Kerry Wood pitches Chicago to its first playoff series victory since the 1908 World Series.
By Associated Press
Published October 6, 2003
ATLANTA - Ninety-five years of frustration. Ninety-five years of ridicule. Put it all to rest. The Chicago Cubs are postseason winners.
Kerry Wood pitched another dominating game and Aramis Ramirez began the celebration with a mammoth home run, pushing the Cubs past Atlanta 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 Sunday night for their first postseason series victory since the 1908 World Series.
The franchise that endured the College of Coaches and the curse of a goat moves on to play Florida in the NL Championship Series. Game 1 is Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
"We heard a lot of negatives from people, and they have reason to be negative," first-year manager Dusty Baker said. "They haven't had any reasons to be positive for a long time."
They do now. When Andruw Jones struck out swinging on the final pitch, flashbulbs went off around the stadium. Catcher Damian Miller threw his arms in the air, then charged the mound to embrace closer Joe Borowski. Sammy Sosa tore across the grass to high-five his fellow outfielders. Wood, sitting in the dugout, pumped his fist and joined the celebration.
In the stands, Chicago's fans shouted, hugged and derisively performed the "Tomahawk Chop" - the Braves' signature cheer.
"It's unbelievable," said Sosa, who endured a beaning, injured toe and that infamous corked bat in 2003. "For me and everything I've been through, it's one of the great seasons that I've had."
Same for Cubs fans. The last out also set off a wild party outside Wrigley Field.
The Braves suffered another loss in the postseason, going down for the second year in a row in Game 5 of the division series.
Twelve straight division titles have produced only one World Series championship, and the Braves face an uncertain future. Gary Sheffield, Greg Maddux, Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla are in the last year of their contracts.
"We had a terrific year," manager Bobby Cox said. "The ball's got to bounce your way. It just didn't."
Two ex-Pirates helped the Cubs break through in the postseason. Kenny Lofton led off the game with a double and came around to score the first run. Ramirez put the Cubs up 4-0 with a two-run homer in the sixth - a 439-foot shot to center.
Braves pitcher Mike Hampton didn't even turn around after Ramirez connected. With Wood on the mound, the Cubs could have popped the champagne right then.
Wood won for the second time in the best-of-five series, going eight innings. Borowski, an ex-Brave, pitched the ninth.
Chipper Jones led off the Atlanta ninth with a long drive to rightfield but Sosa jumped and caught it at the wall.
