2003 National League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Florida Marlins (4) Jack McKeon 91–71, .562, GB: 10 Chicago Cubs (3) Dusty Baker 88–74, .543, GA: 1
Dates	October 7–15
MVP	Iván Rodríguez (Florida)
Umpires	Jerry Crawford (Games 1, 3–7),Chuck Meriwether,Fieldin Culbreth,Larry Vanover (Game 2),Mike Everitt,Larry Poncino,Mike Reilly
Broadcast
Television	Fox
TV announcers	Thom Brennaman,Steve Lyons,Al Leiter andJosh Lewin
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andDave Campbell
NLDS	Chicago Cubs overAtlanta Braves (3–2) Florida Marlins overSan Francisco Giants (3–1)
← 2002 NLCS 2004 →

The2003National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s2003 postseason played from October 7 to 15 to determine the champion of theNational League. It featured the Central Division champion and third-seededChicago Cubs and the wild-card qualifyingFlorida Marlins. The Cubs, by virtue of being a division winner, had the home field advantage.^[1] The Marlins came back from a three games to one deficit and won the series in seven games, advancing to theWorld Series against theNew York Yankees, whom they defeated in six games.^[2][3]

The series is most remembered for events that unfolded in the top of the eighth inning of Game 6.^[4][5] Not having won a championship since 1908, the Cubs had just taken two out of the three games in Miami, with the final two games atWrigley Field inChicago.^[6] The Cubs also had their best two pitchers,Mark Prior andKerry Wood, slated to start the final two games.^[7][8] With the Cubs leading 3–0 and just five outs away from their first World Series appearance since1945,Steve Bartman, a fan, reached for the foul ball hit byLuis Castillo off Prior, preventing Cubs outfielderMoisés Alou from catching it. Castillo proceeded to walk and Prior and the Cubs never recovered from the incident. Aided by Castillo's walk and later an error by Cubs shortstopAlex Gonzalez on a potential double-play grounder, the Marlins went on to score eight runs in the inning and won the game 8–3. There were some odd events leading up to the disastrous 8th inning that many Cubs fans call bad omens ofThe Curse of the Billy Goat, which most notably includeBernie Mac (a lifelong fan of the crosstownWhite Sox) altering "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" from "root for the Cubbies" to "root for the champs, champs." The Marlins went on to win Game 7 and then to defeat theNew York Yankees in theWorld Series.

Florida won the series, 4–3.

Tuesday, October 7, 2003 atWrigley Field inChicago

The Cubs struck first in Game 1 with a four-run first inning offJosh Beckett.Kenny Lofton drew a leadoff walk before scoring onMark Grudzielanek's triple. One out later,Moisés Alou's home run made it 3−0.Aramis Ramírez then tripled before scoring onAlex Gonzalez's two-out double. The Marlins battered starterCarlos Zambrano with five runs in the third.Juan Pierre tripled with one out, thenLuis Castillo walked beforeIván Rodríguez's home run made it 4−3 Cubs. AfterDerrek Lee struck out, home runs byMiguel Cabrera andJuan Encarnación put the Marlins up 5−4. They made it 6−4 in the sixth onJeff Conine's sacrifice fly with runners on second and third, but the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the inning on Gonzalez's home run afterRandall Simon doubled with two outs. The Marlins loaded the bases in the ninth offJoe Borowski on a double, walk and Grudzielanek's error before Rodriguez's single scored two, but the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the inning onSammy Sosa's two-run home run offUgueth Urbina, forcing extra innings.Mike Lowell's leadoff home run in the 11th put the Marlins up 9−8 andBraden Looper retired the Cubs in order in the bottom half to give Florida a 1−0 series lead.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 atWrigley Field inChicago

In Game 2, the Cubs loaded the bases in the first on a hit and two walks offBrad Penny whenRandall Simon brought home two with a single to left. Next inning,Paul Bako hit a leadoff single, moved to score on a groundout, and scored onKenny Lofton's single. One out later,Sammy Sosa homered to make it 5−0; his home run ball landed on top of a camera house in center field, some 495 feet (151 m) from home plate. Next inning,Aramis Ramírez hit a leadoff home run and after Simon doubled, Penny was relieved byNate Bump, who gotAlex Gonzalez to hit into a force out, but then allowed an RBI double to Bako. One out later, Lofton's RBI single made it 8−0 Cubs. In the fifth,Rick Helling allowed a leadoff double to Simon, then Gonzalez homered an out later to make it 10−0. Bako then walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then to third on Lofton's single before scoring onMark Grudzielanek's double.Mark Prior pitched five shutout innings before allowing lead off home runs toDerrek Lee andMiguel Cabrera in the sixth. Gonzalez hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the inning. The Marlins scored one run in the eighth on a bases-loaded double play fromJuan Encarnación offDave Veres as the Cubs' 12−3 blowout win tied the series heading to Florida.

