The 2003 World Series was the 100^th time that the championship of Major League   baseball has been won¹. This particular series and post-season was one of the most dramatic and exciting that baseball has ever seen. Through this post-season, baseball once again earned its title as America's past-time.

Note that while baseball is an internationally appealing game, the rule and terms can be confusing. For this, see h2g2's entry on Baseball Basics.

The Pennants

In Major League baseball, there are two leagues - the National League and the American League. In the two leagues, there are post-season games between the best teams to decide which are the two best in each league. Then, those two play each other for the championship of the league (or the Pennant), and moving on to the World Series against the opposing league's Pennant winner. In many ways, the two League Championship Series (LCS) were more exciting and closer than the World Series, which would follow.

American League Championship Series

The Boston Red Sox, led by Grady Little and the New York Yankees, led by Joe Torre advanced to the American League Championship for a shot at the World Series Title. They had both advanced from the Eastern Division - the Yankees had won the division, but the Red Sox, in a close second, were thrown back into the running of the post-season as a wild card. Boston had beaten the Oakland A's with three wins in a five game series.

The Yankees won a four game series against the Minnesota Twins three games to one. In the end, the Yankees had 101 wins and the Red Sox won 95 games. The Yankees would easily make it into the post-season and into the AL Championship, but the Red Sox had to fight against elimination several times.

The American League Championship Series would pit the New York Yankees - the winningest team in Major League Baseball's history, against the Boston Red Sox - their archrival. Baseball fans will know that the Red Sox are supposed to have a curse set on them after the trade of Babe Ruth - their team's best player and one of the best players ever, to the New York Yankees. Before this trade, the Boston Red Sox were the best team in baseball and were rarely beaten by the Yankees. After the trade, and ever since, the Red Sox have rarely been able to beat the Yankees.

For nearly a century, the Yankees and the Red Sox have had one of the fiercest rivals, which has resulted in countless brawls and dramatic moments. Additionally, the two teams had some of the most fanatic fans of the game - both absolutely hate each other's teams. So as you may imagine, this League Championship Series attracted a great deal of attention.

• Game One of the American League Championship was held on October 8, with a crowd of 56,281 at Yankee Stadium. The Sox won five runs to two. It put Boston ahead early in the series.

• Game Two was again at Yankee Stadium and an attendance of 56,295, on October 9th. The Yankees managed to win this game, six runs to two, splitting the series at one win apiece.

• Game Three was on October 11, now at Fenway Park with an attendance of 34,209. The Yankees managed to win this game again, with four runs to the Red Sox's three, giving them a lead for the first time with two wins to one. The entire game was a pitching battle, mostly between future Hall-of-famers Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez. In a controversial play, Pedro Martinez threw a pitch against Karim Garcia, nearly hitting him in the head. This enraged the Yankees and most of the players went out of the dugout to argue and fight, and got the Red Sox worked up as well. In the same inning, when Roger Clemens throw another ball that nearly hit batter Manny Ramirez, the benches were cleared for another classic Yankee-Red Sox brawl. In it, Don Zimmer, a 72 year-old coach for the Yankees, attacked Pedro Martinez, who grabbed him by the head and flipped him. He was not seriously injured, and later simply said 'I have nothing to say. We won the game.'

• Game Four, on October 13, was again at Fenway Park with an attendance of 34,599 people. The Red Sox won the game three runs to two, despite a late home run in the ninth inning. The Yankees simply couldn't seem to hit off of pitcher Tim Wakefield - who was perhaps the Red Sox secret weapon.

• Game Five, on October 14, was a devastating loss for Boston - which simply encountered a streak of bad luck. The Yankees managed a four to two run win. This put New York in a good position, so that all they had to do was win one more game out of two. It put a great deal of pressure on the Red Sox.

• Game Six on October 15, was a very important game, because the Red Sox were facing elimination. This win would give the Yankees the four wins needed for the best of five games series. At Yankee Stadium, with an attendance of 56,277, the Red Sox staved off elimination and won 9-6, which forced a deciding game seven. It was one of the biggest games the teams had played in recent years, and they performed well under pressure. The Yankees had taken the lead in the fourth inning, but a great performance by the Red Sox, which produced 3 runs and kept them in the lead.

• Game Seven on October 15, was one of the most incredible games played in baseball since Game Six of the 1986 World Series. The winner would go on to play in the World Series and win the American League Pennant². It was held at Yankee Stadium to an audience of 56,279.

  By the fourth inning, the Red Sox had taken a commanding lead of four runs to nothing. It looked to many Yankee fans that the Red Sox, their rival, would win in the Bronx. However, in the fourth inning, they managed a run, another in the seventh and three runs in the eighth inning. The Red Sox pitcher, Pedro Martinez was weakening, but Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera (who would be voted Series MVP) was strong. In the eighth, the Red Sox also managed a run, tying the score at 5-5. This game went scoreless past the ninth inning and scoreless in the tenth. But a homer from Aaron Boone gave the Yankees the edge and advanced to the World Series.

