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A classic Fall Classic Game 7 thriller puts 2001 World Series in an elite class
Updated: Monday November 05, 2001 8:08 AM
PHOENIX -- You can define a classic in a lot of ways. Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, for sure. A '66 Mustang. Born to Run. A Brooks Brothers blazer. There's "Not that there's anything wrong with that," and "Excuuuuuse me" before that. There's Joe Namath wagging his index finger, Yogi Berra jumping into Don Larsen's arms, Jack Nicklaus at Augusta. What happened in the swirling winds of the desert here Sunday night ... that was a classic, too, in any sense of the word. In baseball lore, Game 7 of the 2001 World Series will edge its way in beside Larsen's perfect game and Bill Mazeroski's home run and some of the best World Series games ever played. It was a Game 7 of unbelievable drama. A taut pitcher's duel for most of the way. A late home run to give the defending champs the lead. And then, improbably, the home team rallied in the bottom of the ninth to win. Stadium elevator operators at the still-new Bank One Ballpark in downtown Phoenix jumped for joy. Cops screamed at each other with wild-eyed happiness. Ushers hugged each other. Strangers exchanged high-fives and looked for places to run around like maniacs.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, four years old but a team filled with veterans from all over the majors, beat the most storied franchise in the history of the game, felling the game's best closer to do it. And so the first championship of any major sport comes to the city of Phoenix, the Valley of the Sun and the state of Arizona. "It's impossible -- virtually impossible," said Arizona first baseman Mark Grace. "I'm just proud to be part of one of the greatest World Series in the history of the game. And I don't think anybody would argue with me on that." No, this had shaped up to be a pretty fine Fall Classic from about Game 3. Games 4 and 5, won by the New York Yankees with the help of stunning home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in both games, put it in a "could be" category. And when a Game 7 was forced, putting 20-game winner Roger Clemens of New York against Arizona's Curt Schilling, a 22-game winner, the ingredients were all there for a classic Series. Still, the ending took everyone by surprise. Clemens and Schilling did their thing for seven innings, locking up in a 1-1 tie in a game that seemed destined for extra-innings. Then, in the top of the eighth, with Schilling probably going one inning too far, New York rookie Alfonso Soriano hit an 0-2 Schilling pitch into the left-field stands for a 2-1 New York lead. The Yankees brought in their closer, Mariano Rivera, the best in the business. His cut fastball is renowned for breaking bats and making hitters look stupid. He had an 0.70 ERA. "'Uh oh' hardly describes my feelings at that point," said Arizona's general manager, Joe Garagiola Jr. But the Diamondbacks -- ridiculed early on in their existence as the "Greenbacks" and the "Diamond-bucks" because of their relatively high payroll for such a young team -- got to Rivera. Grace, a longtime Chicago Cubs icon who reluctantly left for Arizona, singled to start the inning. There was an error. A forceout. A huge score-tying double by Tony Womack. Rivera hit Craig Counsell to load the bases. And then Luis Gonzalez, the slugger, flared a single into left for the Series winner. Against the best closer in the business. And the best team of the past decade. "He doesn't give up that many base hits in a month," Grace said of Rivera. But he did. The Diamondbacks banged him around for four hits and two runs to break a streak of 23 consecutive postseason saves. The odds seemed out of this world. "What were the odds that they'd hit two homers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth [to win Games 4 and 5 in New York]?" asked Arizona outfielder Reggie Sanders. "It's something you just can't explain. "This was destiny for us. It really was." As the game ended, the Diamondbacks jumped all over each other on the field as wives and family members and friends joined in, nearly 50,000 fans in the stands still screaming. Retiring Yankees outfielder Paul O'Neill, who has one World Series title with the Cincinnati Reds and four with the Yankees, looked on, long-faced, from the Yankees dugout. It was his first Series loss. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, here with relatives of many who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on New York, stood and applauded. And in the clubhouse later, with all the champagne and beer and emotions pouring freely, the Diamondbacks celebrated some more. Celebrated an unlikely, unbelievable, classic World Series. John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
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