Friday, October 10, 2003 atPro Player Stadium inMiami Gardens, Florida

Another back-and-forth affair, similar to Game 1, pitted Florida'sMark Redman against Chicago's aceKerry Wood at Pro Player Stadium.

The Cubs jumped on top in the first inning, as they had done in the previous two games.Sammy Sosa drove inKenny Lofton with a single. The Cubs plated another run in the second, when a single and a pair of walks were followed by a sacrifice fly by Wood. The Marlins got a run back in their half of the second whenAlex Gonzalez doubled inMiguel Cabrera with two outs.

Other than the Marlins leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, Wood rolled through the middle innings. Redman, too, held strong until he was pinch-hit for in the seventh.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Marlins finally broke through. Gonzalez led off with a single, followed by aMike Lowell walk. They were both sacrificed to second and third, and then Gonzalez scored the tying run on an RBI groundout byLuis Castillo. With two outs and Lowell at third,Iván Rodríguez singled through the right side to give Florida the lead and knocked Wood from the game, but the next inning,Randall Simon followed up aTom Goodwin triple with a home run into the right-field stands off relieverChad Fox. The Cubs had retaken the lead 4–3.

The Marlins tied the game at 4–4 in the bottom of the eighth againstKyle Farnsworth whenTodd Hollandsworth grounded a hit through the left side of the infield to score Cabrera. Florida, however, stranded the bases loaded in the ninth and the game went into extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Lofton singled with one out. Then the sparingly usedDoug Glanville turned out to be the hero when he smoked a triple into the left-center field gap to drive in Lofton with the go-ahead run.Mike Remlinger retired the Marlins in the bottom half of the 11th to secure the 5–4 victory.

Down 2 games to 1, the defeat was a blow to the Marlins, who squandered several chances with runners in scoring position.

Saturday, October 11, 2003 atPro Player Stadium inMiami Gardens, Florida

Aramis Ramírez hit a first inning grand-slam, the first in Cubs postseason history, afterDontrelle Willis allowed three walks. They added to their lead in the third when Ramírez hit a single to right with two on. After a walk loaded the bases, Willis was relieved byRick Helling, who allowed an RBI single toAlex Gonzalez. Next inning,Kenny Lofton drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored onMoisés Alou's two-out single.Matt Clement pitched four shutout innings before allowing singles toMiguel Cabrera andJeff Conine in the fifth. Alex Gonzalez's ground out andTodd Hollandsworth's single scored a run each. Ramírez hit his second home run of the game offNate Bump in the seventh. The Marlins scored their last run in the eighth whenLenny Harris drew a leadoff walk and scored onIván Rodríguez's double offKyle Farnsworth. The Cubs cruised to an 8–3 victory, putting them just one victory away from their first World Series in nearly 60 years.^[20][21] This 2003 victory turned out to be the last playoff game won by the Cubs for 12 years, a span of 9 consecutive losses until finally winning theNational League Wild Card Game in 2015, as well as their last win in theNLCS until2016.

Sunday, October 12, 2003 atPro Player Stadium inMiami Gardens, Florida

With the Marlins facing elimination,Josh Beckett kept them alive by dominating the Cubs, holding them to just two hits and one walk as part of his standout 2003 postseason.^[22] The game was scoreless until the fifth inning whenMike Lowell hit a two-run homer offCarlos Zambrano.Iván Rodríguez andJeff Conine homered in the seventh and eighth innings offDave Veres andMike Remlinger, respectively. Even with the loss, the Cubs looked strong going back home with their two aces,Mark Prior for Game 6 andKerry Wood, if necessary, to start Game 7.^[20]

Tuesday, October 14, 2003 atWrigley Field inChicago

In Game 6, the Cubs struck first whenKenny Lofton singled to lead off the first offCarl Pavano and scored onSammy Sosa's one-out double. In the sixth, after two singles and a double play put Sosa at third off Pavano, relieverDontrelle Willis's ball four wild pitch toEric Karros allowed Sosa to score. Next inning,Paul Bako hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Willis was relieved byChad Fox, who allowed an RBI single toMark Grudzielanek.

