The
2001 World Series (the
"November Series") took place between the
Arizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
and the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
. The Diamondbacks won the best-of-seven series four games to three. The Series featured two extra-inning games and three late-inning comebacks. It ended on a Game 7 walk-off hit (the first since
Edgar RenteríaEdgar Enrique Rentería is a Major League Baseball shortstop for the San Francisco Giants. He is also the first Colombian to play in the World Series.-Marlins and Cardinals:...
's in
1997The 1997 World Series featured the Cleveland Indians, who were playing in their second World Series in three years. Their opponents were the Florida Marlins, who had set a record by reaching the Series in only their fifth season. The Marlins were underdogs, but they capped a stunning season by...
), in the form of a bloop single off the bat of Luis Gonzalez.
This was the first World Series ever played in the state of Arizona, while it was the third World Series Game 7 to end on a hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the final inning (
Florida MarlinsThe Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
1997The 1997 World Series featured the Cleveland Indians, who were playing in their second World Series in three years. Their opponents were the Florida Marlins, who had set a record by reaching the Series in only their fifth season. The Marlins were underdogs, but they capped a stunning season by...
,
Minnesota TwinsThe Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. They have played in the Hubert H...
,
1991The 1991 World Series was played between the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Atlanta Braves of the National League between October 19 and October 27, 1991. The Series was, in some respects, similar to the 1987 World Series also played by the Minnesota Twins , most notably in that...
). As of 2009, this is the last World Series in which the
National LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league...
had home-field advantage, as they have yet to clinch it under the current
All-Star GameThe Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
format. This was the last World Series not to feature a
wild cardThe term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...
team until
2008The 2008 World Series was the 104th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as champions of the National League and the Tampa Bay Rays, as American League champions, competed to win four games out of a possible...
.
Randy JohnsonRandall David Johnson , nicknamed "The Big Unit", is a left-handed Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Over a 21-year career, Johnson has played for 6 different teams, and currently pitches for the San Francisco Giants....
and
Curt SchillingCurtis Montague Schilling is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in and has won World Series championships in with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in and with the Boston Red Sox...
were the Co-MVP's of the 2001 World Series. Both combined for a 4–0 record and a 1.40 ERA, striking out 45 Yankees in innings.
Background
The Arizona Diamondbacks, breaking a record previously held by the
Florida MarlinsThe Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, reached the Series in just their fourth season of existence, and took on the three-time defending champion New York Yankees, who were trying to become the first team to win four straight titles since the Yankees' five consecutive titles from 1949 to 1953. Additionally, the Series would be taking place in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
only seven weeks after the
September 11, 2001 Terrorist AttacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, representing a remarkable boost in morale for the fatigued city. Arizona captured the Series, four games to three, thereby dethroning the defending World Champions and earning their first title. The Diamondbacks win also ended the tongue-in-cheek "Curse Of The Balboni." In 1985,
Kansas City RoyalsThe Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
player
Steve BalboniStephen Charles Balboni is a retired Major League Baseball player with the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, and Texas Rangers. He was a player with home run power and a tendency to strike out. He was nicknamed "Bye Bye" because of his home run hitting prowess...
set a team record with 36 home runs, and the Royals went on to win their first World Series. Since that time, no team who had employed a 36+ home run player had won the World Series. The Diamondbacks' Luis Gonzalez, with his 57 regular-season home runs, helped the team break the "curse".
Arizona won the first two games at home handily, but New York won the next three in close contests in Yankee Stadium, including two dramatic ninth-inning comebacks against Arizona closer
Byung-Hyun KimByung-Hyun Kim a.k.a BK is a retired right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks , Boston Red Sox , Colorado Rockies , and Florida Marlins .Usually described as a submarine pitcher, Kim is a side-arm and under-arm hard thrower who uses a great variety of...
. Arizona won the sixth game behind Randy Johnson, who then came in to pitch in relief of Curt Schilling in Game 7. The Diamondbacks won the game 3–2, with Jay Bell scoring the winning run on a bloop single by Luis Gonzalez, in the bottom of the ninth inning off the Yankees' ace closer,
Mariano RiveraMariano Rivera is a Panamanian professional baseball player who has spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Mo", the right-handed Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his career...
.
