Background
The Diamondbacks won their division with a 92–70 record. One strength of their team was the pitching duo of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, who led the team in wins above replacement. [1] The primary weapon for Arizona on offense was Luis Gonzalez, who belted 57 home runs during the season. The Diamondbacks had outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS to reach their first NLCS.
The Atlanta Braves won their tenth straight division title, but it had not been by a wide margin in 2001. They struggled to an 88–74 record, their worst since 1990. Greg Maddux had another big season for the Braves, winning 17 games. Chipper Jones was the leader of the Atlanta offense, batting .330 during the season to go along with his 38 home runs. After their embarrassing defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2000 NLDS, the underdog Braves blitzed the Houston Astros in the 2001 NLDS, sweeping them in three games.
Game summaries
Game 3
Friday, October 19, 2001 at Turner Field in Atlanta
Curt Schilling, who earned an MVP award in the 1993 NLCS against the Braves, got the start in Game 3 in Atlanta. Braves starter John Burkett gave up two runs in the third when Steve Finley doubled with two on. That would be all Schilling would need, as he, much like Johnson, controlled the Braves lineup. Atlanta got a run in the fourth when Marcus Giles hit a leadoff double and scored on Chipper Jones's one-out single, but with the bases loaded with one out, Steve Reed relieved Burkett and a Chipper Jones error at third base on Matt Williams's groundball allowed two runs to score. Mike Remlinger relieved Reed and allowed an RBI single to Finley. Ahead 5–1, Schilling cruised the rest of the way, tossing a complete game and striking out 12 men.
Game 4
Saturday, October 20, 2001 at Turner Field in Atlanta
Looking to tie the series, Bobby Cox started Greg Maddux on short rest. For two innings, the move appeared to work. The Braves struck first off of Diamondback starter Albie Lopez when Marcus Giles walked to lead off the first and scored on RBI double by Chipper Jones. Next inning, a lead off homer by Andruw Jones made it 2–0 Braves. However, the wheels came off for Atlanta in the third when two errors, a single, and fielder's choice allowed Arizona to load the bases with one out. Steve Finley's single scored two with Finley going to second on another error, then Matt Williams and Mark Grace hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Arizona up 4–2. Manager Bob Brenly went for the jugular in the fourth, pinch hitting David Dellucci for Lopez to lead off the inning. Dellucci singled, then Tony Womack singled before Craig Counsell hit a two-run double to left to make it 6–2. Brian Anderson, who picked up the win, pitched 3+1⁄3. The Braves scored in the seventh off of Mike Morgan on Brian Jordan's RBI single with the run charged to Anderson, but in the eighth, Arizona got the run back off of Steve Karsay when Womack singled with one out and scored on Counsell's double. The Braves loaded the bases in the bottom half on three straight leadoff singles off of Jason Marquis, but Byung-Hyun Kim in relief allowed just one run on Javy López's double play. In the ninth, Jason Marquis struck out the first two men he faced, but a walk and error was followed by Counsell's RBI single. Luis Gonzalez's three-run homer broke the game open at 11–4 Arizona, all four runs unearned. Kim pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth as the win put Arizona firmly in control of the series, ahead three games to one with a rested Randy Johnson set to pitch.
Game 5
Sunday, October 21, 2001 at Turner Field in Atlanta
Game 1 winner Randy Johnson and Game 2 winner Tom Glavine faced off as Arizona looked to advance to their first ever World Series appearance. Former Brave Danny Bautista broke a scoreless tie in the fourth by singling home Mark Grace. The Braves promptly tied the game when veteran Julio Franco led off the fourth with a home run, the first run Johnson had allowed the whole series. However, Arizona answered right back in the top of the fifth when Erubiel Durazo hit a two-out two-run blast off Glavine to make it 3–1, one run unearned. In the seventh, Franco added another RBI with a single that made it 3–2. However, Byung-Hyun Kim came into the game and kept the Braves from getting any closer. He pitched two scoreless innings and Arizona won its first National League pennant.
