2001: The year the Diamondbacks won it all
When the Diamondbacks entered the league in 1998, many people had the expectation that Arizona would not compete for a while. Boy were they wrong...
Arizona finished the 01’ season with 92 wins, winning the NL West. Finishing 7th in runs per game and 4th in team ERA, the Diamondbacks were a well-balanced, hard-to-beat ball club. Being in the top 10 in both offense and pitching over a full season takes everyone on the team no doubt. But the Diamondbacks were led by two stars in their most successful year ever; on the offensive side of the game, the team was led by star outfielder, Luis Gonzalez. In 2001, Gonzalez played all 162 games and did some real damage at the plate. Gonzalez recorded 57 HRs, 142 RBIs, and he scored 128 times. He also slashed .325/.429/.688; bringing his OPS to a team-leading 1.117. Incredibly with those kind of numbers, Gonzalez did not win the NL MVP award in 2001. The honor would go to Barry Bonds who hit 73 home runs in one season. Every offense has an under-the-radar hero and for the 01’ Diamondbacks, it was outfielder Reggie Sanders. In 126 games, Sanders hit 33 HRs, 90 RBIs, and scored 84 runs while also stealing 14 bases. Sanders ended up slashing .263/.337/.549. An outfield of Gonzalez, Sanders, and Finley; too bad I was born in 2000 because that would have been gold to watch live…
The second star and leader for the Diamondbacks in 2001 was hall-of-fame pitcher Randy Johnson. In 34 starts that season, Johnson went 21-6 with a 2.49 ERA and a 13.4 K/9 ratio over 249.2 innings. Over 13 strikeouts per 9 innings, that is insane. Like Sanders, there were some unsung heroes on the pitching staff. Closer Byung-Hyung Kim was the backbone of the bullpen. In 98 innings, Kim posted a 2.94 ERA while recording 19 saves. As I said, this team was a well-balanced, hard-to-beat ball club. A reliable starter and a closer who pitched well under pressure; a recipe for success…
Now to get to the best part, the post-season. Arizona’s first matchup (NLDS) was against the 93-win St. Louis Cardinals. From a statistical standpoint, the Diamondbacks and Cardinals were very similar teams. Both teams had at least 90 wins. Both teams were top 10 in offense and top 5 in pitching. Both teams had star sluggers in Luis Gonzalez and Albert Pujols, and both teams had a star pitcher in Randy Johnson and Darryl Kile. Coming into the post-season St. Louis was rolling. Led by rookie sensation Albert Pujols, the Cards were 7-3 in their final 10 regular season games; but in the end, it wouldn’t matter…
The NLDS was a series of trading punches for these two ball clubs. The Diamondbacks won game 1, then the Cardinals won game 2, then the Diamondbacks won game 3, then the Cardinals won game 4; as back and forth as it can get! Then came game 5, win or go home. Allow me to paint the scene. The score is all knotted up at 1, it’s the bottom of the 9th, there are 2 outs, and the winning run is standing on second base; every little kid's dream scenario from the days in the backyard. Diamondbacks infielder Tony Womack steps into the box, the count is 2-2, the pitch is outside and Womack takes it that way. A bloop shot finds grass in left field and just like that, the ball game was over. Arizona had won its first playoff series ever…
Celebration time was brief, it was time for Arizona to get their minds right and fully focused on the NLCS. A series the Diamondbacks were brand new to, their next matchup would be against the Atlanta Braves, who had just swept the Houston Astros in 3 games. A post-season sweep is no easy achievement, but the Braves made it look that way. Here is a crazy and almost comical stat. At the end of the 01’ regular season, the Diamondbacks had the two pitchers with the lowest ERAs, Johnson and Schilling, and the Braves had the pitchers that were 3rd and 4th in ERA, Burkett, and Maddux. Hitters for both sides would be sweating heading into this matchup…
Randy Johnson was lights out in game 1. In front of a packed house at Bank One Ballpark, Johnson pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 11, as the D-Backs won 2-0; this set the tone for how they would play in the rest of the NLDS. Arizona would lose game 2, but then go on to win the next 3 games winning the series 4-1 and punching their ticket to their first-ever world series. The only problem was, they would have to face a juggernaut franchise that had won the most world series in MLB history; the New York Yankees…
