CHICAGO — Waiting 'til next year will never, ever be sopainful for the Chicago Cubs.
Given one final chance to beat the demons of their past and theMarlins, the Cubs couldn't get it done. Kerry Wood failed to holdan early lead and Wrigley Field fell silent as Florida capped itsstunning NLCS comeback with a 9-6 win in Game 7 Wednesdaynight.
Destiny? Fate? The fan in Game 6? Whatever. The Cubs were unableto end their long, strange drought because MVP Ivan Rodriguez,Miguel Cabrera and these remarkably resilient Marlins won theirthird straight game to clinch the National League pennant.
''Nobody expected us to be in the World Series,'' Rodriguezsaid.
The Marlins will head off to face Boston or the New York Yankeesin the World Series starting Saturday night.
In a cruel twist to the Cubs' faithful, Florida will make itssecond Series trip in only 11 years of existence--Chicago has beenabsent since 1945, prompting the team's sad little motto of ''Wait'Til Next Year.''
''We didn't lose the pennant, the Marlins won it,'' Cubs managerDusty Baker said. ''We were close and the Marlins took it from us,it's as simple as that.''
Fittingly, Baker's 4-year-old son Darren added a final word whenhis dad was done talking.
''The Cubs will win next year,'' the little boy said.
Alex Gonzalez provided insurance with a two-run double toleft-center field in the seventh inning for a 9-5 lead. The ballhopped up against the brick wall, covered with ivy that has changedcolors to orange and red.
That poison ivy will certainly be tinged with tears, too.
Even after being shut out in Game 5 by Josh Beckett, Sammy Sosaand the Cubs were in excellent position as they returned home. Butaces Mark Prior and Wood lost on back-to-back days for the firsttime this season and suddenly a sure thing had turned sour.
''Those are two tough guys to beat, I'll tell you what,''Beckett said. ''We got a break. Things work out for a reason, Iguess.''
A sellout crowd of 39,574 minus the infamous Steve Bartman--thefan who deflected a foul ball during the Marlins' eighth-inningrally in Game 6, he was at home with a police guard--had the oldballpark shaking as Wood and Moises Alou homered for a 5-3lead.
But Wood could only flip his glove into the stands when thewild-card Marlins rallied. They scored three runs in the fifth,Luis Castillo added an RBI single in the sixth and then Gonzalezdoubled.
Brad Penny won with an inning of scoreless relief for MarkRedman.
Beckett came out of the bullpen and pitched four innings ofone-hit ball on two days' rest, allowing only a homer bypinch-hitter Troy O'Leary. Ugueth Urbina worked the ninth for asave.
Home teams had won 12 of the last 13 times a postseason serieswent to Game 7. But the Marlins became just the sixth team to everovercome a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series.
Florida has never lost a postseason series in its young history,going 5-0. That includes a thrilling Game 7 victory in 11 inningsover Cleveland for the 1997 title.
At 72, Jack McKeon is the oldest manager to reach the WorldSeries. That seemed farfetched when the Marlins were 19-29 back inlate May, but McKeon, who had replaced the fired Jeff Torborgearlier in the month, somehow steered them this far.
''I told them the first meeting that if they worked hard, they'dbe playing in October,'' he said.
Cabrera and Rodriguez once again played starring roles forFlorida. Cabrera, a 20-year-old rookie, hit his third homer of theseries and drove in four runs while Rodriguez singled home a runthat gave him an NLCS-record 10 RBIs.
Down 5-3 in the fifth, Rodriguez doubled home a run and Cabreratied it with an RBI grounder. Derrek Lee, whose double keyed theeight-run rally in Game 6, followed with a single that put Floridaahead 6-5.
The Cubs had been hoping this would be the year they got achance to win their first Series championship since 1908.
Instead, add this failure to all of their previousdisappointments. That includes wasting a 2-0 lead over San Diego inthe best-of-five NLCS, blowing a late lead in the 1969 NL race andlosing Game 7 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field toDetroit.
Baker was trying to become the first manager in history to leadtwo different teams to the World Series in consecutive years.Rather, he fell short, just as he did last year when his SanFrancisco Giants lost the last two games of the World Series atAnaheim.
At the start, the omens and the offense favored Florida.
Juan Pierre led off the game with a triple that one-hopped offthe right-field wall, and Sosa slipped and fell chasing it.
Rodriguez worked for a full-count walk and Cabrera launched adrive way back into the left-center field bleachers. Rodriguez puthis arm in the air as he circled the bases while a fan threw backthe souvenir.
The homer marked the first time in the NLCS that the Marlins hadscored in the first. And it seemed to stun Wood, who bounced ahalf-dozen pitches in the inning.
But the Cubs were not down for long.
Eric Karros singled to start the second, Alex Gonzalez doubledand Damian Miller had an RBI groundout. That brought up Wood, a bigboy who can swing the bat.
Wood put a charge into a 3-2 pitch, sending a shot into theleft-center bleachers. He never even looked at the ball, droppinghis head as he began his tying trot.
Back in the dugout, Wood worked his way down the bench,exchanging high-fives with everyone. The ballpark was pulsating andone fan heading back to his seat with beers set them down, hugged asecurity guard and slapped hands with other rooters.
Wood, with six career homers in the regular season, kept up hisrecent production at the plate. He had five RBIs this postseason --more than AL All-Star hitters Jason Giambi and Nomar Garciparracombined.
Alou put Chicago ahead 5-3 with a two-run homer onto WavelandAvenue in the third. He also made a couple of neat catches, onceflipping the ball into the seats -- right near the spot that causedso much trouble a day earlier -- after a diving grab that ended thefourth.
Earlier in the game, Chicago's Aramis Ramirez hooked a hard linedrive into the area. The foul ball was a bullet and reached thestands in about a second, but at least one fan sitting there stillyelled out, ''Don't touch it!''
Notes:
O'Leary's homer was the 23rd of the NLCS, the most ever in apostseason series. Seattle and New York hit 22 in the 1995 ALdivision series. ... Rodriguez has gotten a hit in all 11 of theMarlins' postseason games this year. ... Wood was the fourthpitcher to homer in NLCS play, the first since Rick Sutcliffe ofthe Cubs in 1984.
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