2001 American League Division Series

The 2001 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 2001 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 9, and ended on Monday, October 15, with the champions of the three AL divisions – along with a "wild card" team – participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

(1) Seattle Mariners (Western Division champion, 116-46) vs. (3) Cleveland Indians (Central Division champion, 91-71): Mariners win series, 3-2.
(2) New York Yankees (Eastern Division champion, 97-65) vs. (4) Oakland Athletics (Wild Card, 102-60): Yankees win series, 3-2.

The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage (Games 1, 2 and 5 at home), which was determined by playing record. Although the team with the best record was normally intended to play the wild card team, the Mariners played the Indians, rather than the wild card Athletics, because the Mariners and Athletics are in the same division.

The Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees went on to meet in the AL Championship Series (ALCS). The Yankees became the American League champion, and lost to the National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series.

Managers:

Joe Torre, New York; Art Howe, Oakland
Lou Piniella, Seattle; Charlie Manuel, Cleveland

Umpires: Steve Rippley, Ted Barrett, Kerwin Danley, Jerry Layne, Mark Hirschbeck, Ron Kulpa (Mariners-Indians, Games 1-2, 5; Yankees-Athletics, Games 3-4); Dana DeMuth, Jeff Nelson, Paul Schrieber, Rick Reed, Ed Rapuano, Greg Gibson (Yankees-Athletics, Games 1-2, 5; Mariners-Indians, Games 3-4)

Television:

Series Network(s) Play-by-play Color Commentator(s)New York Yankees/Oakland Athletics FOX Joe Buck(Games 1, 2, 4)
Thom Brennaman(Games 3, 5) Tim McCarver(Games 1, 2, 4)
Steve Lyons(Games 3, 5) Seattle Mariners/Cleveland Indians FOX(Games 1, 3, 5)
Fox Family(Games 2, 4) Josh Lewin Rex Hudler

1 Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians
2 New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics
3 Trivia
4 External links

Seattle Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians

Series Summary:

Game 1 @ Safeco Field: Indians 5, Mariners 0
Game 2 @ Safeco Field: Mariners 5, Indians 1
Game 3 @ Jacobs Field: Indians 17, Mariners 2
Game 4 @ Jacobs Field: Mariners 6, Indians 2
Game 5 @ Safeco Field: Mariners 3, Indians 1

Mariners win series 3-2

Game 1

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cleveland 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 5 11 1 Seattle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1

WP: Bartolo Colón (1-0) LP: Freddy Garcia (0-1)
HRs: CLE – Ellis Burks (1)

Game 2

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 Seattle 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 5 6 0

WP: Jamie Moyer (1-0) LP: Chuck Finley (0-1)
HRs: SEA – Mike Cameron (1), Edgar Martínez (1), David Bell (1)

Game 3

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Seattle 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 7 3 Cleveland 2 2 4 0 1 3 0 5 - 17 19 0

WP: C. C. Sabathia (1-0) LP: Aaron Sele (0-1)
HRs: CLE – Juan González (1), Kenny Lofton (1), Jim Thome (1)

Game 4

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Seattle 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 6 11 0 Cleveland 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 2

WP: Freddy Garcia (1-1) LP: Bartolo Colón (1-1)
HRs: SEA – Edgar Martínez (2) CLE – Juan González (2)

Game 5

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Cleveland 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 Seattle 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 3 9 1

WP: Jamie Moyer (2-0) LP: Chuck Finley (0-2) SV: Kazuhiro Sasaki (1)

New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics

Series Summary:

Game 1 @ Yankee Stadium: Athletics 5, Yankees 3
Game 2 @ Yankee Stadium: Athletics 2, Yankees 0
Game 3 @ Network Associates Coliseum: Yankees 1, Athletics 0
Game 4 @ Network Associates Coliseum: Yankees 9, Athletics 2
Game 5 @ Yankee Stadium: Yankees 5, Athletics 3

Yankees win series 3-2, becoming the first team in MLB history to win the ALDS after dropping the first two games at home.

This series is notable for a defensive play in the seventh inning of Game 3. With Oakland leading the five-game series two games to none, on the verge of completing a sweep, the Yankees took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs and Jeremy Giambi on first base, Terrence Long hit a line drive into the right field corner. With Giambi rounding third base, right fielder Shane Spencer's throw missed both cut-off men. It appeared that Giambi would score easily, tying the game, when Derek Jeter, while running across the diamond, reached out, cradled the ball, and shovel passed it to catcher Jorge Posada. Posada tagged Giambi, who attempted to jump over the tag as opposed to sliding around it. ESPN ranks this play as the 45th most memorable moment of the last 25 years. [1]

This single play is often credited with changing the momentum of the series. The Yankees held on to win this game, and then finished off the A's by winning games 4 and 5 as well.

Jeter also made another spectacular play (again with Terrence Long batting) that is often overlooked. In the Top of the 8th inning of Game 5, Long hit a towering foul pop up in a two run game. Jeter, running and following the ball at the same time made a backhanded grab and then turning his body, flipped into the stands. For a moment, no one knew if the ball had been caught. Here is Thom Brenneman's call of the play: "Popped up, third base side. JETER...DID HE GET IT?! DID HE GET IT?! DID HE GET IT?! HE GOT IT! HE GOT IT! HE GOT IT!" Jeter would continue to play in the postseason despite a slight leg injury from the tumble.

Game 1

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oakland 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 5 10 1 New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 10 1

WP: Mark Mulder (1-0) LP: Roger Clemens (0-1) SV: Jason Isringhausen (1)
HRs: OAK – Terrence Long 2 (1, 2), Jason Giambi (1) NYY – Tino Martinez (1)

Game 2

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oakland 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 9 1 New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0

WP: Tim Hudson (1-0) LP: Andy Pettitte (0-1) SV: Jason Isringhausen (2)
HRs: OAK – Ron Gant (1)

Game 3

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Oakland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1

WP: Mike Mussina (1-0) LP: Barry Zito (0-1) SV: Mariano Rivera (1)
HRs: NYY – Jorge Posada (1)

Game 4

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E New York 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 9 11 1 Oakland 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 1

WP: Orlando Hernández (1-0) LP: Cory Lidle (0-1)

Game 5

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Oakland 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 7 3 New York 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 - 5 10 1

WP: Mike Stanton (1-0) LP: Mark Mulder (1-1) SV: Mariano Rivera (2)
HRs: NYY – David Justice (1)

Trivia

"The Flip" was shown in a commercial for the sports drink Gatorade, except that Jeter made the throw to Posada too late, thus Posada could not tag Giambi in time allowing him to score. After promoting the drink, the play was replayed, but this time Jeter threw it at the right time and Posada tagged Jeremy Giambi out.