The home team won every game in the Series. This had only happened twice before, in
1987The 1987 World Series, in which the Minnesota Twins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, was the first World Series in which the home team won all seven games. This also happened in 1991 and 2001. The World Series victory by the Twins was the first for the franchise since 1924, when the team was...
and
1991The 1991 World Series was played between the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Atlanta Braves of the National League between October 19 and October 27, 1991. The Series was, in some respects, similar to the 1987 World Series also played by the Minnesota Twins , most notably in that...
; in both cases, the
Minnesota TwinsThe Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. They have played in the Hubert H...
won the Series. This was also, until
2008The 2008 World Series was the 104th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as champions of the National League and the Tampa Bay Rays, as American League champions, competed to win four games out of a possible...
, the most recent World Series to feature two division winners—all the Series from 2002 through 2007 have featured at least one of the two Wild Card qualifiers.
This Series was also the subject of an HBO documentary
Nine Innings from Ground Zero in 2004.
Despite the closeness of the Series overall, the Diamondbacks outscored the Yankees 37–14 over the entire Series, as a result of large margins of victory achieved by Arizona in Bank One Ballpark relative to the one run margins at Yankee Stadium.
In addition to breaking the "Curse of The Balboni", Luis Gonzalez helped put an end to the so-called "
Ex-Cubs FactorThe Ex-Cub Factor is a seemingly spurious correlation that is essentially a corollary to the Curse of the Billy Goat. Widely published in 1990, the hypothesis asserts that since the last appearance by the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series, any baseball team headed into the World Series with...
" jinx. The D-backs not only defied that "jinx" to win the Series, but two of the three ex-Cubs (Grace and Gonzalez) actively participated in the Series-winning rally.
September 11 and the month of November
Due to the postponement of games in September as a result of the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, the World Series began Saturday, October 27, 2001, the latest start date ever for a World Series. The Series went seven games, the last three of which were the first major-league games (other than exhibitions) played in the month of November. This was just the fourth time that no World Series champion was decided within the traditional month of October. The previous three occurrences were in
1904The 1904 World Series was a championship series that never occurred in Major League Baseball. The Boston Americans repeated as American League champions in and the New York Giants won the National League championship.-Background:...
(no series),
1918The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, going back to 1903.The 1918 Series was played under several metaphorical dark clouds...
(series held in September due to
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
), and
1994The 1994 World Series was canceled on September 14 of that year due to an ongoing strike by the Major League Baseball Players Association, which had begun on August 12...
(no series due to work stoppage).
Summary
Game 1
Saturday, October 27, 2001 at
Bank One BallparkChase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game after coming to Arizona as an expansion team...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
Arizona showed no fear and chased Yankee's starter
Mike MussinaMichael Cole Mussina , nicknamed Moose, is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He played for the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees ....
after just three innings. The Yankees gave up five unearned runs and the Diamondbacks rode Curt Schilling's seven strong innings to a 9–1 rout.
Craig CounsellCraig John Counsell is a Major League Baseball infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has played for the Brewers , Arizona Diamondbacks , Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Counsell grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and went to Whitefish Bay High School, where he...
homered off Mussina in the first and Luis Gonzalez homered in the third, drove in two runs, and scored twice. Although the Yankees scored one run in the first, they were only able to get three hits.
Game 2
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at
Bank One BallparkChase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game after coming to Arizona as an expansion team...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
Arizona continued to take control of the Series behind the arm of Randy Johnson. The Big Unit pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only four baserunners and three hits while striking out eleven Yankees. Matt Williams hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Yankee starter
Andy PettitteAndrew Eugene Pettitte is an American left-handed starting pitcher for the New York Yankees.In his major league career, he played for the Yankees from –. He then signed with the Houston Astros, and played for them from through . In , Pettitte rejoined the Yankees...
as Arizona won 4–0 and took a commanding two games to none lead as the Series headed to New York City.
Game 3
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
The game was opened in New York by President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
, who threw out the
ceremonial first pitchThe ceremonial first ball is a longstanding ritual of American baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from his/her place in the grandstand to the pitcher or catcher of the home team...