If you didn’t know, 2001 was a crazy year in the MLB; I mean absolutely bananas. The Seattle Maniers tied the record for the most wins in a season with 116. The Oakland A’s, who were the second poorest team in baseball, won 102 games and nearly beat the wealthiest team in baseball, the powerhouse Yankees, in the ALDS. They were up 2-0 in the series and blew it by losing 3 straight. $33,810.750 vs $112,287,143; the Oakland A’s 2001 season was so inspiring there is a book and a movie based on it called Moneyball. If you haven’t seen the movie go watch it, right now. In my opinion, it is the best sports movie ever made. On top of all this madness, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had only been in the league since 1998, were going to their first World Series ever, and with all the craziness 2001 brought, it is no surprise that they won…
It is Saturday, October 27, 2001. The nerves and excitement are overwhelming and you are having a hard time waiting for the first pitch. The first pitch of the first game of the first world series ever for the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks not only won game 1, they dominated! Winning by 8 runs against the Yankees was a rare feat in the early 2000s but Arizona was on their a-game that night. Powered by the arm of Schilling and the bat of Gonzalez, the D-Backs cruised to a 9-1 game 1 victory. The series would go back and forth, with the Yankees winning two games in dramatic walk-off fashion. The Diamondbacks would even be down 3-2 in the series going into game 6. A game 6 loss would send the boys into the off-season feeling disappointed that they got to the end but were still so far from greatness; thankfully, the story doesn't end that way…
Game seven, the two most exciting words in baseball and two words that Diamondbacks fans will never forget. Through the first 5 innings of the game, Arizona’s Curt Schilling and New York’s Roger Clemens dominated on the mound. Neither budged until the bottom of the 6th. Arizona’s Steve Finley singled, Danny Bautista doubled, and just like that, the D-Backs took the lead, 1-0. That lead didn’t last long, as in the next half inning, Tino Martinez hit a single that drove home Derek Jeter; tied at 1 after 7. Then, in heartbreaking fashion, Alfonso Soriano crushed a home run on an 0-2 pitch in the top of the 8th inning. Giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead late in the game; things were looking gloomy for the Diamondbacks…
There are some moments in sports history that fans will never forget. The Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in the super bowl, the miracle on ice, and Babe Ruth calling his shot to name a few. Well for Diamondbacks fans, what Luis Gonzalez did in the bottom of the 9th inning on November 4, 2001, will forever live in their minds. Facing a 2-1 deficit in game 7 of the world series, Arizona was going to need a miracle to win the game. To make matters more difficult, the Diamondbacks hitters wouldn’t be going up against any regular old Joe; they would be facing arguably the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera…
Infielder Mark Grace was faced with the tall task of facing Rivera first in the bottom of the 9th. This would set the tone for the rest of the inning and thankfully, for the Diamondbacks, he hit a single up the middle, and Arizona was back in business. (David Dellucci came in to pinch run for Grace). Catcher Damian Miller was next up, and as he successfully got a sacrifice bunt down, Rivera tried to play hero and get the lead runner out at 2nd base. This backfired because of a bad throw by Rivera, and both Dellucci and Miller were safe. There were now runners on 1st and 2nd, with nobody out; it was now or never for the Diamondbacks. The next at-bat, pinch hitter Jay Bell also tried a sacrifice bunt but was unsuccessful as Rivera fielded the ball, and made a good throw this time, getting Dellucci out at 3rd base; runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. (Midre Cummings came in to pinch run for Miller). Tony Womack steps to the plate, and on a 2-2 pitch, Womack smacks a double down the right field line scoring Cummings from 2nd base. The noise from the crowd was DEAFENING. TIE BALL GAME. Then with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Rivera hits Craig Counsell on an 0-1 pitch to load the bases. Tie game, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, game 7. Sounds like a movie...
The score is tied at 2, the bases are loaded with 1 out, and the Diamondbacks best hitter would be up to bat; the moment every kid dreams of was seconds away from happening. On an 0-1 pitch from Rivera, Luis Gonzalez blooped a single into shallow left field, Jay Bell scored from 3rd base, the crowd couldn’t contain themselves, and the Arizona Diamondbacks had won it all…