focused and I know you can't keep Kenny down for too long. That's why we got Kenny over here. He's a big-game player and he's been great in the playoffs." The Giants held a five-run lead in the seventh inning of game six of the World Series against the Anaheim Angels, but eight outs away from winning the World Series, the Angels rallied to win 6–5. The Angels took game seven the following night, with Lofton flying out to Darin Erstad in center to end that game and the World Series, and for the second time in his career, Lofton had lost a World Series. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Lofton to a one-year, $1.025 million contract to begin the 2003 season. With the Pirates, he hit .277 and stole 18 bases in 84 games before being traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he was reunited with manager Dusty Baker. When Lofton joined the Cubs in July, he was joining a team that just one season before had lost 95 games. "With Kenny Lofton, we got a quality lead-off man", said Cubs general manager Jim Hendry. In 56 regular-season appearances with the Cubs, Lofton stole 12 bases and hit .327. Lofton and the Cubs won the NL Central division (88–74). The Cubs' postseason berth was just the sixth time since the divisional series format was introduced (1969) that a team made the postseason after having lost 95 games or more the previous season. Chicago beat the Atlanta Braves three games to two in the 2003 NLDS. Lofton hit .286 in the series and led the Cubs with three stolen bases and 21 at-bats. The Cubs, who were up in the series three games to one, held a three-run lead in the eighth inning of game six of the 2003 NLCS. The Florida Marlins scored eight unanswered runs, all in the eighth inning, to win game six and won game seven the following night to eliminate the Cubs. Lofton's .323 against the Marlins led the Cubs' starting line-up, as did his 31 at-bats, and he had the team's only stolen base of the seven-game series. Lofton was again on the move when on December 23, 2003, the New York Yankees signed him to a two-year, $6.2 million contract. During a Yankees' road game at Cleveland, Lofton recorded his 2,000th career hit. After Lofton's single, Indians fans began an ovation in honor of