Manager Season MVP Andy Pettitte Dates 17 Oct 2001 – 22 Oct 2001 | Radio ESPN Champion New York Yankees Television Fox Major League Baseball | |
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Umpires Ed Montague, Wally Bell, Gary Cederstrom, Charlie Reliford, John Shulock, Tim Welke ALDS Seattle Mariners over Cleveland Indians (3–2)
New York Yankees over Oakland Athletics (3–2) TV announcers Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons (Games 1–2)
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Games 3–5) Radio announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan Similar 2000 American League C, 1999 American League C, 1981 American League C, 1996 American League C, 1977 American League C | ||
The 2001 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a rematch of the 2000 ALCS between the New York Yankees, who had come off a dramatic comeback against the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series after being down two games to zero, and the Seattle Mariners, who had won their Division Series against the Cleveland Indians in five games. The series had additional poignancy, coming immediately after downtown New York City was devastated by the events of September 11, 2001. (The series was played in late October due to Major League Baseball temporarily shutting down in the wake of the attacks).
Contents
- Seattle Mariners vs New York Yankees
- Game 1
- Game 2
- Game 3
- Game 4
- Game 5
- Composite linescore
- Series quotes
- Aftermath
- References
Though the Mariners had won an American League record 116 regular season games (tying the major league record established by the 1906 Chicago Cubs), and had home field advantage, the Yankees proved overpowering as they won the first two games in Seattle. The Mariners' manager, former Yankee player and manager Lou Piniella, guaranteed after Game 2 that the Mariners would win at least two of the next three games in New York to return the series to Seattle. However, the Yankees closed out the series in New York, beating the Mariners four games to one. The series ended with a 12–3 Yankees victory in Game 5.
Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees
New York won the series, 4–1.
Game 1
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington
Game 1’s starting date was the latest ever for a League Championship series. The Yankees took a 1–0 lead on a Chuck Knoblauch single that scored Jorge Posada in the second off of Aaron Sele, then increased it to 3–0 on a Paul O'Neill two-run home run in the fourth. The Mariners got on the board on a John Olerud groundout that scored Edgar Martínez in the fifth off of Andy Pettitte. The score remained 3–1 until the ninth when the Yankees increased their lead to 4–1 off of Jose Paniagua on a David Justice single that scored Alfonso Soriano, who singled and stole second. The Mariners got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Mariano Rivera threw a wild pitch to Bret Boone that scored Ichiro Suzuki, who doubled with one-out and went to third on another wild pitch, but Rivera retired Boone and the next batter, Edgar Martínez, to end the game.
Game 2
Thursday, October 18, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington
In Game 2, the Yankees took a 2–0 lead in the second against Freddy García on a Scott Brosius double that scored Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada, who singled and walked, respectively. Brosius would then score on a Chuck Knoblauch single two batters later to make it 3–0 Yankees. The Mariners responded in the fourth on a two-run home run from Stan Javier off of Mike Mussina after Mike Cameron was hit by a pitch to make it a one-run game. However, neither team would score afterwards and the Yankees took a 2–0 series lead heading to New York City.
Game 3
Saturday, October 20, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
The Yankees were poised to go up 3–0 in the series after Game 3, jumping to a 2–0 lead in the first on a Bernie Williams two-run home run off of Jamie Moyer after David Justice walked. However, they would not score again until the eighth on a David Justice RBI single off of Jose Paniagua. Orlando Hernández pitched four shutout innings before letting the Mariners load the bases on two walks and a single in the fifth. Bret Boone's single scored two to tie the game. Next inning, John Olerud's lead off home run put the Mariners up 3−2, their first lead in the series. After allowing a single and walk, Hernandez was relieved by Mike Stanton. An error allowed another run to score and put runners on second and third. After David Bell flew out, Ichiro Suzuki was intentionally walked to load the bases and Mark McLemore cleared them with a triple. Mark Wohlers relieved Stanton and gave-up a two-run home run to Boone to make it 9−2 Mariners. Next inning, with runners on first and third on a walk and error, Bell's single scored Cameron. Jay Witasick relieved Wolhers and after getting two outs, allowed an RBI single to Boone. Next inning, Stan Javier hit a leadoff single, moved to third on two ground outs, and scored on Bell's single off of Witasick. In the ninth, Witasick allowed a one-out home run to Jay Buhner, then a triple to Al Martin, who scored on Olerud's single. John Halama retired the Yankees in order in the bottom of the inning as the Mariners cruised to a 14–3 win and guarantee a Game 5.
Game 4
Sunday, October 21, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
Game 4 remained scoreless until Bret Boone hit a home run off Yankees reliever Ramiro Mendoza in the top of the eighth to give the Mariners a 1–0 lead, but the Yankees responded in the bottom of the inning with a Bernie Williams home run off Arthur Rhodes to tie the game. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth and the Yankees won the game 3–1 in the bottom of the inning on an Alfonso Soriano two-run home run after Scott Brosius singled off Kazuhiro Sasaki to take a 3–1 series lead. Before the eighth, each team only had one hit in the game, John Olerud's leadoff single in the fourth off of Roger Clemens for the Mariners and Tino Martinez's ground-rule double off of Norm Charlton in the sixth for the Yankees. The Mariners had issued 10 walks while the Yankees issued five.
Game 5
Monday, October 22, 2001 at Yankee Stadium (I) in Bronx, New York
In the bottom of the third inning of Game 5, an error by Mariner third basemen David Bell allowed Scott Brosius to reach base. Alfonso Soriano then singled and both men advanced a base on Chuck Knoblauch's sacrifice bunt. Derek Jeter's sacrifice fly and David Justice's double scored a run each, then Bernie Williams capped the scoring with a two-rune home run off Aaron Sele, all four runs unearned. Paul O'Neill homered in the fourth to put the Yankees on top 5–0. In the sixth, Mariners' reliever John Halama allowed three straight leadoff singles to load the bases. Joel Pineiro relieved him and struck out Brosius, but then threw a wild pitch to Soriano to let one run score. Soriano walked to re-load the bases before Knoblauch's single, Jeter's walk, and Justice's single scored a run each. The Mariners got their only three runs of the game in the seventh when they loaded the bases on three singles with one out, then a single by Bell scored two followed by a single by Ichiro Suzuki scoring another off of Andy Pettitte. In the bottom of the eighth, Tino Martinez hit a three-run home run off of Jose Paniagua and Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth as the Yankees cruised to a 12–3 win and advance to the World Series for the fourth straight year.
Composite linescore
2001 ALCS (4–1): New York Yankees over Seattle Mariners
Series quotes
Soriano into deep right, Ichiro back, at the wall...Yankees win!
Before you guys start asking questions let me start by saying We’re gonna be back here (Seattle) for Game 6, I told the people out there the same thing, I guarantee you we will be back here for Game 6.
Aftermath
The Yankees’ streak of consecutive World Series wins ended at three, as they fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series in seven games. They would make the World Series again in 2003, but they lost to the underdog Florida Marlins. The Yankees would not win another World Series until 2009.
To date, the Mariners have not made the MLB postseason since 2001. Still, their 116 wins in the regular season remain tied (with the 1906 Cubs) for the Major League record. No team has approached 116 since, with the closest being the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 when they won 105 games.