, a strike to Yankees backup catcher
Todd GreeneTodd Anthony Greene is a former Major League Baseball catcher. In an 11 year career, he played for the Anaheim Angels , Toronto Blue Jays , New York Yankees , Texas Rangers , Colorado Rockies , and San Francisco Giants...
. Bush became the first sitting President to throw out a World Series first pitch since
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
in
1956The 1956 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the New York Yankees and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers during the month of October 1956. The Series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series...
. He also threw it from the mound where the pitcher would stand (unlike most ceremonial first pitches which are from in front of the mound) and threw it for a strike. Chants of
"U-S-AThe U-S-A! cheer is a chant that was first popularized after being yelled by fans during the 1980 Winter Olympics, held in Lake Placid, New York, USA, where the US men's ice hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in what became known as the "Miracle on Ice", later moving on to beat Finland for the...
, U-S-A" rang throughout Yankee Stadium. Yankees starter
Roger ClemensWilliam Roger Clemens, aka "The Rocket" is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, two more than any other pitcher. He played for 13 consecutive seasons in Boston, more than half of his career. In , he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays...
allowed only three hits and struck out nine in seven innings of work. Yankees closer
Mariano RiveraMariano Rivera is a Panamanian professional baseball player who has spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Mo", the right-handed Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his career...
pitched two innings for the save.
Scott BrosiusScott David Brosius is a former Major League Baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
broke a sixth inning tie with an RBI single to left. The Diamondbacks wasted a great outing from starter
Brian AndersonBrian James Anderson is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Kansas City Royals, posting a career ERA of 4.74. He is also noted for having a great pickoff move. Anderson attended Wright State University...
by committing three crucial errors (two in the fourth, one in the sixth) and running themselves out of the first inning.
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
Arizona manager
Bob BrenlyRobert Earl Brenly is a former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball and a current broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs alongside Len Kasper. Brenly is the color commentator for Cubs baseball on WGN and Comcast SportsNet.-Early life:Bob Brenly attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and was a...
took a gamble and started
Curt SchillingCurtis Montague Schilling is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in and has won World Series championships in with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in and with the Boston Red Sox...
on three days' rest. It worked as Schilling pitched seven strong innings and left the game with a 1–1 tie. The Diamondbacks took a 3–1 lead in the top of the eighth on an
Erubiel DurazoErubiel Durazo Cárdenas is a Mexican baseball player. Durazo played for the New York Yankees Triple-A team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in ....
double and a fielder's choice, which prompted Brenly to bring in closer
Byung-Hyun KimByung-Hyun Kim a.k.a BK is a retired right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks , Boston Red Sox , Colorado Rockies , and Florida Marlins .Usually described as a submarine pitcher, Kim is a side-arm and under-arm hard thrower who uses a great variety of...
for a two inning save. Kim, at 22, became the first Korean-born player to play in the World Series. Kim struck out the side in the eighth, but the Yankees began their comeback in the ninth. First, Jeter tried bunting, but was out by one step. Then Paul O'Neill lined an opposite-field single in front of left fielder Luis Gonzalez. After Bernie Williams struck out,
Tino MartinezConstantino "Tino" Martinez is a retired first baseman in Major League Baseball.Martinez was the 1st round draft pick for the Seattle Mariners in out of the University of Tampa where he starred during his time on campus. He began his Major League career in and has played for the Mariners, New...
hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Kim over the right-center field wall, tying the game 3–3. Brenly stuck with his closer as the game headed into extra innings. When the scoreboard clock in Yankee Stadium passed midnight, World Series play in November began. Derek Jeter
hit an opposite field walk-off home run on a 3–2 pitch count from Kim. This walk-off home run gave the Yankees a 4–3 victory and tied the Series at two, making Jeter the first player to hit a November home run and earning him the tongue-in-cheek nickname of "
Mr. NovemberDerek Sanderson Jeter is an American professional baseball player. He is a Major League Baseball shortstop who has played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He has served as the Yankees' team captain since 2003...
."
Game 5
Thursday, November 1, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
For Game 5, Brenly started
Miguel BatistaMiguel Descartes Batista Jerez is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners and author.-Arizona Diamondbacks:...
