Take a stroll down memory lane with the 2003 Cubs

[inari]

I stumbled across this video earlier today, I thought you'd all appreciate it.

 

 

Happier times.

[UMFan83]

I wish NSBB still had the threads from the 2003 season. I used to peruse them occasionally. I only started posting during the playoffs, but there were some good memories shared. I wish I could remember what the Game 6 thread was like when "it" happened.

[JoshiQ]

I think a lot of people found NSBB in 2003. Of course, without doing research I'm betting that it's when NSBB was created. I don't like to relive that year though. It just sucks too much.

[NCCubFan]

Of course, without doing research I'm betting that it's when NSBB was created.

Correct. It became available to the general public in April 2003.

[JoshiQ]

Of course, without doing research I'm betting that it's when NSBB was created.

Correct. It became available to the general public in April 2003.

 

Aha, so I guess that was the one good thing that came out of that year. I knew I had found it in 2003, but wasn't sure if there was an older board that maybe got reset in that year.

[evv98]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

[davell]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

I still think the 2004 team was the best team we've had on paper during the Hendry regime.

[inari]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

I still think the 2004 team was the best team we've had on paper during the Hendry regime.

 

Honestly I don't think that's arguable.

[E.J.]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

I still think the 2004 team was the best team we've had on paper during the Hendry regime.

 

Which is sad considering how much the Tribune had spent on payroll year in and year out during the regime. I still remember the SI cover with Kerry Wood and something saying hell had frozen over. :?

[Old Style]

I think a lot of people found NSBB in 2003. Of course, without doing research I'm betting that it's when NSBB was created. I don't like to relive that year though. It just sucks too much.

Couldn't agree more. As great as that season was, the way it ended pretty much ruined all the good memories. That video was depressing to me knowing how close we got.

[UMFan83]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

I still think the 2004 team was the best team we've had on paper during the Hendry regime.

 

Honestly I don't think that's arguable.

 

I'd have to side with 2004, but 2008's team looked pretty good towards the end of the year. I loved the pitching on paper as much as 2004's. Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly, stupid head. Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Clement, Maddux. Offense, the Cubs had a crapload of power in 04, but 08 had much more patience. Lee vs. Lee is a slight adv to '08 Lee. Walker/Grudz vs. DeRosa, adv DeRo. Nomar vs. Theriot, adv Nomar. Ramirez 04 vs. Ramirez 08, slight adv '04 Ramirez. Alou vs. Soriano, adv Alou. Patterson vs. Edmonds, adv Edmonds. Sosa vs. Fukudome, adv slightly Sosa even though he was awful. Barrett vs. Soto adv Soto.

[UMFan83]

I think a lot of people found NSBB in 2003. Of course, without doing research I'm betting that it's when NSBB was created. I don't like to relive that year though. It just sucks too much.

Couldn't agree more. As great as that season was, the way it ended pretty much ruined all the good memories. That video was depressing to me knowing how close we got.

 

That's crazy becuase in 03, losing didn't hurt the memories of getting there, but in 08 when we got swept I still to this day haven't really thought much about the 08 season that got us to the playoffs. I think in 03, the playoff run was a bit unexpected, and plus we felt confident that we'd make it back there in 04 with our rotation, bolstered by the additions of Lee, Hawkins, Barrett and Maddux.

[Outshined_One]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

+1

[Andy]

I joined a week after the playoffs so I could share in the misery. Of course, I thought 2004 would be the year....

 

I still think the 2004 team was the best team we've had on paper during the Hendry regime.

 

Which is sad considering how much the Tribune had spent on payroll year in and year out during the regime. I still remember the SI cover with Kerry Wood and something saying hell had frozen over. :?

The 2004 baseball preview issue that predicted us to win the World Series because we had made "all the right off-season moves".

[Sammy Sofa]

Watching Mark Prior pitch in 2003 actually hurts me in my soul. In all of their crappy history, that's probably the one thing from my lifetime as a fan that just completely ruins my [expletive] day when I see it.

[JoshiQ]

The main thing I remember is Kerry Wood hitting a homerun in game 7. That should have been the defining moment of the series and the thing that people continue to talk about today. But we couldn't hold the lead after Alou's homer and now the thing people remember is all of the crap from game 6.

 

With Wood's homerun it just felt like it was meant to be. But the joke was on us.

[J.R.]

As time has worn on, Game 1 of the NLCS now bothers me more than Game 6. Florida melted in the first inning, but we couldn't capitalize.

 

It should have been a sweep.

[USSoccer]

As time has worn on, Game 1 of the NLCS now bothers me more than Game 6. Florida melted in the first inning, but we couldn't capitalize.

 

It should have been a sweep.

 

This. Z was terrible in that game. What was it, 4-0 after 1?

 

I wish I still had the video of Wood's HR in Game 7. That was a fantastic moment.

[bcl412]

The main thing I remember is Kerry Wood hitting a homerun in game 7. That should have been the defining moment of the series and the thing that people continue to talk about today. But we couldn't hold the lead after Alou's homer and now the thing people remember is all of the crap from game 6.

 

With Wood's homerun it just felt like it was meant to be. But the joke was on us.

 

When Wood hit that home run one of my best friends and I started talking about what we were doing for game 7 of the World Series.

 

F' that stupid series.

[UMFan83]

The stat I'll always remember is that Z only allowed 9 home runs all season in 2003. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he allowed 3 homers in the span of 4 batters. Awful.

[Abe Frohman]

2003 was the greatest and worst season - and more exciting than I can imagine a season being. The Cubs were the best team in the NL in 2008, and the whole season was fun to watch - until the sweep. It didn't compare to 2003, though. Perhaps because it had been a few years since a playoff appearance.

 

Sigh.

[Sosa21MVP]

Maybe I'm just weird but I got over 2003 within a week or so of Game 7. I just felt like that team went on a magical run and overachieved. I enjoyed the ride, hated the end, but end of the day I enjoyed the ride enough to take positive memories away from it rather than dwelling on the choke job at the end.

[Abe Frohman]

Not me. That choke job haunts me to this day. You can't blame Bartman, but their was no overcoming that change in momentum - or whatever the hell you call it. That series was in the bag. Makes me sick now just thinking about the pain....

 

Those two sweeps combined don't even touch the pain that was 2003.

[cl smooth]

it's easier for me to remember specific games in '03 than '08 because i went to 8 or 9 games in '03 (including game 2 of the nlcs) and only 1-2 games in '08. the '03 team was easy to root for since the cubs hadn't assembled a team closely resembling a playoff-caliber club in quite a few years (excluding '01, which hit a wall in mid-late august), so it was a nice surprise to be in the thick of things in september.

 

games that stood out in my mind were:

 

* the 16-inning 1-0 game vs. the astros in late may. i remember going to the mall and waiting outside to use a KIOSK (!!!) to purchase tickets earlier in march. i had two friends with me and they were on their cell phones trying to get through to an operator to purchase tickets. one of them got through and i got 4 tickets to a late may game figuring the weather would be warm...WRONG! 40-45 degrees, overcast, 30-40 mph winds blowing IN...awful! sosa struck out 5 times, was booed from here to madison, alou throwing out lance berkman at home during the 8th or 9th inning to keep the game going and sosa eventually hit the game-winning single for the cubs to win it in the 16th. came home with a crazy throat cold, but it was worth it.

 

* the 5-game series against the cardinals in early september. i believe troy o'leary had the best comment where he said something along the lines of "if you weren't a fan of baseball before this series, you are now." cardinals come into wrigley thinking they are the better team, cubs take 4 out of 5 and st. louis leaves knowing they aren't. so many classic moments from these games...sosa hitting a game-winning home run against jeff fassero, alou going bananas over the foul-line "hit," larussa and baker yelling at each other from the dugouts...i've yet to watch a cubs series after 2003 that had that much excitement.

 

* game 2 of the nlcs. a day before my 21st birthday...a great present! little did i know that the cubs would not win another home game that series. :'(

 

i still have the clincher against the pirates on tape (and eventually dubbed down to a .dv file) along with santo's jersey retirement.

[mul21]

Don't watch his 2007 highlight video. The very last image before fade to black is Ron embracing Kerry and kissing him on the cheek. That got me.