The Inning
The Inning is a slang name given to the 8th inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series between the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins and the "lovable losing" Chicago Cubs. The Inning is either thought of as an oppurtunity to end a near-century of losing squandered by Cubs fans or an oppurtunity seized by Marlins fans.
The Cubs, led by their starting pitcher Mark Prior, had a 3-0 lead at the top of the eighth inning in Game 6 and after causing Mike Mordecai to hit a high pop fly to left field had only five outs between them and the prize they had not been to since 1945, and not won since 1908, the World Series. After Mordecai was out for the first out of the inning, Center fielder Juan Pierre then hit a double off Prior to get to second base. Then Luis Castillo, on a 3-2 pitch, hit a high foul ball toward the left field wall (This was the 8th pitch of the at-bat for Castillo). At that time, Cubs Moises Alou went toward the stands trying to catch the ball for the second out. Just then, Cubs fan Steve Bartman went to catch the ball and it went off his hand and into the stands. Even though the Cubs pleaded for fan interference, the umpire said that the ball had left the field of play and therefore was up for grabs.
And as a result of all this, Castillo was alive at home plate. Meanwhile, Prior did not seem to pitch the same way. On the next pitch, he walked Castillo on a wild pitch which got away from the catcher Paul Bako, allowing Pierre to advance to third base. Next, Ivan Rodriguez hit a pitch hard into left field, singling and scoring Pierre. It was now 3-1. Miguel Cabrera then hit a ground ball toward Alex Gonzalez which should have ended in a double play. Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who led all NL shortstops in fielding percentage, closed his glove a little too early, and the ball landed in the dirt, allowing Cabrera to get to base quickly. Bases loaded. On the next pitch Derrek Lee drilled a double into left field, scoring Castillo and Rodriguez to tie the game at 3-3.
Prior was then taken out of the game, replaced by Kyle Farnsworth. He then intentionally walked Mike Lowell to load the bases. Jeff Conine then hit a sacrifice fly to right field for the second out of the inning, allowing Cabrera to score from third, and the others to advance one base. This gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead, their first of the night. Farnsworth then walked Todd Hollandsworth intentionally to once again load the bases. He then faced Mike Mordecai, who was looking to get back for his earlier out. This time, Mordecai prevailed hitting a bases-clearing double to left center field, allowing Lee, Lowell, and Hollandsworth to score, making it a 7-3 Marlins lead.
Fransworth was also taken out of the game and was replaced by Mike Remlinger, who gave a single away to Juan Pierre to score Mordecai from second, putting the Marlins up 8-3. However, Luis Castillo, the guy who began the inning barrage, was the one who ended it, hitting a high pop fly ball to right field for the third and final out of the inning. The Cubs never recovered and lost Game 6, forcing a Game 7 which the Marlins would again come back to win.
