| 2001 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 1 – November 4, 2001 |
| Number of games | 162 |
| Number of teams | 30 |
| TV partner(s) | Fox/FX/Fox Family, ESPN |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Joe Mauer |
| Picked by | Minnesota Twins |
| Season MVP | AL: Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) NL: Barry Bonds (SF) |
| Postseason | |
| AL champions | New York Yankees |
| AL runners-up | Seattle Mariners |
| NL champions | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| NL runners-up | Atlanta Braves |
| World Series | |
| Champions | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Runners-up | New York Yankees |
| World Series MVP | Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling (AZ) |
The 2001 Major League Baseball season finished with the Arizona Diamondbacks defeating the New York Yankees in seven games for the World Series championship. The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. pushed the end of the regular season from September 30 to October 7. Because of the attacks, the World Series was not completed until November 4. The 2001 World Series was the first World Series to end in November.
MLB used an unbalanced schedule for the first time since 1992 in the National League and 1976 in the American League. In all divisions except the NL Central and AL West each team played each of the other four teams in the same division 19 times. In the NL Central division foes met 16 or 17 times per season and in the AL West there were 19 or 20 games between each division foe.
This season was memorable for the Seattle Mariners tying the Major League regular season record of 116 wins, Barry Bonds breaking Mark McGwire's single-season home run record, and baseball's patriotic return after a week's worth of games being postponed due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
American League
| National League
|
| Division Series (ALDS, NLDS) | League Championship Series (NLCS, ALCS) | World Series | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Cleveland | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 1 | ||||||||||||
| American League | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | NY Yankees | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NY Yankees | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Oakland | 2 | ||||||||||||
| AL2 | NY Yankees | 3 | ||||||||||||
| NL2 | Arizona | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Houston | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Atlanta | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Atlanta | 1 | ||||||||||||
| National League | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Arizona | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Arizona | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||||||
Note: Two teams in the same division could not meet in the division series.
| Statistic | American League | National League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ichiro Suzuki SEA | .350 | Larry Walker COL | .350 |
| HR | Alex Rodriguez TEX | 52 | Barry Bonds SF | 73 |
| RBI | Bret Boone SEA | 141 | Sammy Sosa CHC | 160 |
| Wins | Mark Mulder OAK | 21 | Matt Morris STL Curt Schilling AZ | 22 |
| ERA | Freddy García SEA | 3.05 | Randy Johnson AZ | 2.49 |
| SO | Hideo Nomo BOS | 220 | Randy Johnson AZ | 372 |
| SV | Mariano Rivera NYY | 50 | Robb Nen SF | 45 |
| SB | Ichiro Suzuki SEA | 56 | Juan Pierre COL Jimmy Rollins PHI | 46 |
| Team | Manager | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Angels | Mike Scioscia | |
| Baltimore Orioles | Mike Hargrove | |
| Boston Red Sox | Jimy Williams | Replaced during the season by Joe Kerrigan |
| Chicago White Sox | Jerry Manuel | |
| Cleveland Indians | Charlie Manuel | |
| Detroit Tigers | Phil Garner | |
| Kansas City Royals | Tony Muser | |
| Minnesota Twins | Tom Kelly | |
| New York Yankees | Joe Torre | Won the American League pennant |
| Oakland Athletics | Art Howe | |
| Seattle Mariners± | Lou Piniella | |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | Larry Rothschild | Replaced during the season by Hal McRae |
| Texas Rangers | Johnny Oates | Replaced during the season by Jerry Narron |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Buck Martinez |
| Team | Manager | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Bob Brenly | Won the World Series |
| Atlanta Braves | Bobby Cox | |
| Chicago Cubs | Don Baylor | |
| Cincinnati Reds | Bob Boone | |
| Colorado Rockies | Buddy Bell | |
| Florida Marlins | John Boles Jr. | Replaced during the season by Tony Pérez |
| Houston Astros | Larry Dierker | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Jim Tracy | |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Davey Lopes | |
