This doctor really has no explanation for what took place during the 2001 baseball season. In a few short words, it was unbelievable.

The Seattle Mariners came one game away from becoming baseball’s record holder for most wins in a season. Instead, they tied the Cubbies’ century-old record at 116 wins. And this was without superstars Ken Griffey, Alex Rodriguez or Randy Johnson. They did it with speed, pitching, managing and a whole lot of good fortune.

Then there’s Barry Bonds, who put together one of the greatest offensive season of all-time. We’re talking Ruth, Mantle, and Williams. He was amazing.

So the regular season ended with fans and writers around the country wondering, “what more could this season offer?” Well, Sunday night answered all your questions.

The postseason began with the Oakland A’s taking a commanding 2-0 lead against the World Champion Yankees, only to lose the next three games, two of them in Oak-Town. The Mariners narrowly squeaked by Cleveland in the first round, only to be ousted by New York in the ALCS. Over in the National League, the Cardinals and D-Backs battled to the end of the Division Series, with Matt Morris and Curt Schilling throwing two epic battles in Games 1 and 5, both wins going to Schilling in one-run games. After the first two rounds of the postseason, again, we all wondered what more could this season produce? And then it happened. The Fall Classic took the country by storm with the young and the old, one of the newest franchises facing baseball’s historic bunch. And this Fall Classic lived up to its billing.

Arizona took a 2-1 series lead into Game 4, where the improbable happened. You know the story. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, a two-run lead. And boom! Tino Martinez knocks one out and the game is tied, only to set the stage for Derek Jeter to win it an inning later. And if you thought that was crazy (I know I couldn’t believe what I just saw) it happened 24 hours later, almost exactly. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, a two-run lead. Scott Brosius stepped up to the plate and launched one into the seats in left, tying the game against reliever Byung-Hyun Kim, who was near tears on the mound. Three innings later, Alfonso Soriano’s base hit produced the game winning run, giving the Yankees two improbable wins to go back to the Desert up 3-2.

And after Arizona’s drubbing of New York to the tune of 15-2 in Game Six, the stage was set for Game Seven. In sports, nothing compares to this. Not the Super Bowl, not a home run record, nothing. A Game Seven, where two teams have battled, endured, and played their hearts out for six full games-not to mention the previous 162-plus-and it comes down to just one. And this stage could not have been set any better. Roger Clemens, coming off of one of baseball’s best regular season records, against Curt Schilling, who had mastered hitters throughout the postseason.

Both were on. With the game tied at 1-1, Schilling was brought in to start the eighth after getting out of a jam in the seventh. An 0-2 pitch to Soriano was sent to the seats in left, and with it went the hopes of many D-Backs fans, or Yankee Haters. The most dominant postseason closer ever was warming up for his final two innings of the season. Rivera breezed through the eighth, and New York was three outs away from a fourth straight title.

Beating Rivera in Game Seven of the World Series would be like, as ESPN’s Jayson Stark puts it, a used Hyundai driving to the moon. It just wouldn’t happen. But a single and a Rivera error put men on first and second with nobody out. After a horrible bunt by Jay Bell, Tony Womack smacked a two-strike pitch to right, tying the game. A hit batsman later, Luis Gonzalez and his 53 home runs stepped up to the plate. And it was only fitting after his power surge this year that he hit a 100-foot blooper that landed over the head of the drawn-in infield for the Series-clinching run.

And with that hit brought the discussion of the historic place that this World Series will take. People will talk about this for years to come. It was the first World Series to take place in November, and Arizona was the youngest team to ever win a World Series. But this Series meant so much more. The way the games were played and eventually, the way they were won was dramatic, intense, and breathtaking. I can’t remember being mesmerized by a sporting event as much as I was during the final innings of Games Four, Five, and Seven. Nothing compares. Barry Bonds may have shattered records and the Mariners may have approached immortality, but this World Series defined the 2001 baseball season. Amazing, absolutely amazing.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2001 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.