Cubs 2003 Season-Game 30
From Sports Library
Rockies 6, Cubs 4
- WP: Justin Speier (2-0)
- LP: Mark Guthrie (0-2)
- Save: Jose Jiminez (7)
May 3rd, 2003
Wrigley Field
In this game, the Cubs carried a one-run lead into the 8th inning. Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, who had connected for his first major-league homerun as a hitter earlier, had stood in line for the victory.
Leading off the eighth inning for Colorado was pinch hitter Mark Sweeney. During the at-bat Sweeney lifted a foul ball down the left-field line. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou ran in to make the catch. Approaching the wall, Alou decided to slide and try to make a basket catch. However, a fan reached onto the field and deflected the pop foul and Alou slid past it. Sweeney eventually walked, and would come around to score the tying run. Later in the inning, Preston Wilson delivered a two-out, two-run homerun, and the Rockies had come back to beat the Cubs.
Trivia
The incident with the fan and the foul ball would be replayed over 5 months later in a more significant setting--the sixth game of the NLCS. Even though both instances of fans reaching for foul balls appeared to have an impact on the outcome of each game, the fan in this regular season game luckily avoided the fate of the fan in the playoff game--later identified as Steve Bartman.
The Cubs would eventually win the National League Central by one game. It is not difficult to grasp the irony that, had they somehow missed the playoffs by one game, that nobody would have readily recalled the fan who reached for the ball and yet, when they were eliminated 5 months later, Bartman's name became synonymous with the Cubs' collapse;.
External Links
Game information and recap courtesy of USA Today