| Montreal Expos | Felipe Alou | Replaced during the season by Jeff Torborg |
| New York Mets | Bobby Valentine | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Larry Bowa | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Lloyd McClendon | |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Tony La Russa | |
| San Diego Padres | Bruce Bochy | |
| San Francisco Giants | Dusty Baker |
±hosted the MLB All Star Game
| Month | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
| April | Manny Ramirez | Luis Gonzalez |
| May | Jason Giambi | Barry Bonds |
| June | Mike Sweeney | Luis Gonzalez |
| July | Jim Thome | Jeff Bagwell |
| August | Jermaine Dye | Sammy Sosa |
| September | Eric Chavez | Barry Bonds |
| Month | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
| April | Brad Radke | Wade Miller |
| May | Pedro Martínez | Curt Schilling |
| June | Roger Clemens | Greg Maddux |
| July | Mark Mulder | Greg Maddux |
| August | Barry Zito | Javier Vázquez |
| September | Barry Zito | Woody Williams |
| Month | American League | National League |
|---|---|---|
| April | Ichiro Suzuki | Albert Pujols |
| May | Ichiro Suzuki | Albert Pujols |
| June | Ichiro Suzuki | Ben Sheets |
| July | CC Sabathia | Pedro Feliz |
| August | Ichiro Suzuki | Roy Oswalt |
| September | Ichiro Suzuki | Bud Smith |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game | Est. payroll | %± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners [1] | 116 | 27.5% | 3,507,326 | 20.3% | 43,300 | $74,720,834 | 23.5% |
| San Francisco Giants [2] | 90 | -7.2% | 3,311,958 | -0.2% | 40,888 | $63,280,167 | 17.8% |
| New York Yankees [3] | 95 | 9.2% | 3,264,907 | 6.9% | 40,811 | $112,787,143 | 21.1% |
| Cleveland Indians [4] | 91 | 1.1% | 3,175,523 | -8.1% | 39,694 | $93,360,001 | 21.3% |
| Colorado Rockies [5] | 73 | -11.0% | 3,166,821 | -3.9% | 39,097 | $71,541,334 | 17.1% |
| St. Louis Cardinals [6] | 93 | -2.1% | 3,109,578 | -6.8% | 37,922 | $79,373,333 | 28.7% |
| Baltimore Orioles [7] | 63 | -14.9% | 3,094,841 | -6.1% | 38,686 | $74,279,540 | -9.8% |
| Los Angeles Dodgers [8] | 86 | 0.0% | 3,017,143 | 4.8% | 37,249 | $109,105,953 | 23.8% |
| Houston Astros [9] | 93 | 29.2% | 2,904,277 | -5.0% | 35,855 | $60,612,667 | 18.2% |
| Texas Rangers [10] | 73 | 2.8% | 2,831,021 | 9.4% | 34,525 | $88,633,500 | 25.2% |
| Atlanta Braves [11] | 88 | -7.4% | 2,823,530 | -12.7% | 34,858 | $91,936,166 | 8.5% |
| Milwaukee Brewers [12] | 68 | -6.8% | 2,811,041 | 78.6% | 34,704 | $43,886,833 | 17.6% |
| Chicago Cubs [13] | 88 | 35.4% | 2,779,465 | -0.4% | 34,314 | $64,715,833 | 6.9% |
| Arizona Diamondbacks [14] | 92 | 8.2% | 2,736,451 | -7.0% | 33,783 | $85,082,999 | 5.0% |
| New York Mets [15] | 82 | -12.8% | 2,658,330 | -5.8% | 32,819 | $93,174,428 | 17.2% |
| Boston Red Sox [16] | 82 | -3.5% | 2,625,333 | 1.5% | 32,412 | $110,035,833 | 37.6% |
| Pittsburgh Pirates [17] | 62 | -10.1% | 2,464,870 | 40.9% | 30,430 | $57,760,833 | 84.4% |
| San Diego Padres [18] | 79 | 3.9% | 2,378,128 | 1.1% | 29,360 | $39,182,833 | -28.8% |
| Oakland Athletics [19] | 102 | 12.1% | 2,133,277 | 33.0% | 26,337 | $33,810,750 | 1.9% |
| Anaheim Angels [20] | 75 | -8.5% | 2,000,919 | -3.2% | 24,703 | $47,735,167 | -9.4% |
| Detroit Tigers [21] | 66 | -16.5% | 1,921,305 | -21.2% | 23,720 | $53,416,167 | -10.4% |
| Toronto Blue Jays [22] | 80 | -3.6% | 1,915,438 | 12.3% | 23,359 | $76,895,999 | 67.0% |
| Cincinnati Reds [23] | 66 | -22.4% | 1,879,757 | -27.1% | 23,207 | $48,986,000 | 4.5% |
| Minnesota Twins [24] | 85 | 23.2% | 1,782,929 | 78.2% | 22,011 | $24,130,000 | 37.7% |
| Philadelphia Phillies [25] | 86 | 32.3% | 1,782,054 | 10.5% | 22,001 | $41,663,833 | -12.3% |
| Chicago White Sox [26] | 83 | -12.6% | 1,766,172 | -9.3% | 21,805 | $65,653,667 | 106.8% |
| Kansas City Royals [27] | 65 | -15.6% | 1,536,371 | -1.8% | 18,968 | $35,422,500 | 42.2% |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays [28] | 62 | -10.1% | 1,298,365 | -10.4% | 16,029 | $56,980,000 | -9.9% |
| Florida Marlins [29] | 76 | -3.8% | 1,261,226 | 3.5% | 15,765 | $35,762,500 | 75.8% |
| Montreal Expos [30] | 68 | 1.5% | 642,745 | -30.6% | 7,935 | $35,159,500 | 6.6% |
This was the first season that national TV coverage was split between ESPN and Fox Sports. ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected weeknight and Sunday night games, and selected Division Series playoff games. Fox televised Saturday baseball, the All-Star Game, selected Division Series games, both League Championship Series, and the World Series. Sister network FX also aired Saturday primetime games. Thursday night games moved from Fox Sports Net to Fox Family. Fox Family also aired selected Division Series games. This was the last season that Fox Sports broadcast regular season games on either Fox Family or FX.
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