Fox carried the National League Division Series over its network with its top broadcast team, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, calling the action of Game 1 and Game 2, and Thom Brennaman (himself a Diamondbacks broadcaster) and Steve Lyons calling the action of Game 3, Game 4 and Game 5. Game 5 of the 2001 NLCS was played at the same time as Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS and was a split national broadcast on Fox and Fox Sports Net. ESPN Radio provided national radio coverage for the fourth consecutive year, with Charley Steiner and Dave Campbell calling the action.
Locally, the NLCS was called on KTAR-AM in Phoenix by Greg Schulte, Jeff Munn, Rod Allen and Jim Traber, and on WSB-AM in Atlanta by Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, and Joe Simpson.
Aftermath
Arizona would continue to ride the brilliant duo of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling to a World Series victory against the Yankees in a dramatic seven game series. The Diamondbacks, in their fourth season of existence, were the fastest expansion team to win a World Series, beating out the 1997 Florida Marlins, who had done it in their fifth season at that time.
After dominating the National League in the 1990s (which included five consecutive victories in the NLDS to go with eight total NLCS trips and one World Series win in 1995), this would be the closest that Atlanta would get to going back to the World Series in the Bobby Cox era. The Braves would return to the postseason in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, but they would not get past the National League Division Series. By their 2004 and 2005 teams, the Braves gave significant playing time to their younger players and had moved on from star veterans such as Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield, and Javy Lopez. Atlanta would not win another playoff series until 2020 and would not win another World Series until 2021.
Bobby Cox would retire in 2010, leading managers all-time in multiple categories, such as playoff appearances, 100-win seasons (shared at six with John McGraw), and ejections, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Game 5 also marks the final time that Turner Field hosted either a League Championship Series or a World Series game.
Arizona would not return an NLCS until 2007, which by this time, they did not have any players from the 2001 team. They did not win another pennant until 2023 when they upset the Phillies in seven games.
The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-time defending World Series champions and American League (AL) champion New York Yankees. The underdog Diamondbacks defeated the heavily favored Yankees, four games to three to win the series. Considered one of the greatest World Series of all time, its memorable aspects included two extra-inning games and three late-inning comebacks. Diamondbacks pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were both named World Series Most Valuable Players.
The 1998 National League Championship Series (NLCS), to determine the champion of Major League Baseball's National League, was played from October 7 to 14 between the East Division champion Atlanta Braves and the West Division champion San Diego Padres.
The 1999 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1999 season. The 95th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending American League (AL) and World Series champion New York Yankees and the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves in a rematch of the 1996 World Series, in which the Yankees prevailed. The Yankees swept the 1999 Series in four games for their second consecutive title, third in four years, and 25th overall. It was the Yankees' third straight defeat of the Braves franchise in the Fall Classic. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. This was the first World Series to feature both #1 seeds from the AL and NL, a phenomenon that has only occurred twice since, in 2013 and 2020.
The 1995 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the second round of baseball's 1995 National League playoffs, matched the East Division champion Atlanta Braves against the Central Division champion Cincinnati Reds. The Reds had the home field advantage due to a predetermined formula which awarded home field advantage to the Central Division champion or its playoff opponent.
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The 1999 National League Championship Series (NLCS), was held to determine the champion of Major League Baseball's National League. The 30th in NL history, it was held between two East Division rivals, the division champion Atlanta Braves and the wild card New York Mets.
The 1996 National League Championship Series (NLCS) matched the East Division champion Atlanta Braves and the Central Division champion St. Louis Cardinals. It was the second NLCS meeting of the two teams and first since 1982. The Braves won in seven games, becoming the eighth team in baseball history to win a best-of-seven postseason series after being down 3–1, and first to overcome such a deficit in the NLCS. They outscored the Cardinals, 32–1, over the final three games. Also, Bobby Cox became the only manager to be on both the winning and losing end of such a comeback in postseason history, having previously blown the 1985 American League Championship Series with the Toronto Blue Jays against the Kansas City Royals.
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The 2000 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2000 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:
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The 1996 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1996 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:
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The 2001 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2001 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
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