An eerie and magical series in the shadow of 9/11

	An improbable finish to an unforgettable 2001 World Series was capped when Arizona's Jay Bell scored the winning run in Game 7. Al Tielemans/SI
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By John Donovan

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I remember the smell of Nov. 4, 2001. A cold front rolled through Phoenix that night and into the open roof of Bank One Ballpark during the final innings of Game 7 of the World Series. Small dust devils danced in the infield, and the whirling dirt and oncoming rain mixed to create the odor of a desert storm. If you were of a certain mind, you might have thought that it was a kind of omen for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The smell of change.

Pushed into November for the first time in history because of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the World Series was about change in a changing world. When the Series moved to a wounded New York City for Game 3 after the Yankees had lost the first two games in Arizona -- President An eerie and magical series in the shadow of 9/11 President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch in front of a still-reeling nation -- it became something between eerie and magical.

The three middle games went to the favored Yanks, and all were decided by one run: Games 4 and 5 were won on dramatic Series-savings home runs in the bottom of the ninth. Back in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks responded with a Game 6 rout, setting up a Game 7 duel between Arizona's 22-game winner, Curt Schilling, and 20-game winner Roger Clemens of New York.

Schilling and Clemens were locked in a 1-1 tie until the Arizona pitcher gave up an eighth-inning solo home run to rookie Alfonso Soriano. That brought on Mariano Rivera -- the best postseason closer in history, owner of 23 straight postseason saves -- for a two-inning save. Rivera, some may forget, struck out the side in the eighth. Arizona looked doomed.

But the desert winds swirled. Rain began to spritz through the roof. And then the bottom of the ninth -- after 21-game winner-turned-reliever Randy Johnson stuffed the Yanks in order -- began.

The rest is legend: Mark Grace's single, a Rivera throwing error, a forceout at third and Tony Womack's clutch, score-tying double down the right-field line, a liner straight toward my spot near the auxiliary press box. What followed was a hit batter to load the bases. And then Luis Gonzalez, in his third year with a franchise in its fourth, choked up on his bat for the first time all year to flare an 0-1 Rivera cutter into left field, just over a drawn-in infield.

A ballpark worker slugged me happily in the shoulder. Security guards left their posts to high-five one another. Strangers hugged. People clutched their heads in giddy, utter disbelief. New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a symbol of strength in the aftermath of 9/11, stood and applauded. And the crowd, nearly 50,000 strong, celebrated the state of Arizona's first professional sports championship.

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