2001 World Series: Agony and Ecstasy

The Teams
National League: Arizona Diamondbacks (92-70) - First World Series
American League: New York Yankees (95-65) - 38th World Series (Won 26 previous times) 

What Happened

Is sad

It's a heartbreaking picture. And it says everything that needs to be said. For the second straight game, Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim had been one out away from giving his team their third win of the 2001 World Series. And for the second straight game, he had given up a game-tying two-run home run. And it was too much to take. Kim simply didn't want to be there any more. So he crouched down as low as he could get, burying his head in his hands, trying to hide in plain site in the middle of Yankee Stadium. The picture of agony.

That image of Kim crouched on the mound had to be haunting the Diamondbacks as they entered the ninth inning of Game 7. Trailing 2-1, facing the best closer in baseball history, Arizona had to be regretting their blown chances in Games 4 and 5. They had taken a lead into the ninth inning of five of the first six games of the series, but they had only won three of those games, and now they were trailing with Mariano Rivera on the mound. They'd had every chance they could want to win it, and now they were going to lose.

But then Mark Grace led off the ninth with a single to right. And then Damien Miller laid down a bunt that Rivera fielded cleanly but, trying to get the lead runner, he threw it into center field. And the World Series winning run was on first base with nobody out. The unthinkable suddenly seemed possible.

But then Jay Bell laid down a sacrifice. Rivera fielded it cleanly. Again, he tried to get the lead runner. This time, he did, and it all seemed lost again. The Diamondbacks had thought they were on the doorstep, only to find that the door was still locked. Sure, they were a double from possibly winning the World Series, but they were also a double play from losing it.

Tony Womack hit the double - the good kind, from Arizona's perspective - and while it didn't win the series, it tied the game and put the winning run on third base. For the third time in the series, a closer had blown the save in the ninth inning. But this one felt different. This one was heavier. It was Mariano Rivera, after all, the unflappable, unhittable legend. And it was Game 7, the ultimate stakes. Most of all, it was the Yankees, the three-time defending champions and 26-time World Champions, who were throwing it away.

Runners on second and third, one-run game, first base open. It would normally be an automatic intentional walk situation, but the weak-hitting Craig Counsell was up and the powerful Luis Gonzalez was on deck, so Rivera pitched on. The decision became moot when Rivera hit Counsell, loading the bases and bringing up the Diamondbacks' best hitter.

Is happy

Here Yankee manager Joe Torre did something curious. He told the infield to come in, to cut off the run at the plate. It was strange move considering a double play would get the game to the 10th inning, but it was especially strange because of Rivera's cutter. The most famous and devastating pitch in baseball, the cutter had made Rivera what he was. Everybody knew it was coming, yet few could hit it. When it was at its best, it looked like it would be right over the plate before breaking hard in toward left handed batters. If a righty hit it, the best he could hope for was a soft dribbler to the right side. If a lefty hit it, the best he could hope for was ...

... well, exactly what Luis Gonzalez got: a broken bat blooper to medium-deep shortstop. Only Derek Jeter wasn't playing medium-deep. He was playing in. The ball drifted over his head, landing almost exactly where Jeter would have been standing had he been playing at double-play depth. And Gonzalez started jumping up and down and waiving his arms in the air, and Bell threw his arms in the air as he crossed home plate, and Arizona celebrated its first World Championship, the first championship of any kind for the city of Phoenix. The picture of ecstasy.


MVP
For the second time, there were multiple MVPs, but this time it made sense. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson had carried Arizona all season, and they were the primary - possibly sole - reason Arizona won. Schilling started three times, winning Game 1 9-1, handing the ball over to Kim with a 2-0 lead in Game 4, then pitching into the eighth inning of Game 7 before giving up the Alfonso Soriano home run that almost became the series winner. Johnson was just as good, pitching a shutout in Game 2, completely controlling the Yankees in Game 6, then dramatically coming in to relieve in Game 7. Schilling started three games, Johnson won three games, and they were equally brilliant.

