ESPN can do better than ‘Bartmanland,’ and other winners and losers from the Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals broadcast on ‘Sunday Night Baseball’

“Bartmanland”?

Really, ESPN? Really, Matt Vasgersian? That’s the best you can do?

It was the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on a picture-perfect evening, and ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” cast a shadow by reopening a scapegoat’s wounds with a flippant remark.

The Cardinals’ Dylan Carlson led off the top of the seventh by looping a ball down the left-field line that bounced over the side wall for a ground-rule double.

ESPN play-by-play man Vasgersian did what national TV announcers have been doing for almost 18 years now, invoking the name of an ordinary fan who sat in that general area for Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 14, 2003 — and never has been allowed to forget it.

Vasgersian rechristened that section of the stands, perhaps thinking it clever. Or not thinking at all.

At this point, it’s not just a cliché. It leaves a stale, sour taste.

This guy has been associated with the fact the Cubs couldn’t seal the deal on the 2003 NL pennant, all because he did what fans do most of the time.

The problem was that the Cubs did what they have done most of the time.

He didn’t lose Game 6 or Game 7. The Cubs did.

Moises Alou had a tantrum in the pivotal eighth inning of Game 6. Álex González botched a grounder. Sammy Sosa missed a cutoff man. Cubs pitching came undone. And so on.

Yet it’s his name — far more than theirs — associated with the collapse, and it’s people such as Vasgersian who, intentionally or not, make sure that no one forgets it, as if an event that drove this fan into hiding should remain a source of amusement.

It’s not clever. It’s not even interesting anymore.

The 2016 World Series title was supposed to wipe the slate clean. No more petting zoo curses and other idiocy. But this one endures.

Joe Buck alluded to the memory of Game 6 the night before during Fox’s regional telecast. Buck at least didn’t mention him by name, which, sad as it may be, is enough to earn points by comparison.

Cubs fans, by and large, recognize they treated him very badly for far too long and are ashamed of it.

No one is pretending that no longer mentioning his name will right everything for the fan. The memory reinforced for years may never go away completely. But there’s little point in continuing to harp on him.

Bring up the team’s history of misplays and misfortune. That’s fair. But focus on the players and managers, the people paid to own up to their performance and take the heat. History should focus on them and what they did and didn’t do.

There’s no good reason to keep dragging a ticket holder into it.

Network announcers should cut him some slack. Nearly everyone else has.

Let’s take stock of other winners and losers.

Loser: Álex Rodríguez

Álex Rodríguez not only said it’s too soon to know if the threat of a crackdown on pitchers’ use of banned substances is related to the reduction in spin rate on pitches since June 5, he argued fans should be kept in the dark about what’s being done to thwart cheating.

“I wish as a player, and just someone who loves the game, that whatever’s going on, there should be less chatter publicly,” A-Rod said. “Let the front office and let central baseball, the commissioner’s office, figure it out, give the instructions and let everyone follow through. I think all the conversation and chatter back and forth is not productive and does not help the game.”

First of all, Rodríguez isn’t a player anymore. He’s a media person, and no media person should argue it’s best to sit on efforts to rein in a potential scandal. The rule breakers might want things cleaned up quietly, but fans deserve total transparency.

Winner: Boog Sciambi

While TV’s Vasgersian and Rodríguez were calling the game from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., ESPN Radio had Boog Sciambi and Marly Rivera broadcasting from Sciambi’s regular Cubs perch at Wrigley — the Marquee Sports Network booth.

“I got major FOMO right now,” Rodríguez said, invoking the acronym for “fear of missing out.” “I wish we were there right now.”

There is no good reason they weren’t, although it did spare A-Rod from being taunted by fans the way former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski was during Fox’s regional telecast Saturday.

Winner: A.J. Pierzynski

One senses A.J. always has thrived on riling up opposing fans, and the chants of Michael Barrett’s name Saturday — recalling the Cubs catcher who belted Pierzynski out of frustration after a collision at the plate 15 years ago — probably made him smile.

After all, the Sox won that 2006 game 7-0.

Loser: Haircut news

Way too often, something noteworthy happens on the field whenever ESPN is in the middle of an unnecessary feature. This time it was a taped bit of trivia from the Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom.

Just as Buster Olney was digging into the story behind a photo of Wisdom’s bleached blond, high school “mushroom hair,” the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado had the audacity to make a sensational play on a Willson Contreras grounder. (The real-time radio calls sounded exciting.)

Vasgersian and Rodríguez raved about it afterward, but fans likely are less interested in an ill-advised, decade-old coiffure than the live ballgame they set aside time to watch.

Winner: Jeremiah Paprocki

Jeremiah Paprocki, the University of Illinois-Chicago senior the Cubs hired as their new Wrigley Field public-address announcer, had to work on his 22nd birthday. On the other hand, the birthday was mentioned on a video screen and the Cubs closed out a series sweep.

Loser: Javier Báez

Not only did Javier Báez miss a chance to play on national TV, sitting out Sunday with a sore thumb, ESPN’s cameras caught him and coach Mike Napoli snacking on a huge bag of popcorn. If they had to pay Wrigley Field concession prices, that might have set Javy back at least four figures.

Winner: Wasabi

If you switched over to Fox after the ballgame, you may have caught a Pekingese named Wasabi winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Bourbon, a whippet, took second.

Scandal-scarred former baseball star Barry Bonds had a miniature schnauzer named Rocky in the competition. There is probably a joke or two dozen in that, but Rocky didn’t do anything wrong.

Loser: Shaky-cam

It’s best to anchor all cameras in a way that ensures they don’t shake. Makes for a better telecast. Just a thought.

Winner: Beer cup snake

Anyone else think the beer cup snake got as much TV time as it did as a prelude to its own “30 for 30″ documentary?

Winner: Sammy Sosa

When the Cardinals’ Edmundo Sosa pinch hit in the eighth inning, Vasgersian said, “Sosas at Wrigley Field have a pretty good history,” punctuated by A-Rod adding, “Indeed.”

Neither announcer was so bold or impolite as to even hint at controversies that might have helped former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, which is a victory for the image-conscious 1998 National League Most Valuable Player.

That they can forget, but a scapegoated fan they feel obligated to mention. Every. Single. Time.

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