Steve Bartman became about the most vilified baseball fan in history on the night of Oct. 14, 2003. With a foul ball heading his way, Bartman reached for it — as almost any fan would — without considering that outfielder Moises Alou had it lined up to catch what would have been the second out of the eighth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS. The Cubs led the game, 3-0, and the series, 3-2, at the time, and would have been four outs away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 1945 if Alou had made the catch.

Instead, Prior walked the batter and the Marlins rallied to score eight runs in the inning, enough for an 8-3 win to force a Game 7. Florida won again the next day, ensuring that the Cubs’ decades-long championship drought would continue. And even though Prior and the organization later absolved Bartman, and even though that type of thing happens all the time in baseball and teams need to survive them and not allow their opponents to score eight runs in that spot, Bartman nonetheless became instantly infamous, even getting death threats for his momentary indiscretion.

He remains a Cubs fan, but has refused all interview requests and has not returned to Wrigley Field since that day. It’s heartbreaking. But with the Cubs now heading back to the postseason, some of Bartman’s fellow fans want to send him to the NL Wild Card game in Pittsburgh. A GoFundMe account started by Keque Escobedo seeks to raise $5,000 to pay for Bartman’s flight, hotel room, and ticket. Escobedo writes:

First we need to find him to get him to the big game. If anyone knows where he is at, tell him we are looking for him. The money would pay for his expenses including his ticket, hotel room, flights and a little spending money. If he cannot be found by time of the big game all the proceeds raised will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

For Bartman’s sake, it’s worth hoping the Cubs can pull out a championship in 2015. Or, at least, that if they don’t, their fans find something else — another billy goat, perhaps — to blame this time around. No human should really have to go through what Bartman has on behalf of sports. It’s sports, for cryin’ out loud.

And if they do win, they should give poor Steve Bartman his own tickertape parade. If only there were some sort of appropriate song to accompany it.

UPDATE: According to ESPN, Bartman’s longtime spokesman, Frank Murtha, said he would not be attending the game.

From ESPN: