Otto: A pair of two-hoppers that changed Cubs history
I was at Wrigley Field for Game 6 in 2003, and there for another Game 6 on Saturday, and the similarities and differences are striking to me.
It has been more than 13 years ago since the Cubs played the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the National League championship series at Wrigley, and we all know how that story turned out. With one out, a runner on first base and a 3-1 Cub lead, Miguel Cabrera hits a two-hop ground ball to Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who couldn't find the handle.
Instead of turning a double play on that ground ball and getting out of that ill-fated inning with the Cubs still leading 3-1, the Marlins would go on to score 8 runs that inning and force a Game 7. They beat the Cubs 9-6 in Game 7, and then won it all against the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Fast-forward 13 years to the ninth inning of Game 6 on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With one out, Carlos Ruiz of the Dodgers hits a foul ball eerily close to an area along the left-field line where Luis Castillo of the Marlins fouled one off 13 years ago.
Ruiz's foul ball wasn't playable, and Ruiz, just like Castillo, eventually coaxed a walk to put a runner on base with one out. This time it was a minor walk with a 5-run lead and Cubs flame-thrower Aroldis Chapman on the mound. Yet, there was that tiny hush inside Wrigley Field, a stadium that hadn't hosted a World Series in 71 years.
Chapman fired one to the next Dodgers hitter, Yasiel Puig, who hit what looked like the same two-hop ground ball that Miguel Cabrera had hit 13 years prior for the Marlins.
This time, however, Addison Russell sucked the ground ball up, flipped it to Javier Baez for the second out, and then Javy fired a missile to Anthony Rizzo for the game-ender, and a new chapter in Cubs history.
I remind every Cubs fan that it's just different this year, because this is a team that makes its own breaks and creates its own history.
When a Cubs player does fail, which is quite often in baseball, there's usually another Cubs player ready to make a play, a pitch or get a hit to pick this team right back up.
This enormously talented Cubs team is about to play a Cleveland Indians team that is talented in its own right, having cruised past its American League opponents this postseason.
Still, I have a strong feeling that the Tribe is about to face an opponent unlike any other they have seen this season.
No more curses. No more waiting. These Cubs are ready to make some history.
• Dave Otto, a standout athlete at Elk Grove High School, pitched from 1987-1994 for four MLB teams, including the Cubs. A former baseball analyst for WGN Radio, FoxSportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Otto also is a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame.