Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series presents Mark Prior

A stellar sophomore season (and legacy) is quickly overshadowed in an instant by one fateful, unfortunate occurrence.

After Kerry Wood’s heroic performance in Game 1 of the NLDS that saw him strike out 11 Atlanta Braves in 7.1 innings (adding a 2-RBI double), the Cubs fell short against John Smoltz in Game 2.

A must-see pitching matchup was slated for Game 3 at Wrigley Field, as Prior took on former (and future) Cub, Greg Maddux.  Prior made his first career playoff start a memorable one, outdueling the future Hall-of-Famer, earning a complete game victory, striking out seven, allowing only one run on two hits.

Another solid start for Wood in Game 5 provided the dagger in the perennial playoff staple Braves’ playoff hopes, and the team flew back to Chicago to take on the Florida Marlins.

Prior, again, dazzled in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, tossing seven innings of 3-run baseball, evening the series at one game apiece.

His next start came in Game 6 at Wrigley.  The Cubs were ahead in the series 3-2.  After seven scoreless innings, Prior was cruising and showing no sign of slowing down in this decisive game.  After getting Florida utilityman Mike Mordecai to fly out to Moises Alou in left field, the Cubs leading 3-0, only five-outs from going to their first World Series since 1945.

From there, we all know what happened.  It’s still too painful to relive.  After the unfortunate Bartman situation and Alou’s tirade, Prior was lifted as Baker opted to go to the bullpen.  Kyle Farnsworth entered the game, great defensive shortstop Alex Gonzalez biffed an inning-ending double play, everything came unraveled.

By the time the Cubs finally got out of the inning, they were now trailing Florida, 8-3.  The Cubs would never recover, losing that game and Game 7 and their magical ’03 ended.