Scores 
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	1	0	2	4 (10)	3 (12)	2	2
Arizona	9	3	1	3	2	15	3

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3
Numbers 10-19
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

2. 2001: Arizona 3, New York (A) 2
3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
5. 1997: Florida 3, Cleveland 2
6. 1912: Boston (A) 3, New York (N) 2 (game 8)
7. 1946: St. Louis (N) 4, Boston (A) 3
9. 1925: Pittsburgh 9, Washington 7
10. 1926: St. Louis (N) 3, New York (A) 2
11. 1962: New York (A) 1, San Francisco 0
12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
14. 1952: New York (A) 4, Brooklyn 2
15. 1971: Pittsburgh 2, Baltimore 1
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
17. 1972: Oakland 3, Cincinnati 2
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
20. 1986: New York (N) 8, Boston 5 
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
23. 1973: Oakland 5, New York (N) 2
24. 2002: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 1
25. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
26. 1947: New York (A) 5, Brooklyn 2
27. 2011: St. Louis 6, Texas 2
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5
30. 1957: Milwaukee 5, New York (A) 0
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0 
35. 1985: Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0
36. 1956: New York (A) 9, Brooklyn 0

1998 World Series: 114 wins

The Teams
American League: New York Yankees (114-48); 35th World Series (won 23 previous times)
National League: San Diego Padres (98-64); second World Series

What happened
In 97 American League seasons, only one other team had won 114 games. In 1998, the Yankees joined the '54 Indians in reaching that incredible milestone; while the Indians were shockingly swept in the World Series that year, nobody expected a similar fate to befall the Yankees. The main reason for that was their opponent.

The Padres were a legitimately good team, winning 98 games in '98. However, like the Yankees, their win total was inflated with the expansion that occurred that year. In truth, the Padres were likely the third-best team in the National League that year, but they had the hottest pitcher. One year after almost single-handedly pitching the Marlins to the World Series, Kevin Brown did the same for San Diego, leading the Padres to playoff wins over Houston and Atlanta.

The World Series looked to be starting well for San Diego, as they rode two home runs from Greg Vaughn and one from Tony Gwynn to a 5-2 lead entering the seventh inning of Game 1. With Brown still on the mound, they looked primed to take a 1-0 series lead. But then the Yankees struck. One of the many things that made the Yankees so good in 1998 was their depth. Scott Brosius, their typical no. 9 hitter, batted .300 and drove in 98 runs.

That deep lineup meant that when the Yankees offense started to get going, it was hard to get them to stop, and the Padres learned that first-hand in the bottom of the seventh of Game 1. First, a three-run home run from leadoff hitter Chuck Knoblauch tied the game. Then, four batters later, Tino Martinez hit a grand slam to make it 9-5.

After that, the Yankees got out their other major weapon by putting Mariano Rivera on the mound. The other thing that had made them so good in 1998 had been the presence of Rivera in the bullpen. With him ready to go, the Yankees could essentially turn each game into a seven-inning affair, knowing Rivera would shut things down from there. And that's what happened in Game 1, setting the tone for the series.

The Yankees didn't need Rivera in a 9-3 Game 2 win, but he pitched the final two innings of both Games 3 and 4, helping the Yankees get the sweep and establish themselves as the Team of the 90s.

Defining Game
Game 1. The Padres gave the Yankees everything they had in the opening game, used up all their ammo, and it still wasn't enough. That game showed them, and the rest of the sports world, just how good this Yankees team really was.

MVP
The voters went with Brosius, who hit .471 and led the Yankees with two home runs and six runs batted in, but they could have just as easily named Rivera for how effortlessly he closed down three of the four games.

The Scores
(Home team in Bold)

San Diego	6	3	4	0
New York	9	9	5	3

---

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here's the ones I've done so far:

104. 1998 - New York (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-0
105. 1989 - Oakland (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-0
106. 1928 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
107. 1917 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

November 4, 2001: The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty

PHOENIX - It was over. Not officially yet, but for all intents and purposes, it was over.

The New York Yankees, winners of three straight World Series, had a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the ninth. Mariano Rivera, who was probably more responsible for those three championships than any player on the team, was on the mound. He was only the most feared and successful reliever in postseason history. Coming back against him was a hopeless proposition.

