Alou Forgives Fan

Now that’s class.

”I feel sorry for the guy,” said Alou, who thinks he had an excellent chance to catch the ball the Marlins’ Luis Castillo hit into the first row of the stands down the left-field line and perhaps short-circuit what turned out to be an eight-run eighth inning in the Cubs’ horrific 8-3 loss. ”Every fan in every ballpark goes for the ball. He wants a souvenir. Hopefully, he won’t have to regret it the rest of his life if he’s a Cubs fan. Hopefully, we can take that burden off him tomorrow.

Now I know there are a lot of folks out there who are taking it out on The Fan. And yes, as an Orioles fan who is still wounded from the 1998 ALCS game, fan interference is an unfortunate part of the game.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to start picking on this guy for “losing the game.” Seriously, an eight-run inning is not one person’s fault. No talk about how Mark Prior should have shut these guys down, no talk about Cubs fielding. . . no no no. . . just lots of excuses.

Some Cubs fans are talking about the curse of the goat. With the way Cubs fans have treated this fan, they deserve to lose the NLCS. Thankfully team players like Alou are rising above the talk of curses and fans and focusing on the game:

Alou was asked whether he thought the fan’s play, which preceded a wild pitch by Prior and an error on a routine grounder by shortstop Alex Gonzalez that opened the floodgates to the Marlins’ big inning, would be considered to be part of the curse that seems to have plagued the team through the years.

”I’m not a Cubs fan; I’m a Cubs player,” Alou said. “I don’t believe in that crap.”