On October 14, 2003, the Florida Marlins faced elimination and were losing in the eighth inning until one moment changed everything.
On the road with their backs against the wall, the Marlins trailed 3-0 in the game with only five outs to go. It seemed that a magical run to the World Series would not be in the cards for Florida. After all, the Chicago Cubs had Mark Prior on the mound and he was dazzling that evening.
The first out of the eighth inning was an innocent fly out by Mike Mordecai. He would later become a major part of the winning rally. After that first out, Juan Pierre doubled which set up the now infamous moment in baseball history. The next batter due to the plate was Luis Castillo with the Marlins still down three and with only one man on base.
Castillo hit a fly ball to left field that went towards the stands but was seemingly playable for left fielder Moises Alou. That was until a fan named Steve Bartman reached for the ball along with several other fans. The ball made contact with Bartman and hindered Alou's ability to make the play. Alou fought for fan interference but the umpiring crew ruled that the ball was in the stands and therefore not interference.
With the ruling of a foul ball, the at-bat continued for Castillo and he eventually walked. The Marlins would go on to score eight runs in the inning including a three-run double off the bat of Mordecai. What is often overlooked in this inning is the fact that the Cubs were sloppy in their own right.
Following the Bartman incident, Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez committed an error which played a pivotal role in the rally. Following the incident, the Cubs still held a three-run advantage and still only needed those five outs. It was as if the Cubs had allowed the foul ball to get into their heads however. The inning spiraled out of control and Prior would go from dominant to out of the game in a hurry.
Even after the Marlins won the sixth game of the series, the Cubs had home-field advantage for a decisive seventh game. The Marlins would go on to win that game as well on the way to their second World Series. In that deciding game, the Marlins beat Kerry Wood who at the time was one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball.
Sports
11 years have come and gone since the Bartman incident and in those seasons, both the Marlins and Cubs have seen a lot of losses. The Marlins have not returned to the playoffs since that season while the Cubs have gone twice but were swept in both visits.
