RIP 2000-2009: The Worst Decade EVER For Chicago Cubs Fans

As 2009 comes to a close, many will look back at not only this calendar year in reflection, but also the decade that has just passed.

As I wander back through my memory from this year's New Year's Eve to the beginning of 2000, I see 10 years that stack up as the most depressing decade in the history of the Chicago Cubs.

From the highs of Sammy Sosa to the lows of Milton Bradley, from the hype of Mark Prior to the surprise of Geovany Soto, this decade had it all... well, everything except a championship.

Let's look back at this decade, and when we're done, perhaps we can collectively wipe twice, flush once, and move on to happier times in Chicago Cubs baseball.

2000

Record: 65-97 - Sixth place in the NL Central
Manager: Don Baylor (first year with Cubs)

Where do we begin here?

Sammy Sosa hit 50 home runs and drove in 138 runs. Eric Young stole 50 bases. Mark Grace was the first baseman, and Joe Girardi was the primary catcher.

Jon Lieber was the only Cubs' starter with a winning record, and he was only 12-11. This was the year of Reuben Quevedo, Damon Buford, Willie Greene, Todd Van Poppel, and Ricky Gutierrez.

Looking back at a team that sold the fans on Shane Andrews at third and Rondell White in left heading north from Arizona, it's no shock that this was a last place team.

2001

Record: 88-74 - Third place in the NL Central
Manager: Don Baylor (Second year in Chicago)

Now we're rolling!

Baylor was winning the city over after a 23-game improvement. Sosa was the man again, hopping and kissing his way to 60 home runs, 160 RBI, a .328 batting average, number that are arguably the best for any Cubs player in a single season. And yet he did all of it while watching Barry Bonds win the National League MVP award.

Eric Young stole over 30 bases again, and Jon Lieber won 20 games as the Cubs jumped from last to relevance in the Central. Kerry Wood even came back from another injury to be solid, going 12-6 with 217 strikeouts in 174.1 innings.

2001 also brought us the debut of Carlos Zambrano, the beginning of the Todd Hundley Sobriety Tour, and the Fred McGriff Era. Oh, did I mention Delino Deshields yet?

The depression was for what wasn't in 2001, though. Mark Grace was gone to Arizona after the 2000 season. In early November, Cubs fans everywhere watched Grace get a clutch hit in the final inning of one of the best World Series ever, as the Diamondbacks came back to defeat the dynasty from the Bronx in seven games.

2002

Record: 67-95 - Fifth in the NL Central
Managers: Don Baylor, Rene Lachemann, Bruce Kimm

Yup, this was the infamous Bruce Kimm Year.

2002 was a special year for Cubs fans. Mark Bellhorn become the most prolific switch-hitting home run hitter in the history of the Cubs with 27 home runs...too bad he only knocked in 56. The Crime Dog, when he wasn't pushing Tom Emanski videos at us during the 2 a.m. SportsCenter, drove home 103, and Sammy Sosa was again at the top of the list with 49 homers and 108 RBI.

This season saw the beginnings of Moises Alou, Alex Gonzalez, Corey Patterson, and Matt Clement. It was also the end of Todd Hundley's time with the Cubs, as he was sent to a 12-step program somewhere in Idaho.

We also got to know the greatness of Antonio Alfonseca: Beer gut, 12 fingers, 12 toes, and nine blown saves.

The falloff from the meteoric 2001 saw Baylor fired after 83 games and Kimm after the season. It was too bad, too, because the coals were just getting warm...

2003

I hate myself.

Karma was aligned. This WAS the Cubs year to break The Curse(s). They had the best rotation in baseball, arguably the best offense in the league, and nobody could touch Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.

I got lucky on the phones and somehow, SOMEHOW got tickets to a playoff game that year. It was the first game in Chicago. Prior beat Greg Maddux. I think I wet my pants every time a pitch was thrown and had goosebumps for a week before and after the game. It was 40 degrees and raining, so the teams didn't warm up on the field.

Except a few of the Cubs bullpen guys threw around just before the game started. When they were done, I yelled from my FRONT ROW seat in the left field BLEACHERS all the way down to Joe Borowski, who threw me a ball all the way from third base. I caught it, and gave it to my mom, who's the reason I'm a Cubs fan and was my date that night. She still has it, next to the framed photo of us at the game with the game ticket in the frame.

That photo and ticket: my "Get Out Of Jail Free FOREVER" card.

I HATE 2003.

I hate Dusty Baker, Alex Gonzalez, Luis Castillo, Josh Beckett, and the girl I was dating when the whole thing went south. Miserable... just miserable. They broke my heart worse than any crappy country song could ever do justice. I'm still pissed.

But I hide it well... right?

2004

Two words come to mind here: Epic Collapse.

Dusty Baker officially burned out Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano emerged as the ace of the present and future on Chicago's north side.

