In the American League, the New York Yankees returned to the postseason for the sixth straight time, the Chicago White Sox made their first appearance since 1993, the Seattle Mariners returned for the third time in six years, and the Oakland Athletics made their first appearance since 1992. This was the first of three straight appearances for the Athletics.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves made their ninth straight appearance in the postseason. Next were the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, who both returned for the second time in five years, marking the first time since 1989 that both teams from the San Francisco Bay Area made the postseason. The last team on the NL side were the New York Mets, who returned for the second straight year. This postseason was notable in that it was the first time that both #1 seeds from the American and National Leagues failed to make it past the LDS.
The postseason began on October 3, 2000, and ended on October 26, 2000, with the Yankees defeating the Mets in five games in the 2000 World Series, also known as the "Subway Series" as both teams were from New York City. The Yankees completed a three-peat and won their 26th title in franchise history. As of 2025, the Yankees remain the most recent repeat World Series champion.[2]
The Mariners upset the top-seeded White Sox in a sweep to return to the ALCS for the first time since 1995.
The Mariners took Game 1 in Chicago in extra innings thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud in the top of the tenth. Game 2 started off tied at two runs early, until Jay Buhner hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth that put the Mariners in the lead for good, giving them a 2–0 series lead headed home. In Game 3, the White Sox got out to an early lead thanks to a sacrifice fly from Herbert Perry, but the Mariners tied the game and then won in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a bunt from Carlos Guillén.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Yankees and Athletics. They last met in the 1981 ALCS, which the Yankees won in a sweep before falling in the World Series. The Yankees once again defeated the Athletics, this time in five games, to return to the ALCS for the fourth time in five years.
The Athletics took Game 1 at home as Gil Heredia outdueled Roger Clemens in a 5-3 win. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera blanked the Athletics offense in Game 2 as the Yankees won 4-0 to even the series heading to the Bronx. In Game 3, Orlando Hernández pitched seven solid innings and Rivera got another save as the Yankees won 4-2 to take the series lead. In Game 4, Clemens lost yet another pitchers’ duel to Barry Zito as the Athletics blew out the Yankees to force a decisive fifth game back in Oakland. In Game 5, the Yankees jumped out to a big lead early, and Mike Stanton and Rivera stopped a rally by the Athletics to prevail 7-5.
These two teams would meet again in the ALDS next year, and in the Wild Card Game of the 2018 postseason, with the Yankees winning both meetings.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Mets. The Mets defeated the top-seeded Giants in four games to advance to the NLCS for the second year in a row.
The Giants took Game 1 by four runs, capped off by a three-run home run from Ellis Burks. In Game 2, the Mets held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, when J. T. Snow hit a three-run home run to force extra innings. Jay Payton then put the Mets back in the lead for good with an RBI single in the top of the tenth to even the series headed to Queens. In a long and grueling Game 3, the Mets won in the bottom of the thirteenth inning thanks to a walk-off homer from Benny Agbayani. In Game 4, Bobby Jones pitched a one-hit complete game shutout for the Mets as they won 4-0 to advance to the NLCS.
This marked the first time in postseason history that both #1 seeds fell in the LDS. Both teams would meet again in the 2016 NL Wild Card Game, which the Giants won in a shutout.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Braves. They previously met in the NLCS in 1996, which the Braves won in seven games after trailing in the series three games to one. The Cardinals swept the defending National League champion Braves to advance to the NLCS for the second time in four years, ending the Braves’ eight-year NLCS appearance streak.
The series was not close - the Cardinals completely dominated the Braves in this series. In Game 1, the Cardinals’ offense overwhelmed Greg Maddux and their bullpen held off a late rally by the Braves to win 7-5. In Game 2, Will Clark, Carlos Hernández, and Ray Lankford chased Tom Glavine from the mound as the Cardinals blew out the Braves to take a 2-0 series lead headed to Atlanta. Fernando Viña and Jim Edmonds led the way for the Cardinals’ offense in Game 3 in yet another blowout win to complete the sweep.
The Cardinals and Braves would meet in the postseason two more times - in the Wild Card game in 2012, and the NLDS in 2019, both won by the Cardinals.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Yankees and Mariners. They last met in the 1995 ALDS, which the Mariners won after being down two games to none in the series. The Yankees defeated the Mariners in six games, and returned to the World Series for the fourth time in five years.
Freddy García and Kazuhiro Sasaki kept the Yankees’ offense silent in Game 1 as the Mariners prevailed in a 2-0 shutout on the road. In Game 2, Orlando Hernández pitched eight solid innings as the Yankees blew out the Mariners to even the series headed to Seattle. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera stymied the Seattle offense in Game 3 as the Yankees blew out the Mariners again to take the series lead. Roger Clemens pitched a one-hit complete game shutout in Game 4 as the Yankees won 5-0 to take a 3-1 series lead. In Game 5, the Yankees led 2-1 after four innings, but the Mariners offense finally woke up as they put up five unanswered runs in the bottom of the fifth in part thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud to send the series back to the Bronx. Game 6 was an offensive shootout between both teams, which was won by the Yankees as David Justice hit a three-run home run in a six-run seventh inning to put the Yankees in the lead for good. Game 6 was the last MLB postseason game covered by NBC.
