NLCS Game 6 at Wrigley evokes Bartman memories

Moises Alou's reaction said it all. Even though the Chicago Cubs still had a three-run lead over the Florida Marlins, and were still five outs away from the World Series when it happened, Alou's apoplexy suggested he knew his team was doomed when Steve Bartman reached out to grab Luis Castillo's floating foul ball in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series

Thirteen years later, Cubs fans can still recount what happened next with gut-wrenching precision. Castillo ended up walking, with Juan Pierre advancing to third base on Mark Prior's wild ball four. Ivan Rodriguez singled to left three pitches later, cutting the Cubs' lead to two. Though Prior was able to induce what appeared to be a tailor-made double play off the bat of Miguel Cabrera moments later, Alex Gonzalez botched it at shortstop, loading the bases for Derrek Lee. He doubled down the left-field line to tie the game. The Marlins would score five more runs that inning, staving off elimination with an 8-3 victory and taking the series with a wild 9-6 win in Game 7.

It's this haunting memory, now the signifier of the Cubs' longstanding futility, that will surely creep into the minds of the 41,268 at Wrigley Field on Saturday night, when the Cubs host the Los Angeles Dodgers in - wait for it - Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, up 3-2 in the best-of-seven showdown.

So, with first pitch only hours away, take this moment to watch the Cubs' spectacular 2003 collapse in full below, with Bartman's infamous play coming around the 7:32 mark.