Sports History

On This Date: The Diamondbacks Beat Mariano Rivera to Win the World Series (Nov. 4, 2001)

On Nov. 4, 2001, the Diamondbacks rallied off Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning of Game 7 to beat the Yankees and win the World Series in their 4th season.

Luis Gonzalez celebrates as Mariano Rivera walks off the field.

Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer who ever lived. He was the 1st player voted into the Hall of Fame unanimously. In the postseason, he was nearly unhittable.

On Nov. 4, 2001, in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks got to him.

“CHAMPIONS!” (Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Nov. 5, 2001, p. A1, via Newspapers.com)

7 Weeks After 9/11

The World Series started later than any before it. The attacks of Sept. 11 had shut baseball down for a week, and the Series opened on Oct. 27.

The Yankees had won 3 straight titles and 4 of the last 5. The Diamondbacks were in their 4th season. They had 2 aces, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, and not much reason to think anybody outside Phoenix was rooting for them.

Randy Johnson. (Photo: SD Dirk on Flickr (Original version) User UCinternational (Crop), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Mr. November

Arizona won the first 2 games at home. Then the Series moved to Yankee Stadium.

In Game 4, Tino Martinez hit a 2-run homer with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to tie it off Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim. Derek Jeter won it with a homer in the 10th, just after midnight. It was the 1st major league game ever played in November, and Jeter got a new nickname: Mr. November.

“MR. NOVEMBER.” The Daily News after Game 4. (Daily News, New York, Nov. 1, 2001)

“A New Yanks.” Game 4. (Newsday, Nov. 1, 2001, p. 94, via Newspapers.com)

The next night, Scott Brosius did the same thing to Kim, a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 9th to tie. The Yankees won in 12 and led the Series 3-2.

Scott Brosius celebrates his tying home run in Game 5 as Byung-Hyun Kim looks away.

Back in Phoenix, Arizona won Game 6 15-2, and Johnson got the win.

“D’backs shellack Yankees.” Game 6. (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Nov. 4, 2001, p. D1, via Newspapers.com)

Game 7

Schilling, on 3 days’ rest, faced Roger Clemens, who at 39 was the oldest pitcher ever to start a Game 7. It was 1-1 after 7 innings. In the 8th, Alfonso Soriano homered off Schilling to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Arizona manager Bob Brenly went to his bullpen, and then to Johnson, who had started and won Game 6 the night before. Johnson got the last out of the 8th and then the Yankees in order in the 9th.

The Yankees brought in Rivera in the 8th. He had converted a record 23 straight postseason save chances, and he struck out the side.

Curt Schilling in Game 7. (The Arizona Republic, Nov. 5, 2001, p. C3, via Newspapers.com)

The 9th Inning

Mark Grace led off the bottom of the 9th with a single. Damian Miller bunted, and Rivera threw the ball into center field trying to get the lead runner at 2nd. Jay Bell bunted into a force-out at 3rd. Then Tony Womack doubled to right field to tie the game, 2-2.

Rivera’s throw to 2nd gets past Derek Jeter, and pinch runner David Dellucci is safe.

Rivera hit Craig Counsell with a pitch to load the bases with 1 out. Up came Luis Gonzalez, who had hit 57 home runs that season. With the infield pulled in to cut off the winning run, Gonzalez choked up and blooped a soft line drive over shortstop. Jay Bell scored.

“How it all fell apart.” (Daily News, New York, Nov. 5, 2001, via Newspapers.com)

“Gonzo’s hit caps comeback.” (The Arizona Republic, Nov. 5, 2001, p. C3, via Newspapers.com)

Arizona won 3-2, and the Diamondbacks were World Series champions in their 4th year, faster than any expansion team before them.

“I think we just won the World Series!” Grace shouted. “I think we just won the World Series! ... Do you know how long I’ve waited to say that?”

“A dream come true.” (The Arizona Republic, Nov. 5, 2001, p. C1, via Newspapers.com)

Sports Illustrated, Nov. 12, 2001: “Unforgettable!”

Mark Grace tips his cap at a Diamondbacks alumni game in 2017. (Photo: Barry Stahl on Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Afterward

Johnson got the win, his 3rd of the Series. He and Schilling shared the MVP award.

Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling with the World Series trophy.

The co-MVPs and the Series results. (The Arizona Republic, Nov. 5, 2001, p. C1, via Newspapers.com)

It was the 1st major professional championship for a team from Arizona, and the last game of a strange, sad and unforgettable season in New York. The Yankees didn’t win another World Series until 2009.