated film "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room." Other credits as director include Magnolia Pictures releases "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" and "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson." His credits as producer include the Oscar-nominated "No End in Sight" (executive producer), "Who Killed the Electric Car?" (consulting producer) and "Herbie Hancock: Possibilities" (producer).

Gibney's other music films include "Jimi Hendrix and the Blues" (director) and "Martin Scorsese Presents 'The Blues'" (producer), an eight-film documentary series (and accompanying book and multiple-CD release) on the blues, including films by Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Mike Figgis, Clint Eastwood and Antoine Fuqua.

In 2010-11, Gibney released four films as director: "My Trip to Al-Qaeda," based on the one-man play by Lawrence Wright, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Looming Tower;" "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer;" a segment on sumo wrestling in the omnibus film "Freakonomics;" and "Magic Trip," a time travel immersion experience about the famous 1964 bus trip taken by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.

In addition to the Oscar, Gibney has received numerous other awards, including a Grammy, multiple Emmys, the Peabody Award and the DuPont-Columbia Award for Broadcast Journalism.

Gibney recently finished a film for ESPN's 30 for 30 series, "Catching Hell," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and is at work on a documentary feature for Universal on WikiLeaks.

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Director's Take

"Catching Hell," airs Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

I am thrilled to participate in ESPN's ongoing film series. A longtime sports fanatic and hopeless tennis flailer, I have always wanted to do films on sports. And I am thrilled that ESPN encourages directors not to ape any house style but to bring their own game.

I zeroed in on the story of Steve Bartman because I was interested in the collective mania of a city and the need to find a scapegoat for disappointment. As a lifelong Red Sox fan who had been released from the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, I can show the best and the worst of Cubs mania through the lens of one who has been there.

Also, having done "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" about Jack Abramoff, I was interested in exploring our need for scapegoats. As I learned from a Cubs fan who also turned out to be a Unitarian minister, the hunt for scapes and the goats is as old as, well, the Bible. What I discovered in never-before-seen footage and testimony of those who hadn't ever come forward before, the night of the Bartman incident revealed a momentum of blame. Fans in the Friendly Confines, seeking to understand how certain victory could turn to embarrassing defeat, worked themselves up into a frenzy of tirades that they focused on one young man, with a green turtleneck and headphones, who just stared ahead as the accusatory chants of "a--hole, a--hole," roared through the stadium. If the Cubs win some day, will their fans forgive Steve Bartman for touching that foul ball? Or more important, will Steve Bartman -- who was only one of many reaching for the ball -- forgive Chicago?

One of the reasons I'm doing this is for the fun of it and because, even in my story, there is a lot to say about the game of baseball and how it plays out in mysterious ways that encourage and defy expectation. Was Buckner's boot the real story or just the nail in the coffin of the Sox's untimely demise? Do players really "choke" under the weight of expectation once they feel things start to unravel, or is it just that, in the words of Don Rumsfeld, "stuff happens"?

And what of curses? For the believers, they can be broken. After all, Buckner returned to a momentous standing ovation at Fenway in 2008. He kindly agreed to give his wise remarks on camera for this film and, in a sign of grace and good humor, showed up recently on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

With these things in mind, I had an unexpected dream a few nights ago. The Cubs did win the World Series, and I found myself as the chosen emissary to convince Steve Bartman to lead a parade in his honor. And then I woke up.

I hope the Cubs do win some day. And when they do, I hope Chicago throws Bartman a party in Wrigley Field. But, perversely, I hope he doesn't come. Not to mock, but to celebrate, I hope everyone shows up wearing a Cubs cap, a green turtleneck and headphones. When we are all Steve Bartman, the curse is done. -- Alex Gibney

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FILM SCHEDULE


    THURSDAY, SEPT. 29

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN2: 11 p.m.

    • FRIDAY, SEPT. 30

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN Classic: 10 p.m.

    • SATURDAY, OCT. 1

  • • Catching Hell
    --ESPN Classic: midnight, 8 p.m., 10

    • SUNDAY, OCT. 2

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN Classic: midnight, 8 p.m., 10 p.m.

    • SATURDAY, OCT. 8

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN2: 8 a.m.

    • SATURDAY, NOV. 12

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN2: 5 a.m.

    • SUNDAY, NOV. 13

  • • Catching Hell
    -- ESPN: 9 p.m.
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