After the homerun plagued game last time. This one was fantastic for the Marlins. Beckett pitched a complete game shutout against the Cubbies!! Last time a pitcher did that in the NLDS, it was Randy Johnson back in 2001.
The Cubs know who they have going on the mound in game 6. Honestly, the biggest game of this series was the extra-inning win on Friday, cause the Marlins knew they probably were going to win with Beckett vs. Zambrano. If the Marlins had won on Friday, it wouldn't have mattered if Prior was pitching game 6, since they would take their chances with game 7. Now, if the Cubs blow this, then there will be some SERIOUS suffering in the years to come... this is their BEST shot to close it out.
Yea, I was surprised that the Cubs won Game 4 with Clement. Having to beat Prior AND Wood is akin to being an amateur mountain climber and trying to climb Mount Everest. If the Marlins can somehow win those 2 games, then they should be considered one of the greatest teams of all-time. I'm not joking when I say that...just stating how dominant Prior and Wood have been in this postseason.
One of these years, maybe the Astros can just be really really bad, and get a high draft pick... And then draft a guy like Prior or Beckett with the #1 pick. In retrospect, when we were awful in 2000, we should have continued to be awful... then we could have drafted Prior with the top pick. Instead we decided to have a second-half surge, and finish in the middle of the pack. We did draft Chris Burke that year... so maybe the high pick will pay-off in the end. I'm just frustrated that OUR top pitchers are gems that were found because of somebody's damn hard work, thereby drafting them in the 23rd and 25th rounds (Miller and Oswalt... in all due respect, they would have been high 1st round picks the year after...). THEIR pitchers are no-brain sure-fire #1 draft choices that they get because they're perrenially bad. (include Kerry Wood in this scenario as well...)
The Marlins finally got to Mark Prior...with a little help from a friend in the stands who got in the way of Alou and catching a foul ball. After that incident, the Marlins blew the game wide open. That fan caused this whole thing . He must feel like crap since he's a Cubs fan and he's an idiot. Great game!
If the Cubbies lose this game, this will go down as one of the worst chokes in playoff history.....ever. People talk about the wheels falling off, I'd say the transmission just fell out and dragged the engine with it.
True......but the blow to your confidence, to know you had a 3-0 lead in Game 6 and totally choked, will be hard to overcome.
Also true.... but Kerry Wood may have the confidence to carry them tommorow night. Then again, the Marlins might be so high off this that the ball will start to look like grapefruits. In the end, this might do more for the Marlins confidence than it does for the Cubs (diminishing) confidence.
I just can't believe the Cubs choked. Geez, a Yanks/Marlins series is something I'd just not be interested in watching at all.
I fear for that fan's safety. His mug is plastered on the front page of ESPN.com right now. I'm guessing there's just a TEENY bit of pent up anger in Chicago for his role in perpetuating that franchise's bad luck.
see Chicago Cubs vs. SD Padres, 1984 NLCS see also Boston Red Sox vs. NY Mets, 1986 World Series wow...i can't freaking wait for tonight!!!
Man, they wanted to execute his ass... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/news/story?id=1638286 CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs supporters showed up for a nightlong party at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, only to have their raucous celebration snuffed by a stunning late-inning rally that left them cursing a fellow fan. In a sudden eighth-inning turnaround, the Florida Marlins took advantage of left fielder Moises Alou's run-in with a fan on a foul fly and an error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez to score eight runs in an 8-3 victory, forcing the NL championship series to a Game 7. People, who minutes earlier were dancing and singing the praises of the Cubs, suddenly turned their wrath on the fan who grabbed for the fly ball just as Alou attempted to catch it. Obscene chants echoed from inside the stadium and from the surrounding streets, where thousands gathered to celebrate what they hoped would be the Cubs' first trip to the World Series since 1945. Ballpark guards escorted the man, who was wearing a Cubs hat, from his seat along the low outfield wall and into a security office as the game ended. He covered his face with a sweater as he walked past fans who pelted him with cups of beer and shouted obscenities. Some chanted "kill him." Jim Cuthbert, 33, said he was sitting about 15 to 20 rows behind the fan and was kicked out after approaching to berate him. "My wife was hanging on to my arm. I was going nuts. That idiot. We were five outs away," Cuthbert said. Fans outside the ballpark at first couldn't believe what they were hearing on radios or watching on portable televisions. "I hope he gets an escort out," said Mary Krueger of suburban Niles, who watched the mishap on a portable TV while standing on Waveland Avenue behind Wrigley's left-field wall. "One more night, that's all." But for other fans, the loss brought back fans' worst fears of the Cubs' many previous late-season collapses. "I've seen this movie before," said Torey Stern, 39, of Chicago. "I saw it in '84 with the Padres, in '89 with the Giants and in '98 with the Braves. The movie ends the same." Earlier in the game, people jammed the many bars in the Wrigleyville neighborhood surrounding the stadium and thousands more packed the streets, waving signs, chanting and dancing. Some bodysurfed across the crowd on Waveland Avenue. Tony Kloss flew to Chicago on Tuesday morning from New Jersey along with his two employees, even though they didn't have tickets. The 27-year-old business owner said he watched the Cubs on TV as a child and just wanted to be with the crowds outside. "I love the crowd, I love Chicago," he said. But the roar of cheers turned to groans as those outside learned of the sudden change of fortunes. Some sat down in the street where minutes earlier they had been jumping. Fans began to stream outside of the stadium immediately after the game, talking to friends on cellular phones about the defeat. "Look at how silent everyone is," said Ray Shannon, 52, of Brookfield, Wis., who watched the game from the rooftop of a nearby building. "We were up on the roof high-fiving and pouring beers on guys and suddenly somebody turns the lights out. It's shock theater."
Unbelievable game and series...I want Pudge and the marlins to win and keep the curse going... Can you believe that fan...He had a death wish or something...
Yeah, it's going to be fun....but are the Cubbies going to choke again? Will that prove for once and for all that the curse is perpetual?
