Last Friday began as an idyllic day at Wrigley Field. The wind wafted off the lake straight in from center field, putting a chill in the shadowy corners of the Friendly Confines, but otherwise it seemed the sort of afternoon that baseball was invented for. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, just the feathery wisps of jet contrails. The sun beamed down on the Cubs as they took batting practice, and as the gates opened and the fans began to fill the stands, organist Gary Pressy announced his presence with the fitting “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever).”
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Then Mark Prior emerged from the Cubs dugout, and in an instant the day’s bucolic atmosphere changed. Maybe that’s not quite right: There was an added intensity, an almost tangible expectation one could sense from the moment one entered the stadium–from the moment one neared the stadium. The crowds were gathering to greet Prior’s first start of the year. It was two months into the season, and Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood had since joined him on the disabled list. Prior was noticeably absent during batting practice, not even taking his turn for a few bunts in the cage. No doubt he was preparing himself mentally and physically for his official comeback from an Achilles tendon problem that led to a tender elbow during spring training, but he was also averting reporters’ questions about an ill-advised autograph session–scheduled months in advance–that had gone awry the previous night in Naperville.
In any case, as Prior walked down the left-field line to the bullpen, followed by a rising wave of applause and shouts all down the grandstand, he showed no sign that anything was bothering him. Cap pulled, as usual, menacingly low on his forehead, with only a rubber sleeve on his right elbow to suggest anything remotely amiss, he gave every indication that it was business as usual.
Though Prior had no decision to show for his splendid comeback, the Cubs could have salvaged a win. They finally struck with two-out thunder in the eighth, as Alou doubled to left and, after an intentional walk to Ramirez, came home on a single up the middle by Hollandsworth. But Borowski came on in the ninth and he had nothing. Kendall smashed one into the left-center gap only to see Alou make a terrific diving stab, but that was as good as it would get for Borowski and the Cubs on this day. Jack Wilson yanked a curve down the left-field line for a double, and–after Daryle Ward popped out to bring the end of the game tantalizingly close–Craig Wilson mashed a liner to left. Alou tried to make another deadeye throw to the plate, but this one was up the first-base line and Jack Wilson scored, with Craig Wilson taking second. Borowski was yanked–more boos from the newly intolerant fans–and would be placed on the disabled list with a gimpy shoulder before the weekend was out. Mike Remlinger came on and gave up a single to pinch hitter Chris Stynes that scored Craig Wilson; it was the winning run, for the Cubs went tamely in the bottom of the ninth. Prior’s incredible return was for naught.
