Steve Bartman is the 26-year-old Cubs fan who robbed Moises Alou of a foul flyout in the eighth inning Tuesday night. The incident sent the Cubbies' psyches spinning out of alignment and turned what should have been a World Series celebration into another evening of soul torture.

The Cubs are always nine toes off the ledge anyway. They and their passionate, neurotic fans don't need another reason to jump.

On Tuesday, Steve Bartman must have been thinking: "Front-row seat. Left-field line. Cool. Maybe I'll get a foul ball."

On Wednesday, Bartman was the most hated man in Chicago.

Three words for Stevie: Passport. Sunglasses. Nepal.

But, really.

Honestly.

If you were Bartman, you'd have done the same thing. You'd have stuck out your hand and tried to catch the ball. You wouldn't be thinking, "One out, one on, eighth inning, Cubs up 3-0, Cubs five outs from their first World Series in 58 years, I think I'll duck so Moises can try to grab this foul ball." Nope.

You'd say, "Get outta my way, loser, I'm catching this baseball."

You would. Because you are a fan, and in moments such as that, fans are not rational.

Come to think of it, fans are never rational.

That's why fans celebrate world titles and beating Michigan by burning cars. It's why Steve Bartman left Tuesday's game in the bottom of the eighth, coat wrapped around his head, ducking beer showers. Nobody who's rational throws a $6 beer at someone. A $2 beer, maybe.

We realize that these days, fans make a larger emotional investment in their teams than players or management do. We've never seen Mike Brown paint his face orange and black. We know the joy winning brings.

But come on.

The guy did nothing wrong. He tried to catch a foul ball. The ball was out of play. He had to leave with a security escort. He couldn't show his face Wednesday. That ain't right.

The ballpark is where we're supposed to enjoy ourselves. We check our anger at the turnstile. We don't bring in the hostility baggage. It's not a ballplayer's fault (or a fan's) if our lives stink.

Only now, maybe it is.

"It follows a general psychological premise," said David Hellkamp, a Xavier psychology professor and a consulting sports psychologist. "It's easier to blame someone else for your disappointment with the Cubs."

We asked Hellkamp to weigh in because Cubs' fans are A Beautiful Mind, multiplied by millions. What happened to them Tuesday will be studied for centuries. What happened to Bartman could have happened to anyone.

If the Cubs aren't in the World Series, Bartman is in physical and emotional danger. If they are, he's on Leno Friday night.

"It was typical" fan behavior, said Kevin Grace, a UC assistant professor and sports historian. He teaches a course, The Social History of Baseball, in which he shows students a cartoon from a Cincinnati newspaper, depicting an umpire in armor and angry fans chasing him. It's from '85. 1885.

"If the fans had left (Bartman) alone, I'd have been surprised," Grace said.

Bartman might be a symptom of a century of Cubdom. But he didn't cost them the game. Lousy pitching, managing and defense did.

Fans could stand to apply the emotional brakes. A game is just that.

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com