, who pitched a strong scoreless innings. Mussina bounced back from his poor Game 1 start, but allowed solo home runs to
Steve FinleySteven Allen Finley is a free agent Major League Baseball outfielder.-Early life:Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984–87.-College,...
and
Rod BarajasRodrigo Richard Barajas is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He came up to the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks in .-Minor league career:...
in the fifth. With the Diamondbacks leading 2–0 in the ninth, Brenly again went to his closer, and for the second night in a row Byung-Hyun Kim failed to hold the lead.
Jorge PosadaJorge Rafael Posada Villeta is a Major League Baseball catcher who plays for the New York Yankees. He is a switch hitter, and has been on five All-Star teams over his 15-year career....
doubled to open the inning, but Kim retired the next two batters. Then, with two outs in the ninth
Scott BrosiusScott David Brosius is a former Major League Baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
hit a 1–0 pitch over the left field wall to tie the game at two. Yankee Stadium erupted after the Brosius home run, fans were literally rolling in the aisles. For the second straight night, the game went into extra innings following a ninth inning home run and the Yankees won it in the twelfth when
Alfonso SorianoAlfonso Soriano is a professional Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs....
knocked in
Chuck KnoblauchEdward Charles "Chuck" Knoblauch is a retired Major League Baseball player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in the majors, from until , for the Minnesota Twins , New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals...
with a base hit off
Albie LopezAlbert Anthony "Albie" Lopez was a pitcher who played for several teams in Major League Baseball. He graduated from Mesa Community College. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 20th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft...
. New York went ahead three games to two in the series as the teams headed back to Arizona. In the top of the ninth inning, with the Yankees down 2–0, Paul O'Neill (retiring after the series) was serenaded by Yankees fans chanting his name in unison.
Game 6
Saturday, November 3, 2001 at
Bank One BallparkChase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game after coming to Arizona as an expansion team...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
With Arizona in a must-win situation, the Diamondbacks provided Randy Johnson all the offense he would ever need. Johnson struck out seven in seven innings of work, giving up just two runs. The Diamondbacks rocked Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for six runs after two innings and nine more runs against reliever
Jay WitasickGerald Alphonse "Jay" Witasick, Jr. is a free agent Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his major league debut on July 7, as a member of the A's versus the California Angels...
in one and a third innings before
Randy ChoateRandol Doyle Choate is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays.-High school years:Choate attended Churchill High School in San Antonio, Texas and was a letterman in baseball.-Pro career:...
and
Mike StantonWilliam Michael Stanton is a former left-handed specialist relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who enjoyed success over his career, most notably with the New York Yankees. Stanton currently coaches high school baseball and is the head baseball coach at Don Bosco Prep...
kept them scoreless for the rest of the game. They hit six doubles and
Danny BautistaDaniel Bautista Alcántara is a former MLB baseball outfielder. He is more commonly known as Danny Bautista....
went 3-for-4 with five RBIs. They set a World Series record with 22 hits and handed New York its most lopsided loss in 293 postseason games. The 15–2 win evened the series at three games apiece and set up a Game 7 for the ages between Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, again pitching on three days' rest.
Sunday, November 4, 2001 at
Bank One BallparkChase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game after coming to Arizona as an expansion team...
in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
It was a matchup of two twenty-game winners in the Series finale that would crown a new champion. Clemens at 39 years old became the oldest Game 7 starter ever. Schilling had already started two games of the Series and pitched his 300th inning of the season on just three days' rest. The two aces matched each other inning by inning and after seven full, the game was tied at 1–1. The Diamondbacks scored first in the sixth inning with a
Steve FinleySteven Allen Finley is a free agent Major League Baseball outfielder.-Early life:Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984–87.-College,...
single and a
Danny BautistaDaniel Bautista Alcántara is a former MLB baseball outfielder. He is more commonly known as Danny Bautista....
double (Bautista would be called out at third base). The Yankees responded with an RBI single from
Tino MartinezConstantino "Tino" Martinez is a retired first baseman in Major League Baseball.Martinez was the 1st round draft pick for the Seattle Mariners in out of the University of Tampa where he starred during his time on campus. He began his Major League career in and has played for the Mariners, New...
, which drove in
Derek JeterDerek Sanderson Jeter is an American professional baseball player. He is a Major League Baseball shortstop who has played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He has served as the Yankees' team captain since 2003...