This was Year One of the Derrek Lee Era, as he was acquired in one of the most one-sided trades ever (straight up for Hee Seop Choi) just weeks after destroying my inner child as a member of the Marlins.

Aramis Ramirez became the team's top power hitter, Moises Alou had a fabulous final season in Chicago, and Sammy Sosa played with more cork than Sonoma Valley in a year that could have been just as special/miserable as 2003, except karma didn't fail the Red Sox as they broke out of their curses to win it all.

Oh, and I promised myself I would only mention him once, so here it is: Nomar Garciaparra.

2005

Question: What do you get when you replace Sammy Sosa with Jeromy Burnitz?

Answer: Fourth place.

What's the only thing worse than Burnitz? The White Sox winning the World Series.

Pass the Jack Daniels...quick...

2005 was the incredible year of Derrek Lee. The Cubs first baseman hit .335 with 47 home runs and 108 runs batted in, but he was the majority of the Cubs' offense. Aramis Ramirez came back to earth, hitting 31 home runs but only driving in 92 runs.

We barely saw Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior was officially fried by the end of this season. By November of this year, Carlos Zambrano was the ace of the staff without question.

But October in Chicago was all about the incredible run from the White Sox. I was in the city for their parade, and it was special no matter which side of Chicago you loyalties rest on to see a champion baseball team celebrate.

2006

Record: 66-96 - Dead last
Manager: Dust-in-the-wind Baker

I know I bailed on the record-manager part of the show for 2003-05, but I just wanted to be consistent with Baker's handling of the Cubs' pitching staff during his time as Cubs' skipper. Why keep a good thing going when you can WRECK IT?

This was the final year of Baker in Chicago, and the last time in the decade the Cubs finished anywhere below second in the division.

Juan Pierre came in and stole 58 bases, while Aramis Ramirez had a monster season (.298-38-119), but this season was best remembered for the loss of Derrek Lee to a broken wrist early in the season. Coming off an MVP-caliber season, the loss of Lee was something the lineup couldn't handle, and the record reflected it.

Quick roster shout-outs: John Mabry, Phil Nevin, and Freddy Bynum. What's up kids?

On the mound, Carlos Zambrano somehow managed to go 16-7 with a 3.41 ERA on a team that ended the season 30 games under .500. Other than that, though, the pitching staff was hot, steaming garbage.

2007

Record: 85-77 - First in the NL Central
Manager: Lou Piniella

A change on the bench, a healthy roster, and deeper rotation jumped the Cubs from last to first in just one season. With Piniella at the helm and Alfonso Soriano making enough money to buy the entire Magnificent Mile, the Cubs were off to the races.

And then the Arizona Diamondbacks showed up in the first round of the playoffs, and three games later the Cubs were nothing more than Bears fans like the rest of us.

2008

Record: 97-64 - best in the National League
Manager: Lou Piniella

Chicago Bears Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner was apparently calling the offense for the Cubs in 2007 and 2008 because both years were a three-and-out.

2008 brought Kosuke Fukudome to the North Side, and the roller coaster that followed him was ridiculous. He streaked out of the gate and posted himself on the cover of every publication possible, then fell apart in biblical fashion.

But even with Fukudome's epic collapse, the Cubs had everything working for them before the Dodgers blew them out. This team wasn't as good as 2003, but it looked good enough on paper to make a run for a ring.

2009

Record: 83-78 - Second in the NL Central
Manager: Lou Piniella

And then Milton Bradley happened.

How bad did it really get?

How many worst-case scenarios for a fan can there be?

A favorite player leaves town and wins the World Series? Check. Mark Grace won it all in 2001.

Second-longest World Series drought ends? Check. Boston won it all in 2004. And just for good measure, the Red Sox won it all twice.

The OTHER team in Chicago brings home the hardware? Check. The White Sox won it all in 2005.

Most hated in-division rival wins the World Series? Check. St. Louis won it all in 2006.

Another team in the division plays in the World Series for the first time ever? Check. Houston got there and lost to the White Sox.

A former favorite player wins the Series as a manager? Check. Joe Girardi won the hardware in 2009 with the Yankees.

Two teams that didn't exist when Grace broke in with the Cubs, the Marlins, and Rockies, made it to the World Series in the decade, and the Marlins won it.

The Cubs had arguably two of the five best up-and-coming pitchers of the decade, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior and burned them both out. The best offensive player on the team in the decade, Sammy Sosa, was a fraud.

The Cubs got as close as possible in 2003, and it fell apart. They put all their chips on the table with player after player, only to have almost every major free agent brought in fail. Injuries stole the best seasons and the best players from the field when they were needed most, and just the fact that Cubs fans had to endure Bruce Kimm makes me glad we're moving to a new decade.

Thanks to Bartman, Grace, Wood and Prior, Sosa, both sets of Sox and the Cardinals, this the most depressing decade in Cubs history.