Once again, the Red Sox 'Curse of the Bambino' was present, it seemed. The Red Sox had faced elimination several times in the post-season and had been eliminated, but they somehow made it to the League Championship Series. Many broadcasters and sports reporters commented that it was as if the gods of baseball realized that these were the cursed Red Sox! For the Yankees, this was yet another victory, the sixth Pennant under manager Joe Torre and the 39^th Pennant in the history of the team. Once again, those Damn Yankees had triumphed.

National League Championship Series

While the Red Sox and Yankees were playing, an equally, and at times, more dramatic League Championship Series was going on between the Florida Marlins and the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had an equally devastating history of loss³ - winning only one World Series in their long history, they are often called the 'lovable losers'. This Pennant race pitted one of the oldest teams of baseball against one of the newest - and each had only won one World Series in their history.

Cubs manager Dusty Baker was really one of the stars of the series. He had brought the team up to be strong and led them to the NLCS (National League Championship Series). Baker had won three National League Manager of the Year Awards, in 1993, 1997 and 2000 with the San Francisco Giants. He was only recently signed with the Cubs, in 2002, but made a world of difference to the team. The loyal Cubs fans thought they might see their team win for once! Many proclaimed it to be 'Dustiny'.

The Marlins, managed by Jack McKeon, were a new francise to baseball, but had already won the 1997 World Series. They were a dangerous team, and had crept into the Post-Season as a wild card team, after elimination. The Marlins came from behind in almost every aspect of the post-season, and were dubbed the 'comeback kids'. For some strange reason, most of the games that the Marlins won were of the come-from-behind variety.

Many baseball fans wondered if this would be the Cubs' year - and if so, would they face the Red Sox in the World Series? If these two inexorably cursed teams could meet in the World Series, one would have to win - which is basically a paradox in the baseball world.

• Game One was a high-scoring, long lasting, memorable game. 39,567 people watched in Wrigley Field. The Marlins and Cubs were tied at six runs each by the ninth inning, and both scored two runs each in the ninth to put the game into extra innings. The tenth inning was scoreless, but in the eleventh, Mike Lowell came up for the Marlins and hit a ball into centre field, allowing the Marlins to score. The final score was 9-8, with the Marlins taking the lead in the first game of the NLCS. The game set two records for League Championship Play - 17 extra-base hits by one team (the Cubs), four triples and seven homers.

• Game Two was the ultimate revenge for the Cubs. After they narrowly lost Game One, they quadrulpled the score of the Marlins in Game Two. With 16 hits, the Cubs managed 12 runs to the Marlins three in Wrigley field.

• Game Three at Pro-Player Stadium in Miami, Florida before an attendance of 65,115. The teams each scored four runs by the eighth inning, and with a scoreless ninth inning, the game went into extra innings. Usually, the Marlins were able to inexplicably come back from behind, but when Doug Glanville of the Cubs ran in a run in the eleventh inning, the game went to Chicago, 5-4.

• Game Four was again at Pro-Player and with an attendance of 65,829. The Marlins struggled all through the game, managing to score twice in the fifth inning, and once in the eighth inning. The Cubs scored consistently throughout the game, mostly because of a great performance from Aramis Ramirez who collected six RBI. The Cubs won the game 8-3, which meant that they only needed to win once more to advance to the World Series for the first time in more than a half-century! Only three teams in the history of baseball had ever had ever gone to the World Series from a 3-1 game defecit⁴. No one could underestimate the Marlins though - they were a dangerous team.

• Game Five, again in Pro-Player, was a chance for the Marlins to stave off elimination, which they did. The Cubs only managed two hits throughout the game, mostly because of a stellar pitching job from Josh Beckett. They did not manage to score through the entire game. The Marlins, however, with eight hits, made six runs and fought on with the Championship Series. The general concensus amongst Cubs fans was that 'they'll win the next one'.

• Game Six was at Wrigley Field to an audience of 39,577. The Cubs struggled to keep a lead in the early stages of the game. They held a 3-0 lead up until the eighth inning. The Cubs had been keeping the Marlins down though, basically dominating the diamond. The eighth inning was an amazing inning, regardless of what team you were for.

  Marlins manager Jack McKeon said that they were 'supposed to just fall over and play dead', but the Marlins mounted yet another come-from-behind rally late in the game. With one out, Juan Pierre doubled, setting up the next batter Luis Castillo for an RBI. He fouled the ball off along the first row of the stadium seats, and Moises Alou, a Cubs fielder, jumped up to try to catch it. However, in one of the defining moments of the NLCS, a fan⁵ - a Cubs fan - reached out for the ball and hit it away from Alou's glove. It was considered a foul ball, though Alou probably could have caught it if not for the fan. Castillo had another chance to hit, but he was walked.