. Brenly stayed with Schilling into the eighth, and the move backfired as
Alfonso SorianoAlfonso Soriano is a professional Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs....
hit a solo home run on an 0–2 pitch. After Schilling got one out, he gave up a single to
David JusticeDavid Christopher Justice is a former outfielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , and Oakland Athletics .-Early life:David is the son of Robert and Nettie Justice...
, and he left the game trailing 2–1. Brenly brought in
Miguel BatistaMiguel Descartes Batista Jerez is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners and author.-Arizona Diamondbacks:...
to get out
Derek JeterDerek Sanderson Jeter is an American professional baseball player. He is a Major League Baseball shortstop who has played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He has served as the Yankees' team captain since 2003...
and then in an unconventional move, brought in the previous night's starter Randy Johnson, who had thrown 104 pitches, in relief to keep it a one-run game. It proved to be a smart move, as Johnson retired all four Yankees he faced.
With the Yankees ahead 2–1 in the bottom of the eighth, manager
Joe TorreJoseph Paul Torre is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a former Major League Baseball player. He played for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Upon his retirement as a player, he later managed all three teams.Torre also managed the New York Yankees...
turned the game over to his ace closer
Mariano RiveraMariano Rivera is a Panamanian professional baseball player who has spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Mo", the right-handed Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his career...
for a two-inning save. Rivera was one of the strongest closers in the game, and had pitched brilliantly throughout the postseason up to that point. Rivera struck out the side in the eighth, including Arizona's sluggers Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, and Danny Bautista, which lowered his ERA in the postseason to a major league-best of 0.70. Although he was sharp in the eighth, this game would end in the third ninth-inning comeback of the Series.
Mark Grace led off the inning with a single to center on a 1–0 pitch. The real turning point was Rivera's errant throw to second base on a bunt attempt by Damian Miller on an 0–1 pitch, putting runners on first and second. Derek Jeter tried to reach for the ball, but got tangled in the legs of pinch-runner
David DellucciDavid Michael Dellucci is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.Dellucci graduated from Catholic High in Baton Rouge in 1991. He earned the team's Most Valuable Player honors in both baseball and football, and also earned All-State honors for baseball...
, who was sliding in an attempt to break up the double play. Rivera appeared to regain control when he fielded
Jay BellJay Stuart Bell is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and second baseman who played for the Cleveland Indians , Pittsburgh Pirates , Kansas City Royals , Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets .Bell maintained his reputation as one of the best shortstops in the 1990s...
's bunt and threw out Dellucci at third base, but third baseman
Scott BrosiusScott David Brosius is a former Major League Baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
decided to hold the ball instead of throwing to first to attempt to complete the
double playIn baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action...
. Midre Cummings was sent in to pinch-run for Damien Miller. With Cummings at second and Bell at first, the next batter,
Tony WomackAnthony Darrell Womack is a former second baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball recognized for his speed and base-stealing prowess and his game-tying hit in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 in the 2001 World Series...
, drove a double down the right-field line on a 2–2 pitch that evened the score and blew the save. Bell went to third and the Yankees pulled the infield and the outfield in as the potential winning run stood at third with less than two outs. After Rivera hit
Craig CounsellCraig John Counsell is a Major League Baseball infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has played for the Brewers , Arizona Diamondbacks , Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Counsell grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and went to Whitefish Bay High School, where he...
with an 0–1 pitch, the bases were loaded. The winning run would be batted in with a gentle tap over the drawn-in infield. On an 0–1 pitch, Luis Gonzalez lofted a soft single over Derek Jeter that barely reached the outfield grass, plating Jay Bell with the winning run. This ended New York's bid for a fourth consecutive title and brought Arizona its first championship in just its fourth year of existence, making the Diamondbacks the fastest expansion team to win a World Series. It also marked the first time since
1991The 1991 World Series was played between the Minnesota Twins of the American League and the Atlanta Braves of the National League between October 19 and October 27, 1991. The Series was, in some respects, similar to the 1987 World Series also played by the Minnesota Twins , most notably in that...
that the home team won all seven games of a World Series.
Composite box
2001 World Series
(4–3): Arizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
(N.L.) over
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
(A.L.)
Series quotes
External links