May 29, 2021: 2001

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since 2001. It was a year we will never forget. Of course, that was when the Twin Towers came tumbling down on September 11th; I’m sure everyone can remember where they were at when that happened. Personally, about 6 months earlier, I met the woman who would eventually become my wife; I told my son that, and he shrugged… I told him you wouldn’t be sitting here if that didn’t happen. But not going to talk about either of those, OK, maybe a little more about 9/11, but of course, this is the next year of Baseball Seasons, and I have to say, this would be one of the more memorable years in baseball history.

The episode didn’t disappoint; it didn’t just focus on the playoffs. It told the story of the year; it wasn’t hard to do with so much going on in baseball. You had a team coming off their 3rd straight World Series title in the Yankees. You had two legends playing their last year in the bigs, in Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. You had two legends playing in their rookie season, in Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols. Oh yeah, and what about the year Barry Bonds had… setting the single season home run record with 73. There was Rickey Henderson getting his 3,000th hit on Tony Gwynn’s last game. And what about the Mariners? Tying our 1906 Cubs with 116 regular season wins. And then oh yeah, the ending… with one of the best World Series ever in my opinion. 2001 had it all.

Of course, the events of 9/11 certainly put things in perspective, essentially stopping all of us in our tracks on that fateful day. I remember it pretty clearly. As my girlfriend/future wife was dropping me off at work, I remember hearing about a plane crash; it turned out to be much more than that. A couple hours later, everybody was migrating out of downtown Chicago, fearing that we may be next. It was a crazy day; I can’t even imagine being in New York when that happened, and all the people that lost their lives that day. The way the country came together after that day was really something, especially thinking about how we are today. Eventually, we had to move forward; for us sports fans, baseball helped us do that. The home run that Mike Piazza hit for the Mets when the first game was played in New York… if that doesn’t get you going… wow. Then the Yankees, clinching the division in their first game back in the Bronx. Those events, coupled with everything I mentioned above that was going on, helped bring back baseball stronger than ever, helping the country recover from the horrific events that occurred late in the season.

Of course, I felt like the Yankees were the team of destiny because of what happened in New York. Going for their 4th straight title, they would face off against the Diamondbacks. Although I did feel like they would win, I was rooting for Arizona; they are from America too right? Of course, it went back to a team winning too much playing vs a team that has never won, one in which one of my favorite Cubs ever Mark Grace was playing for. After the DBacks sent out Schilling and Johnson to win Games 1 and 2, it was the Yankees’ turn. They won three straight emotionally charged games in the Bronx, including 2 straight walk off victories, including the first ever in November, by instantly tagged Mr. November Derek Jeter. Even though I was rooting against them, it was hard not to enjoy what happened in those games; it was phenomenal. Game 6 was a blow out, not that Randy Johnson even needed all those runs. Then there was Game 7, and a pitcher’s duel between Schilling and Clemens. The score was 2-1 Yankees after future Cub Alfonso Soriano hit a go ahead home run in the 8th. The game would go to the bottom of the 9th with the same score, and the possibly the greatest closer of all time Mariano Rivera trying to close it out; he struck out 3 straight in the bottom of the 8th. He was met with a leadoff single by Mark Grace; loved that. Of course, Arizona would tie the game, load the bases, and see Luis Gonzalez join Bill Mazeroski, Joe Carter, and Edgar Renteria, with a walk off World Series winning hit. UN, BEE, LEE, VA, BLE.

Yeah, I could write a ton more about all the events that occurred that year; it was actually the longest Baseball Seasons episode that I watched. This made a lot of sense; I’m sure it could have been longer. I could write a ton more about 9/11, and of course about how I met my wife as well. But we’ll call it for now; maybe I need to go more in depth for some of these years… 2001 would certainly be a candidate. Maybe I found the subject of the next book I’ll read… Anyways, back to current day baseball, where the Cubs will head into Sunday’s game with the Reds looking for their 7th straight win.