OK, that’s enough baseball out here in Diamondbacks Nation.
(One of your smaller tribes.)
Now — sound the trumpets — it is time for playoff baseball’s long-awaited return to the North Side of Chicago, where perhaps you remember a series that began on Oct. 7, 2003 between the Florida Marlins and a crazy little team we like to call the Cubs.
The winning pitcher of Game 1 was Ugueth Urbina.
He’s in prison now.
The winning pitcher of Game 2 was Mark Prior.
He’s doing a 1-to-5-year stretch in Disabled List Prison now.
More Top Picks Sneaker
The winning pitcher of Game 3 was Joe Borowski.
He’s in Cleveland Indians Nation now.
The winning pitcher of Game 4 was Matt Clement.
He’s that guy who inspired you to tape a fake goatee to your chin.
The winning pitcher of Game 5 was Josh Beckett.
He’s a guy who could be the best pitcher in all of baseball now.
The winning pitcher of Game 6 was Chad Fox.
I have no idea where he is now, but he sure isn’t the best pitcher in all of baseball.
Let’s see … did anything else of note happen in that Game 6? Hmmm. Uh, I can’t recall.
Marlins 8, Cubs 3. It sure doesn’t sound like much of a ballgame. Couldn’t have been much action or excitement in that one. I hear Moises Alou almost made a nice catch on a foul ball.
A Game 7 also was played, according to our sources.
Brad Penny pitched it for the visitors. Kerry Wood did for the home team. Wood even hit a two-run homer in it. I think the Cubs also got a homer from that Wrigley Field immortal no fan ever could forget, Troy O’Leary.
Well, what the heck. At least our Cubbies gave it their all. Trying is what counts, right?
It was such a fun series, and Alex Gonzalez did sock three home runs in it. Gonzo was definitely Mr. Clutch for that team. I know every Cubs lover remembers him fondly.
Maybe he could come back Saturday to throw out the first pitch.
As the 99-year search for the Holy Grail continues, the Cubs will welcome the Diamondbacks to the old ruins at Clark and Addison for the first postseason game there since the tragi-comedy of 2003.
Back then, in Dusty Baker we trusted. (Trusteed?) We roared for Randall Simon, the ex-Pirate from the Caribbean. We crossed our fingers for six-fingered Antonio Alfonseca. We briefly nominated Doug Glanville as the new mayor of Wrigleyville.
Does your memory play tricks? Do you remember Michael Barrett being the Cubs’ catcher in those playoffs? He wasn’t. Damian Miller and Paul Bako wore the masks. Barrett didn’t turn up until 2004.
And then there was Sammy, of course.
Sultan of swat, Midwestern division. King of the hop. Star of the show. Pride of the Bleacher Bums. If you knew one thing for sure in 2003, it was that Sammy Sosa would be a Cub from here to eternity. A statue right beside Harry Caray’s was as likely as not.
Some things have a way of not working out.
It is pretty much an all-new Cubs club that will take the field Saturday for the first Wrigley postseason affair in four years.
Wood is still on the pitching staff. Aramis Ramirez is still at third base. Carlos Zambrano is still out there on the mound — quiet, poker-faced, as dignified as Sandy Koufax, never showing a hint of emotion.
Four years later, the Cubs definitely could use the help of these three individuals. A sweep of these two games against the Diamondbacks could bring Chicago’s pennant fever to a pitch and overcome the handicap of opening this series on the road.
Wrigley’s fans often treat June games as if it’s October. But this really is October. You won’t even be able to tell that there’s a Bears-Packers game being played in Wisconsin or a marathon being run in town if the Cubs are still alive and well come Sunday.
More Top Picks Best Japanese Floor Chairs
“It’s always kind of a zoo,” Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said before Thursday night’s Game 2 when someone asked about his team’s pending visit to Wrigley. “But this [weekend] is going to be over the top.”
When you walked out of Game 7 four years ago or turned off your TV, you must have wondered if and when a series like this would come to Wrigley next.
Well, here it comes.
———–