| 2001 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 27 – November 4 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Bank One Ballpark (Arizona) Yankee Stadium (New York) | |||||||||
| MVP | Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling (Arizona) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Steve Rippley (crew chief), Mark Hirschbeck, Dale Scott, Ed Rapuano, Jim Joyce, Dana DeMuth | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson Yankees: Derek Jeter Mike Mussina Mariano Rivera Joe Torre (manager) | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | Fox (United States) MLB International (International) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox) Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International) | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN WABC (NYY) KTAR (AZ) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (ESPN) John Sterling and Michael Kay (WABC) Thom Brennaman, Greg Schulte, Rod Allen and Jim Traber (KTAR) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | New York Yankees over Seattle Mariners (4–1) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Arizona Diamondbacks over Atlanta Braves (4–1) | |||||||||
| World Series program | ||||||||||
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The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series,[1] it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-time defending World Series champions and American League (AL) champion New York Yankees. The underdog Diamondbacks defeated the heavily favored Yankees, four games to three to win the series.[2][3] Considered one of the greatest World Series of all time,[4][5] its memorable aspects included two extra-inning games and three late-inning comebacks. Diamondbacks pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were both named World Series Most Valuable Players.
The Yankees advanced to the World Series by defeating the Oakland Athletics, three games to two, in the AL Division Series, and then the Seattle Mariners in the AL Championship Series, four games to one. It was the Yankees' fourth consecutive World Series appearance, after winning championships in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The Diamondbacks advanced to the World Series by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, three games to two, in the NL Division Series, and then the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, four games to one. It was the franchise's first appearance in a World Series.
The Series began later than usual as a result of a delay in the regular season after the September 11 attacks and was the first to extend into November. The Diamondbacks won the first two games at home, limiting the Yankees to just one run. The Yankees responded with a close win in Game 3, at which U.S. President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In Games 4 and 5, the Yankees won in comeback fashion, hitting game-tying home runs off Diamondbacks closer Byung-hyun Kim with one out remaining in consecutive games, before winning in extra innings. The Diamondbacks won Game 6 in a blowout, forcing a decisive Game 7. In the final game, the Yankees led in the ninth inning before the Diamondbacks staged a comeback against closer Mariano Rivera, capped off by a walk-off, bases-loaded bloop single by Luis Gonzalez to clinch Arizona's championship victory. This was the third World Series to end in a bases-loaded, walk-off hit, following 1991 and 1997, and to this date, the last Series to end on a walk-off of any kind. This series held the record for the latest date that a Series ended (November 4), until that record was tied during the 2009 World Series and broken during the 2022 World Series.
Among several firsts, the 2001 World Series was the first World Series championship for the Diamondbacks; the first World Series played in the state of Arizona or the Mountain Time Zone; the first championship for a Far West state other than California; the first major professional sports team from the state of Arizona to win a championship; and the earliest an MLB franchise had won a World Series (the Diamondbacks had only existed for four years). The home team won every game in the Series, which had only happened twice before, in 1987 and 1991, both won by the Minnesota Twins. The Diamondbacks outscored the Yankees, 37–14, as a result of large margins of victory achieved by Arizona at Bank One Ballpark (now known as Chase Field) relative to the one-run margins the Yankees achieved at Yankee Stadium. Arizona's pitching held powerhouse New York to a .183 batting average, the lowest in a seven-game World Series ever, surpassing the St. Louis Cardinals, who hit .185 in the 1985 World Series. This and the 2002 World Series were the last two consecutive World Series to have game sevens until the World Series of 2016 and 2017.[6] The 2001 World Series was the subject of an HBO documentary, Nine Innings from Ground Zero, in 2004. It is often referred to as the greatest World Series of all time.
- ^ "2001 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ^ Verducci, Tom (November 12, 2001). "Desert Classic: Diamondbacks Win". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ Wilhelm, Dylan (October 27, 2021). "Diamondbacks: How to build a champion in 4 seasons". Cronkite News - Arizona PBS. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ Fagan, Ryan. "World Series: Ranking the 10 best Fall Classics of all time". The Sporting News. Sporting News. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ Platt, Chuck (November 4, 2011). "10 Years Later: Remembering the 2001 World Series". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ "The World Series comes down to Game 7 yet again". November 2017.