With thousands of fans on the street outside sold-out Wrigley Field, poised to celebrate, the Cubs held a 3–0 lead going into the top of the eighth inning of Game 6. AfterMike Mordecai hit a highpop fly toleft field, the team was a mere five outs away from their first World Series appearance since 1945.^[23][24][25]

Mark Prior had retired the last eight hitters and had allowed only three hits up to that point.Center fielderJuan Pierre then hit adouble off Prior.

On the eighth pitch of hisat bat,Luis Castillo hit a high foul ball toward the left field wall. Cubs left fielderMoisés Alou (a former Marlin who had won a world championship with the club in1997) headed toward the stands to catch the ball for the potential second out. As Alou reached for the ball hit by his former teammate, Cubs fanSteve Bartman, along with others near the area, did the same. The ball bounced off Bartman's hands and into the stands. Though the Cubs pleaded for a call offan interference, left fieldumpireMike Everitt ruled that the ball had left the field of play and was therefore up for grabs. Alou, who was visibly angry at Bartman's catch, initially acknowledged that he would not have made the catch, but he later denied making such a statement and said if he had, it was only to make Bartman feel better.^[26]

As a result, Castillo remained an active batter at home plate. On the next pitch, Priorwalked Castillo with awild pitch that got away fromcatcherPaul Bako, also allowing Pierre to advance to third base.

At this point, the Marlins' bats began to come alive. Next,Iván Rodríguez hit an 0–2 pitch hard into left field,singling and scoring Pierre.Miguel Cabrera then hit aground ball toward CubsshortstopAlex Gonzalez that could have ended the inning on adouble play. Gonzalez, who led all NL shortstops infielding percentage, closed his glove too early and the ball landed in the dirt, allowing Cabrera to reach safely, loading the bases. On the next pitch,Derrek Lee (a future Cubs All-Star) drilled adouble into left field, scoring Castillo and Rodríguez to tie the score at 3–3.

Prior was taken out of the game and replaced byKyle Farnsworth, whointentionally walkedMike Lowell to load the bases again.Jeff Conine then hit asacrifice fly to right field for the second out of the inning, allowing Cabrera to score from third and the other runners to each advance one base. This gave the Marlins their first lead of the night. Farnsworth intentionally walkedTodd Hollandsworth (another future Cub) to yet again load the bases.

The Marlins now having batted around the order, Mordecai, making up for his earlier out, hit a bases-clearing double to left-center field, scoring Lee, Lowell, and Hollandsworth and making it a 7–3 Marlins lead.

Farnsworth was taken out of the game and replaced byMike Remlinger, who gave up a single to Pierre to score Mordecai from second base. Castillo popped to shallow right field for the final out of an 8-run inning. The comeback victory by the Marlins forced a Game 7.

Wednesday, October 15, 2003 atWrigley Field inChicago

In Game 7,Juan Pierre tripled to lead off the first, thenIván Rodríguez walked with one out beforeMiguel Cabrera's home run made it 3–0 Marlins against CubsaceKerry Wood, who had not lost atWrigley Field in nearly six weeks.^[27] The Cubs responded by tying the score 3–3 in the second inning offMark Redman, which featured a two-run home run by Wood afterDamian Miller hit into an RBI groundout with runners on second and third.Moisés Alou's two-run homer after a hit-by-pitch the following inning put Chicago up 5–3, but the lead would not last.^[28] In the fifth, Florida capitalized on a pair of walks and scored three runs on Rodriguez's double, Cabrera's groundout andDerrek Lee's single to go on top 6–5, a lead they would not relinquish. They added a run in the sixth onLuis Castillo's single with two on offKyle Farnsworth and two more in the seventh onAlex Gonzalez's double with two on offDave Veres to expand their lead to 9–5. Cubs pinch-hitterTroy O'Leary hit a home run in the seventh offJosh Beckett, making the score 9–6. After the Cubs were retired in order in the eighth, Florida closerUgueth Urbina hitAramis Ramírez with a pitch to lead off the ninth inning, but proceeded to retire the following three batters, giving the Marlins their second National League pennant in their 11-year existence, while leaving the Cubs once again empty-handed.^[29]

