Baseball Seasons: 2001

Wow, that was barbaric. We were about to collapse into a state of anarchy and chaos - SnakePit Jr. was already running around with a severed pig's head on a stick - but Cox came through. Our Internet is now back up, running and from the tests we've done, about six to ten times quicker than it was before they serviced it. During the time the Internet was largely out of action [i got onto low-bandwidth sites like DBBP on Mrs. SnakePit's phone, but accessing here was like treacle], I caught up Baseball Seasons, a show on the MLB Network which focuses on a particular year. In this case, 2001, which resonates in the memories of everyone, but  especially Diamondbacks' fans.

However, the show naturally starts with a shot of the New York landscape on 9/11, before using the Nine Innings From Ground Zero footage, in which President Bush tells the story of how Derek Jeter told him to throw the first pitch from the mound, and not to bounce it. Bush - in what probably has to go down as one of the highlights of his presidency - delivered. It then flashes back to the beginning of the year, with the three-time consecutive champions, the Yankees, installed as pre-season favorites. But outside of New York, both Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken were in the twilight of their careers: and Ichiro arrived in Seattle.

He's such a part of the baseball landscape now, that it's hard to believe that there was a time when no-one was sure whether or not he would be able to handle major-league pitching. However, when Opening Day came around, he quickly dispelled all such doubts, hitting safely in 39 of his first 41 major league games, batting ..375 over that time. Seattle were 31-10 at that point, and that was before the Mariners ran off fifteen straight wins from May 23-June 8. That run left then seventeen clear in the AL West - they could basically start preparing for the post-season, before the All-Star break.

The National League were not to be outdone, with Albert Pujols starting the season in spectacular fashion, tying the rookie record by swatting eight home-runs in the first month. Though even that was somewhat overshadowed by Barry Bonds, who had 28 homers by the end of May, and 39 before the All-Star break in his pursuit of the single-season home-run record. Interesting, the documentary makes absolutely no mention of the question-mark over his numbers - any more than over the next player featured, Roger Clemens, who was helping the Yankees, going 12-1 in the first half. [The epilogue does bring them up, which makes more sense, since no-one really mentioned them during the 2001 season] They took the lead in the division on July 3rd, and were never headed thereafter, cantering to victory in the AL East by 13.5 games.

Ah, finally - a mention of the Diamondbacks. They had a strong start thanks to Luis Gonzalez, who thirteen home-runs in April. "The streak kept carrying on because of the confidence," said Gonzo, but the team's strength was their pitching. Randy Johnson struck out twenty in a game on May 8th. Matching Johnson, almost start for start, was Curt Schilling, which gave Arizona 'arguably the best 1-2 pitchers of the modern era.' The duo were 23-9 at the All-Star break, allowing the Diamondbacks to hold a 3.5 game lead at that point.

The All-Star Game was in Seattle, and the Mariners sent eight players to the contest, befitting a team with a 63-24 record. Gwynn and Ripken were making their last All-Star game appearances - albeit in an honorary capacity in the former's case/. Between them, they had thirty-four All-Star games on their resume. The moment where A-Rod swapped positions with Ripken, so the Iron Man could play his shortstop position. And if you didn't get a chill down your spine when Ripken came to the plate, receiving a standing ovation, and hit a home-run to left-field...you might want to check your pulse.

The second half opened with the same stars continuing to dominate the opposition. Clemens ran his record to 17-1; Johnson recorded his fourth 300-strikeout season in a row; Ichiro reached 200 hits before Labor Day. And then, on September 11th, 2001, everything changed. The baseball season was suspended indefinitely: it was, unquestionably, the right thing to do. Commissioner Bud Selig agonized over when to come back, but the game began on September 17th. On that first night back, Jack Buck said at St. Louis, "The question has already been answered. Should we be here? Yes. Should we show others how to demonstrate our resolve? Yes, and we shall do it here this evening."

Bonds continued his onslaught too, finishing with a stunning seventy-three homers. However, it wasn't enough to get the Giants into the playoffs, as the Diamondbacks won the division by two games. Houston and St. Louis made it from the Central, and the East were represented by the Braves, winners for the seventh straight year. Arizona would face St. Louis, and Houston, Atlanta. The Mariners won a staggering 116 games, the most in the modern era, and were followed to the post-season from the AL West by the wild-card winners, the Oakland A's. The Yankees faced them, while the Mariners took on the Cleveland Indians, winners in the Central by six games.

Did the country want the Yankees to win? Hard to say. I know that wasn't the case here in Arizona, but there's no doubt, there would have been a huge resonance had they won their fourth World Series. They almost went out in the first round, trailing 2-0 to the A's before Jeter's shovel pass nailed Giambi at the plate, and New York reeled off three straight wins. They then had to face the mighty Mariners, but rolled over them in five games. In the National League, the Diamondbacks were taken to five games by St. Louis, winning in the ninth on Womack's single, directly after he'd failed to get down a sacrifice squeeze. They then beat Atlanta in five, so reached the World Series exactly the same way as the Yankees.

And then, it was the World Series. I'm getting goosebumps just writing those words. I still have the DVD box-set on the shelf, so don't want to write in detail about those games, but I don't really think I need to. After Counsell tied the opening game in the bottom of the first, the Diamondbacks scored twelve more runs before the Yankees would score again. By that point, they were 2-0 down, thanks largely to Schilling and Johnson, but they took all three games in New York: I won't rehash the details of those [though I was surprised the walkoff homer by Jeter in Game Four was his first ever], but the final one of those trio - and Kim's blown save - probably ranks as among the most stomach churning moments of my life as a fan. We returned to Arizona needing to win both contests: by the fourth inning of Game Six, with the Diamondbacks 15-0 up, it was clear there would be a seventh game.

One of my favorite threads in SnakePit history is the World Series Memories post, which is worth a read any time your spirits need a boost. Game Seven is right up there, with my wedding, as possibly the greatest day of my life. You couldn't have scripted in any better, with Schilling and Clemens trading zeros for five innings, before Arizona finally took the lead in the sixth. It proved short-lived, however, with New York scoring in the seventh and eighth. Mariano Rivera came in, and got three strikeouts in the eighth. But then, from the bullpen, came Game Six starter Johnson, and you sensed something special could still happen. He retired the Yankees in order, and a wind blew up out of nowhere inside Bank One Ballpark...

Bottom of the 9th, Diamondbacks Batting, Behind 1-2, Rivera facing 7-8-9
M Grace - Single to CF
Dellucci pinch runs for Mark Grace batting 7th
D Miller - Reached on E1 (throw to 2B) (Bunt); Dellucci to 2B
Jay Bell pinch hits for Randy Johnson batting 9th
J Bell - Bunt Groundout: P-3B/Forceout at 3B; Miller to 2B
Midre Cummings pinch runs for Damian Miller batting 8th
T Womack - Double to RF (Line Drive to RF Line); Cummings Scores; Bell to 3B
C Counsell      Hit By Pitch
L Gonzalez      Single to CF; Bell Scores/unER; Womack to 3B; Counsell to 2B
        2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB. Yankees 2, Diamondbacks 3.

That night ended the Yankee domination of the game: they have yet to win a World Series in seven seasons. The Diamondbacks have not been back there since either - but even when we do, it would still take quite something to be as memorable, in a hundred different ways, as the 2001 season was. It was the year which made me both a Diamondbacks and baseball fan for life.