This was the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.
Both teams would meet again in the ALCS the next year, where the 95-win Yankees defeated the 116-win Mariners in one of the biggest upsets in postseason history.[32]
This was the first postseason meeting between the Mets and Cardinals. The Mets defeated the Cardinals in five games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1986 (in the process denying a rematch of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals).
Mike Hampton pitched seven solid innings as the Mets stole Game 1 on the road. Game 2 was tied going into the top of the ninth, where Jay Payton won the game for the Mets with an RBI single to go up 2-0 in the series headed to Queens. In Game 3, Andy Benes pitched eight solid innings as the Cardinals blew out the Mets for their only win of the series. Game 4 was an offensive shootout that was won by the Mets as they once again chased St. Louis starter Darryl Kile from the mound. Game 5 was marred by controversy as Payton was hit near his left eye by a fastball from Cardinals’ pitcher Dave Veres in the bottom of the eighth. A fight then broke out between Veres and Payton, both benches and bullpens cleared, and the Shea Stadium crowd started mocking the Cardinals by chanting Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye and booing them as the inning ended. Otherwise, Game 5 was a stellar performance for the Mets, as Hampton pitched a three-hit complete game shutout in a blowout win to clinch the pennant and set up the first all-New York City World Series since 1956.
This was the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.
The Cardinals returned to the NLCS in 2002, but they fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They would win their next pennant in 2004 against the Houston Astros in seven games before coming up short in the World Series.
The Mets would win their next and most recent pennant in 2015 in a sweep over the Chicago Cubs before falling in the World Series.
Both teams would meet again in the 2006 NLCS, which the Cardinals won in seven games en route to a World Series title.
This was the first World Series to feature two teams from New York since 1956, and the first to feature two teams from the same state since 1989. The Yankees defeated the Mets in five games to complete a World Series three-peat.
The first two games in the Bronx were taken by the Yankees. Game 1 was a long extra-innings contest that was won by the Yankees as José Vizcaíno drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the twelfth. In Game 2, minor controversy occurred when a pitch from Roger Clemens shattered Mike Piazza's bat. The ball went foul, but a sharp edge of the bat came towards Clemens. He came off the mound and threw the bat towards the baseline, almost hitting the running Piazza. Piazza appeared baffled by Clemens' actions. After the game, Clemens would say he did not see Piazza running and threw the bat because he was pumped up with nervous energy and initially charged the incoming broken bat, believing it to be the ball. The Yankees won Game 2 by one run as Mariano Rivera stopped a last-minute rally by the Mets in the top of the ninth to go up 2–0 in the series. When the series shifted to Queens for Game 3, the Yankees lead 2-1 after five, but the Mets put up three unanswered runs, thanks to an RBI from Benny Agbayani and a sacrifice fly by Bubba Trammell to win and avoid a sweep. In Game 4, the Yankees jumped out to the lead first thanks to a Derek Jeter leadoff home run, and despite the Mets cutting their lead to one, would hold on to take a 3–1 series lead. Game 5 remained tied at two going into the top of the ninth, when a single from Luis Sojo scored Scott Brosius and Jorge Posada that put the Yankees ahead for good, and Rivera earned his second save in the bottom of the inning as the Yankees closed out the Mets to complete a three-peat. Game 5 was the last World Series game ever played at Shea Stadium.
The Yankees became the first team since the 1972–74 Oakland Athletics to complete a World Series three-peat (the Athletics, ironically, also beat the Mets during their dynasty run, in 1973). This was also the third three-peat by the Yankees overall (1936-1938 and 1949-1951).[43] As of 2025, the Yankees are the most recent team in the majors to repeat as World Series champions. The Yankees returned to the World Series again the next year in hopes to win a fourth straight title, but fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games after being two outs away from the title in Game 7. The Yankees' next and most recent title would come in 2009, where they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.
This would be the last World Series appearance for the Mets until 2015, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals in five games.
Broadcasting
This was the final year under a five-year U.S. rights agreement with ESPN, Fox, and NBC. Division Series games aired across the three networks. NBC then televised the American League Championship Series. With the 2000 United States presidential debates being held on October 3 and 17, NBC did a reverse mirror with the Pax Network, which it held minority ownership at the time. In some markets, the debates were shown on the local NBC station while the local Pax station aired baseball; in other markets, baseball aired on the local NBC station and the debates were televised on the local Pax station. Fox aired both the 2000 National League Championship Series and the World Series. NBC declined to renew its broadcasting rights after the season, eventually resulting in Fox televising the World Series ever since.
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