Open Mic: Disappointments Overshadow a Historic Run By a Forgotten Champion

Every Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox fan remembers the 2003 season.

For the Cubs, it was the season that everything went so perfectly for such a long time. Everything clicked and they were finally going to break through. For the first time in 95 years, they were going to bring a World Series title to Chicago.

The Cubs had all the pieces put in place that season. They had one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball that year, Mark Prior. In only his second full season, he went 18-6 with a 2.45 ERA and 245 strikeouts to only 50 walks.

Four of their five starting pitchers won at least 13 games and threw over 200 innings. Couple that with a diamond-in-the-rough closer they found named Joe Borowski (33 saves) and three competent setup men (Mike Remlinger, Kyle Farnsworth, and Mark Guthrie) and the team had a pitching staff set to go the distance.

Cubs' management made all the right moves that year as well. They acquired proven veteran assets in Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek and made deadline deals that paid off for the stretch run when they acquired Aramis Ramirez, Randall Simon, and Kenny Lofton.

Yup, the Cubs had it all that year. They won the NL Central with an 88-74 record, and after their pitching shut down the Atlanta Braves in the Divisional Series, they seemed primed for a World Series appearance after taking a 3-1 lead against the Florida Marlins.

Well, you know the rest. Of course you know the rest! One of the most famous baseball stories in recent history is the Cubs collapse after the infamous "Bartman" incident. Prior imploded, shortstop Alex Gonzalez made a costly error, and the Cubs' misfortunes continued.

Enter: 2003 Red Sox. The story of the Sox is much the same as the Cubbies.

The Red Sox had a vaunted pitching staff as well, with Pedro Martinez dominating when healthy and Derek Lowe turning from reject closer into perennial ace.

Their lineup was one of the most feared in baseball with six regulars hitting 25 or more home runs. David Ortiz was entering stardom just as Nomar Garciaparra was playing his last injury-free season of his career.

After winning 95 games and barely losing out to the New York Yankees for AL East supremacy yet again, the Red Sox won their Divisional Series against the Oakland Athletics in dramatic fashion, coming back from down 0-2 to win the series in 5, setting up a series to end-all against the hated Yankees.

In a back-and-forth series, Red Sox Nation seemed poised to finally get over the hump and into the World Series when they took a 3-2 lead into Yankee Stadium when, well, you know what happened. Of course you do!

Grady Little's questionable move, Pedro's loss, Tim Wakefield, and Aaron "$#%$^*" Boone.

Again, a story most sports fans are all too familiar with.

So, Cubs and Red Sox fans may ask, why would I rekindle such a familiar story? To torment the fan bases, perhaps?

No. The reason for bringing up these historic disappointments, instead, is to point out the forgotten champion from said year, the 2003 Florida Marlins.

The 2003 Florida Marlins could have, and perhaps should have gone down as one of the greatest stories in sports this decade. And the reason they haven't is because of the monumental collapses by two teams with arguably the largest fan bases in America.

Sure, it's possible that the horrific ownership the Marlins have suffered with dating all the way back to their 1997 Championship could have a lot to do with the Marlins' place in history, but the faults of their ownership shouldn't prevent fans from remembering such a historic team.

Many Cubs fans may forget but the same Derrek Lee who has become the most beloved Cub since Sammy left town is the same guy who ripped a game-changing double during the doomed eighth inning against Prior.

So many great players made up that team, many of whom are still succeeding in the Majors, albeit with other teams. Future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez spent one season in Florida and was a catalyst for the World Series team.

Red Sox World Series heroes Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell were stars born in South Florida, both playing incredible roles in the World Series run.

Other players have succeeded as well, just not on quite as high of a level as the likes of Beckett and Lowell. The likes of Juan Encarnacion (World Series '06 with the Cardinals), as well as Brad Penny (Dodgers), Juan Pierre (Cubs, Dodgers), Luis Castillo (Twins), and Braden Looper (Cardinals), were all on that Championship team.

It's amazing what can happen when a group of unknown role players click like the '03 Marlins did.

It seems surreal now that the Florida Marlins could have been the best team in 2003. Everyone remembers that year's Cubs and Red Sox teams, as well as the Yankees that the Marlins shocked in the World Series.

But nobody seems to remember the ACTUAL champions from that year, and that, perhaps more so than the meltdowns of the Cubs and Red Sox, is the real disappointment.