2003 NLCS(4–3):Florida Marlins overChicago Cubs

Chicago managerDusty Baker, who won the NL pennant in2002 with the San Francisco Giants, fell short in his bid to become the first manager ever to take two different teams to the World Series in consecutive years. He did not return to the LCS until2020 or the World Series until2021 with the Astros, by then his 5th team managed. With the Astros, he finally won a championship as a manager in2022.

Because of the two dramatic League Championship Series, that both went to aseventh game, and a major upset in the World Series, the 2003 postseason was considered one of the most enthralling in MLB history.^[30]

The Cubs were upset again by the Marlins during the2020 Wild Card Series, losing the series in a two-game sweep.

The Cubs implosion in Game 6 only added to theCurse of the Billy Goat lore.Steve Bartman was immediately labeled the reason for their implosion, as the team had a complete meltdown after Bartman reached out to catch a flyball in foul territory, disruptingMoises Alou's potential catch. In the moments following the play, Cubs' fans shouted insults and threw debris at Bartman. For his safety, security was forced to escort him from the ballpark.

Bartman's name, as well as personal information about him, appeared on Major League Baseball's online message boards minutes after the game ended. As many as six police cars gathered outside his home to protect Bartman and his family following the incident. Afterwards, then-Illinois GovernorRod Blagojevich suggested that Bartman join a witness protection program, while then-Florida GovernorJeb Bush offered Bartman asylum.^[31] In the years after the incident, Bartman would live in virtual anonymity. He declined interviews, sponsorships, and request for public appearances.^[32] In 2011,ESPN Films released “Catching Hell”, a documentary about Bartman’s memorable gaffe in the 2003 NLCS. However, like he did for other media opportunities, Bartman had no involvement with the project.

After the Cubs ended their 108-year drought andwon the World Series in 2016, Steve Bartman's name once again came into focus as he received a championship ring from Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and the Ricketts family as a special gift on July 31, 2017. In his statement to the press, Bartman was relieved and hopeful that the saga of the 2003 foul ball incident surrounding himself and his family would finally be over.^[33]

Even in a competitive division such that of theNational League Central, the Cubs figured to be back in the hunt for another shot at the pennant in 2004. The team brought back future Hall of Fame pitcherGreg Maddux (he previously pitched for Chicago from 1986–1992). Many thought his addition, to go along with young starting pitchersMark Prior,Kerry Wood, andCarlos Zambrano, would help resemble the Maddux-led Braves' rotations in the 1990s. However, Prior and Wood both took steps backwards, as they continued to be hampered by injury. In the division, theSt. Louis Cardinals raced off to the division lead and eventual NL Central title, finishing with an MLB's best 105 wins. The Cubs faltered down the stretch and were eventually overtaken in the division and the wild card standings by a surgingHouston Astros team in late September. Despite having a better record than the 2003 team, the2004 Cubs were considered one of the most disappointing teams in franchise history due to not being able to qualify for a postseason spot.^[34]

2003 Marlins'Juan Pierre andDerrek Lee would eventually become Cubs after being traded in two separate trades before the start of the2005 season. Pierre was just in Chicago for a year, but Derrek Lee became a mainstay and a fan favorite there. Lee put up MVP-type numbers in 2005, finishing third that year in the award,^[35] while leading the National League batting average and slugging. He also won thegold glove andsilver slugger awards at first base, being the only Cubs first baseman to accomplish this feat untilAnthony Rizzo did it in2016.^[36]

Kerry Wood andMark Prior never truly regained their form from 2003. After years of battling arm injuries, Prior would pitch his last game in MLB in 2006. Wood suffered similar arm issues and had to move to the bullpen in 2008, where he would find some success as the Cubs closer and later Yankees set-up reliever toMariano Rivera. Wood retired in 2012 at the age of 35. Prior eventually found his calling as a pitching coach for theDodgers since 2018, serving as a bullpen coach his first season and full staff pitching coach since 2019. As a coach, Prior won a World Series in2020,2024, and2025.

• 2003 NLCS at Baseball-Reference

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