So it was over. All the heroics of the Diamondbacks pitchers would be for naught. Curt Schilling had pitched a masterpiece, his third great game of the series, but that pitch he hung to Alfonso Soriano in the eighth was going to end up deciding things. Even Randy Johnson's dramatic relief appearance, coming the day after he went seven innings in a game 6 win, wasn't going to be enough. Arizona needed a run, and they had to get through Rivera to do it. The fat lady got warmed up by the pool out in right field.

But there went Mark Grace's single. That was nice. After all the years of toiling for the Cubs, having great seasons on not-so-great teams, he finally ended up in a World Series this year, near the end of his career. Good for him to be able to get that clutch hit, in the at bat he was waiting for his whole life. Too bad it won't mean anything - if you get a hit off Rivera, it just makes him angry.

There was the bunt. No surprise there. What was surprising was River panicking, rushing, and throwing the ball into center field. That was really unlike the Yankees, and Rivera in particular. And what was he doing throwing it to second, anyway? Arizona was giving them an out - a precious out, considering there were only three outs left in their season. Take the out!

Arizona gave them the out again with another bunt. Rivera again threw to the lead base instead of getting the easy out at first, but this time it worked. That was extra painful for Arizona. They certainly couldn't afford any unproductive outs at this point. One down now. A double-play ball gives the Yankees the championship.

Tony Womack was up next, Arizona's speedy leadoff hitter. He would definitely be a tough one to double up, probably the toughest player on either team to get to ground into a double play. But, he had only batted about .230 in the series up to that point, so Rivera could pitch to him without too much fear. A quick 2-0 advantage for Womack turned into a 2-2 count. Down to the last strike. You never wanted to be down to two strikes with Rivera.

................

It's stunning how quickly some things can change, how swiftly the perceptions you have about a team can be shattered. From the start of the 1998 season up until that point, the Yankees seemed invincible. Even with the World Series-winning run sitting on first base, it seemed completely implausible that Arizona would win. Even the most imaginative of baseball fans would have had trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that Mariano Rivera could blow a save in a game 7. With two strikes on Womack, things seemed hopeless. Rivera was going to throw that cutter, and Womack was going to either swing through it or break his bat while hitting it, leading to the season-ending double play. Four straight championships in the books.

.......

Except Womack didn't miss the cutter. He didn't break his bat, either. Instead, he laced it down the right field line, the first truly hard-hit ball of the inning. The tying run came around to score, the series-winning run stopped at third, and Womack ended up at second, clapping his hands, then pointing to the sky. And who can blame him? He had just gotten the most shocking World Series double in years, maybe decades. Arizona had scored on the great Rivera.

Now the stadium was rocking. Where the pitch before it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Yankees were dancing on the field, it now seemed inevitable that the Diamondbacks were going to win. The Yankees dynasty, their aura of invincibility, was shattered on one pitch. There was no way Arizona was losing now.

The Yankees still had a slim chance. They could get weak-hitting Craig Counsell out, then walk Luis Gonzalez, who was easily Arizona's best hitter, and take their chances with Matt Williams with two outs. That plan was quickly ruined, though, when Rivera's second pitch hit Counsell in the back. There was no walking Gonzalez now.

New York played the infield in to try to cut off the run at home plate. A controversial decision, as it made turning a double play that much more difficult. Plus, many a player had taken a full swing a Rivera's cutter, watched as his bat shattered on impact, and the ball floated harmlessly into the hands of a waiting infielder. With the infield in, a broken-bat hit would win it.

Gonzalez, he of the 50 home run season in 2001, did something he had never done before in his life, even back in little league: he choked up on his bat. On the 0-1 pitch, Rivera threw the cutter. Gonzalez broke his bat. The ball blooped into left field, over the head of Derek Jeter, who would have been in perfect position to catch it if he hadn't been drawn in. Playing where he was, though, he was helpless. The winning run came in. The Diamondbacks went ballistic. They had won their city's first championship.

Mariano Rivera walked off the mound with his head down. For the first and still only time in his career, he was the losing pitcher in a playoff game. The great Rivera had been beaten. And the Yankee dynasty was over.