Chicago ? Dusty Baker did his best to change attitudes and turn the Chicago Cubs into winners in his first season as their manager.

They won their first division title since 1989 by taking the NL Central on the final weekend of the season, and followed that by beating Atlanta to capture their first playoff series in 95 years.

But what the 2003 season will be remembered for most is the stunning collapse in the NLCS — especially in Game 6 — that prevented the Cubs from making their first World Series since 1945.

Leading three games to one against the Marlins, the Cubs dropped three straight, including the final two at Wrigley Field with aces Mark Prior and Kerry Wood on the mound.

The eighth inning of Game 6 will join the loser’s lore that has surrounded the Cubs for nearly a century.

Leading 3-0, a mere five outs away from the World Series, a fan deflected a foul fly away from Moises Alou’s glove on a play that could have been the second out of the inning.

From there, a walk, a wild pitch and an unthinkable error by surehanded shortstop Alex Gonzalez helped the Marlins to eight runs.

The next night in Game 7, the Cubs let a 5-3 lead get away with Wood pitching and once again, it’s “Wait ’til next year.”

“Hopefully we can keep this team together because this is a very good team,” said Alou, who refused to blame the fan’s meddling for the team’s demise.

Cubs manager Dusty Baker signs autographs Thursday outside Wrigley Field in Chicago.

“That play didn’t cost us the series. Hopefully when we win next year, everybody will forget about that.”

But they won’t, especially the legions of faithful fans who feel they were undone by the actions of one of their own. It’s a heartbreak that followers and players will have to deal with the entire offseason.

“We couldn’t close the deal in three games. It’s definitely not something you can go home and be happy about, having a lead like that,” Gonzalez said.

“We’re all taking it hard right now,” pitcher Matt Clement said.

The Cubs overcame their share of distractions and injuries during an emotional season that featured a September screaming match between Baker and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and an earlier brawl with the Reds.

The biggest sideshow came in June, when Sammy Sosa’s bat broke during an at-bat against Tampa Bay, revealing cork.

Sosa, who earlier had been beaned and made a trip to the disabled list to have a nail taken off his toe, was suspended for seven games.

He was greeted with derisive cheers and signs all over, except at Wrigley Field.

Sosa still finished with his sixth straight 40-homer season and ninth straight year of 100 RBIs. He has a $72 million, four-year contract that runs through 2005, but he has the right to end the deal after this season and become a free agent.