Cubs, Marlins Prepare for Game 6

<br>CHICAGO (AP) _ The Chicago Cubs will attempt to make their first World Series trip in 58 years with a win Tuesday night over the Florida Marlins in the NL championship series. <br><br>Mark Prior (18-6)

Tuesday, October 14th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) _ The Chicago Cubs will attempt to make their first World Series trip in 58 years with a win Tuesday night over the Florida Marlins in the NL championship series.

Mark Prior (18-6) will take the mound for Chicago against Carl Pavano (12-13) in what will be more like the Frozen Confines than Friendly Confines _ the forecast is calling for rain, wind and temperatures in the low 40s.

While he waits to see whether his Cubs reach the World Series, Dusty Baker can savor one big win _ with his managing, they've shucked their longtime image as baseball's lovable losers.

Cute cubby bear on their sleeves? Friendly Confines? Warm and fuzzy feel?

Forget it. More like grizzlies than baby bruins, these Cubs.

Prior and Kerry Wood buzz batters, even if it's Barry Bonds. Kenny Lofton knocks down Florida pitcher Mark Redman with a loose elbow. Baker shouts out Tony La Russa.

``What we've been fighting here all year long,'' Baker said Monday with his team ahead 3-2. ``Everytime you lose a game, somebody conjures up something negative in history that happened before.''

A win would give the Cubs a chance to claim their first Series championship in 95 years. Jack McKeon had no good reason for the Cubs' long drought.

``I don't know. I'm not that old. I haven't been following them that long to see what goes on,'' the 72-year-old Marlins manager said Monday.

``There's a lot of luck involved and I don't know whether the hex or the curse in Boston ... I guess if you want to believe that, that's what will happen. So, I hope you all keep believing the hex is still on.''

Baker wants to keep the focus on the field, though he knows a lot of fans will be thinking about the Cubs' past.

``Most of these guys in 1984 _ Kerry Wood in 1984 _ what was he, like 8?'' Baker said. ``Half of this stuff doesn't apply to them. They can't help the fact that they are playing for the Cubs, Dodgers or A's or whoever they are playing for, and they can't help what happened in the past.

``I was watching a game the other night and in between innings this goat kept running across the street. I thought that was the craziest thing I ever saw in my life. Or 1-800 who's curse is the strongest, the goat or the curse of Babe? Man, that's crazy,'' he said. ``You either don't pay attention to it or you laugh at it. Those are the two choices you got.''

Sammy Sosa sure wasn't laughing after a 97 mph from Josh Beckett whizzed past his head Sunday in a 4-0 loss in Game 5. Sosa sprang up, pointing his bat at the young Florida pitcher, and several Cubs rushed to the top of the dugout steps, ready to rumble.

Ernie Banks was Mr. Cub and the ultimate gentleman, entertaining crowds with his call of ``Let's play two!'' But he never made it to the World Series during his Hall of Famer career.

Baker guided San Francisco to the Series last year, losing in Game 7 to Anaheim, and then took over a Cubs team that had gone 67-95. This season, Chicago went 88-74 and won the NL Central.

After the Cubs beat Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs, Baker admitted he did not think the turnaround would be so swift. He said new players and a new staff helped bring success, along with an extremely positive outlook.

``I remember back in my days with the Dodgers, I mean, with Tommy Lasorda, he genuinely believed and he would always tell us, 'You've got to believe it,''' Baker said right before the NLCS. ``I remember when I was going for my 30th home run on the last day of the season, and I had come back to the dugout, and I said, 'I don't think I'm going to do it,' and I must've said it too loud because he heard it.

``He went into this long dissertation about the children of Israel standing by the Red Sea, and they didn't believe and those that didn't believe and fled perished, and those who stayed there and waited for the Lord to deliver them and the sea parted, and I was like before he finished, 'OK, Tommy, I believe.' That next at-bat, I went up against J.R. Richard, my nemesis, and I hit it over the center-field fence.''

So what would a championship represent?

``Oh man, it would mean everything,'' said former star second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who nearly led the Cubs to the World Series in 1984.

``I've heard all the things about being part of a losing organization, that the team can't win at Wrigley Field, that they can't win because of all the day games,'' he said. ``I've heard all those things. This would pretty much erase all those things and say the Cubs are a winning organization.''