  After a short pause of amazement by the fans and announcers, Marlins slugger Ivan Rodriguez went up to the plate. He took two strikes, but hit to bring in Juan Pierre for a run. Miguel Cabrera would hit a ball to Chicago's Alex Gonzalez, who could have picked up the ball for an out (or possibly a double play), but errored and let the bases become loaded. Derrek Lee brought in two runs, tying the game, and the bases were loaded again when Mike Lowell was walked. Jeff Conine hit a sacrifice, and gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead. However, another intentional walk set up the Marlins for a three run hit from Mike Mordecai. Juan Pierre hit a single before the Cubs could get their third out. All in all, they collected eight runs in the eighth inning. The Cubs were unable to score again, and the game went 8-3 to the Marlins.

• Game Seven was the deciding game. Each team had three games, and only needed one to advance to the World Series. The Cubs had homefield advantage at Wrigley Field. The Marlins picked up three runs in the first inning, but the Cubs answered back with three runs in the second and two runs in the third. However, the Marlins picked up the lead in the fifth inning, and continued to score in the sixth and seventh innings. Despite a solo run in the seventh, the Cubs lost the game, and thus the Pennant, 9-6. The Marlins would advance to the World Series. The Cubs would 'get 'em next year'.

Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez was voted to be the Series MVP for a .321 Series batting average, and a .607 Series Slugging Average.

Cubs fans were disappointed, to say the least. It seemed cosmically unfair to have one team lose for nearly a century and let an expansion team go to their second World Series in its short history. They were one game away from going to the World Series.

The Marlin fans, however, were ecstatic. Their team was going to go to the 100^th World Series.

The World Series

When the two Pennant Races were finished, two of the most unlucky teams in the major leagues had again been cheated a trip to the World Series⁶. The Marlins and Yankees were to play in the 2003 Fall Classic.

• Game One was on October 18, at Yankee Stadium to an audience of 55,769 people. The Marlins took an early lead with one run in the first inning, but the Yankees came back with a run in the third. The Marlins managed two runs in the fifth, giving them a comfortable lead. In the sixth inning, Bernie Williams tied a record held by Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson for the most post-season home runs by hitting a solo homer that would bring the Yankees into a comeback range. However, that would be the last run of the game, and the Marlins would end up winning the game 3-2, despite the Yankees having two more hits than them.

• Game Two was the next day, again at Yankee Stadium. The Marlins fell behind early, as they often do, and Yankees fans were nervous at the possibility of the Marlins coming back. However, it seemed that the Marlins buried themselves too far down, and couldn't seem to score, and the Yankees collected runs in the first, second and fourth innings. The Marlins would only make one run, in the ninth inning. The Yankees easily pulled off a 6-1 victory to level out the games won 1-1.

• Game Three on a rainy night on October 21, another dissapointment for the Marlins came - despite them having home field advantage. The game was tied 1-1 until late in it, when Derek Jeter got a run and broke the tie. Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina held the Marlins to one run, while the Yankees went on to get six total runs. This gave the Yankees a strong advantage in the rest of the series.

• Game Four, again in Pro Player Stadium was a fairly exciting game. For one thing, it would be the final start of the legendary Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens. For another thing, the game went 12 innings. The game was tied 3-3 through the ninth inning until Marlins Shortstop Alex Gonzalez ended the game with a homer in the 12th inning, after a remarkable Yankee rally to stay alive in the ninth inning.

• Game Five started with the Yankees' David Wells on the pitchers' mound. However, after only the first inning, Jose Contreras had to replace Wells, who was suffering from back problems. Without Wells, the Yankees were unable to stop the Marlins from scoring three runs in the second inning, a run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth. The Yankees were able to score in the first and seventh, but even a two run rally in the ninth inning was not enough to stop the Marlins from claiming Game Five 6-4. This also let the Marlins gain the Series lead for the first time since Game One.

• Game Six would be a very important game for the Yankees. If the Marlins won it, then they would win it all. If the Yankees won it, they would advance to the all-important Game Seven. There was a lot of pressure on both teams. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Josh Beckett of the Marlins threw a five hit shutout with nine strikeouts. The Yankees were unable to score, but the Marlins scored two, winning them the World Series. Josh Beckett was voted World Series Most Valuable Player.

The Marlins defeated the powerful Yankees, also defeating a strong tradition and a powerful team. Their manager, Jack McKeon would also win Manager of the Year, and of course, every member of the team would receive World Champion rings.