Ten Years Ago Today: 2001 World Series Game 4

by OTRWaldo on Oct 31, 2011 9:14 PM EDT

Ten years ago today was 2001 World Series Game 4. For Yankee fans, this is the most memorable game of what is generally considered the greatest World Series ever.

Due to the tragic events on 9/11, the 2001 season was put on hold for a week. The whole schedule was pushed back, and baseball entered November for the first time ever.

Fox Pre-Game Intro

Game 4 Box Score

Curt Schilling, on short rest, gave Arizona seven strong innings. Shane Spencer's solo home run was the only time the Yankees crossed the plate in the first eight innings. Orlando Hernandez started for the Yankees, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing one run. Mike Stanton surrendered two runs in the eighth inning, and the Yankees saw themselves trailing 3-1, on the brink of trailing the series 3-1.

Byung-Hyun Kim, who had pitched a clean eighth inning, was one out away from closing out the ninth inning and Game 4. The crowd looked on silently as Tino Martinez came up to the plate with one man on base. Then this happened.

55,000 fans were suddenly alive as the Yankees headed into extra innings. Mariano Rivera pitched a clean top of the tenth inning. In the bottom of the frame, Scott Brosius and Alfonso Soriano both flew out against Byung-Hyun Kim. The clock struck midnight, and November baseball was underway. Derek Jeter walked up to the plate, and on a 3-2 pitch, he sent the ball toward the right field porch and over the 314 sign.

Jeter Becomes Mr. November

The Yankees tied up the series at 2 games apiece, saving Joe Torre a ton of stress and trouble for the time being.

In Game 5, the Yankees trailed 2-0 with one on and two outs. Kim was once again on the mound, looking to redeem himself. Scott Brosius, however, had other plans. The Yankees went on to win that game in 12 innings. Although the Yankees experienced heartbreaking defeat in the ninth inning of Game 7, they were victorious in three unforgettable home games, and we can appreciate the smiles they put on faces in a shaken city.

Share your thoughts and memories below.

Tweet Comment 12 comments | 4 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Thanks for the memories

I can watch clips like these again and again.

Romine!

by david d on Oct 31, 2011 10:34 PM EDT reply actions

I was at this game with my dad

Absolutely sick. It was my first World Series game I’d attended and it was depressing for almost the entire time, but when the Tino ball went out it’s probably the loudest single environment I’d ever been in. The stadium was shaking.

Let us all congratulate the Boston Red Sox for becoming the first World Champions in the history of sports to NOT make the postseason! Thats not easy to do!

by nyyrocks29 on Oct 31, 2011 10:58 PM EDT reply actions

This game was just unbelievable

The Yankees tied up the series, and after having won the three previous World Series, it felt like they just could not lose. Which made the shock of Game 7 all the more, well, shocking.

by waw on Oct 31, 2011 11:27 PM EDT reply actions

Rec’d. I was not really a baseball fan back then, but I have the game on DVD and I watch it quite often.

Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc

Writer/Editor for Pinstripe Alley, Blueshirt Banter

"No matter what I talk about, I always get back to baseball."

"Every day is a great day for hockey."

by Brandon C. on Oct 31, 2011 11:31 PM EDT reply actions

I was actually in the process of writing an article on this, but never got around to finishing it.

Fortunately, my mom was offered tickets to this game and we ended up going to it instead of trick or treating. I clearly remember the stadium electrifying when Tino Martinez drilled a two-run homer to dead centerfield to tie the game 3-3. O’Neill was prancing around the base paths like a little leaguer and Jeter created history just after midnight going opposite field.

A truly unforgettable moment in baseball history that united the city of New York after 9/11.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." --Rogers Hornsby

@csm5206

by Chris McKeown on Nov 1, 2011 1:13 AM EDT reply actions

I'm a little confused

What makes the 2001 World Series “the greatest World Series ever?” I’m also a little lost on the celebration of the anniversary of a game 4 of a series in which the Yankees ultimately lost.

I wasn’t living in New York at that time, so I’m not sure non-New Yorkers would share the same sentiments, even though we’re all Yankee fans.

Also, did Jeter really get the “Mr. November” tag because he hit one home run in November? He may have been the first Yankee to do so, but not the only (Scott Brosius and Alfonso Soriano hit home runs in games 5 and 7).

by phonty on Nov 1, 2011 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Jeter got the title because of the way he hit the homer pretty much right after the clock hit midnight, as the announcers were making a big deal about it being the first WS game ever played in November. Really, it was about timing, and the huge hole the Yankees would have been in had they lost that game (it would have been 3-1 D-backs at that point).

As for the 2001 series, there were a lot of late game heroics, and it was a 7 game series. But more than anything else, there was just a feeling around New York that postseason that this series would make such an uplifting story for the city after the horror of 9/11 that was so fresh in everyone’s minds. I was no longer living in the area in 2001 (moved away in 2000), but it was recent enough for me that I know this was how I was feeling. It’s hard to say that any team really “needs” to win four WS titles in a row, I know. But the media was really playing up the narrative of how these improbable comeback wins for the Yankees in the WS in this year, of all years, made it seem like destiny. Then, for them to lose it how they did – Mo’s first career blown postseason save – just made it all the more unreal.

Just my perspective, YMMV.

by waw on Nov 1, 2011 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for providing your perspective

I understand about 9/11 and all. I’ve just never heard it referred to as the greatest World Series ever before. Had they won, then yes, I’d put it up there with all the storybook teams and seasons and series.

I’m still not clear on the significance of the 10th anniversary of this game, though. Was it that important, that pivotal, in baseball or American history that it has to be celebrated Decennially?

I’m not being snarky or contrarian, I’m really trying to understand something that escapes my understanding.

by phonty on Nov 1, 2011 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions

You need to look at this series as a baseball fan, not purely as a Yankees fan, to see it as perhaps the greatest Series ever. I’m not a Braves or Twins fan, but to me, as a baseball fan, the ’91 Series is one of, if not the, greatest Series ever.

Romine!

by david d on Nov 1, 2011 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with david d here. All bias aside, 2001 World Series was one of the most dramatic displays of baseball there has ever been in seven games. I consider it near the top despite the fact that the Yankees lost.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." --Rogers Hornsby

@csm5206

by Chris McKeown on Nov 1, 2011 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions

The series just had so much going on.

When you look at the games themselves, the two teams won all their home games. We went from 0-2 to 3-2 to 3-4, and there were sudden momentum shifts within these games. Games 4 and 5 saw unbelievable, nearly identical dramatic moments in the ninth inning… both two outs, same pitcher, same deficit, same outcome. From what I’ve read, Yankee Stadium was as loud as its ever been when Tino tied Game 4. Baseball entered November for the first time ever in the tenth inning of Game 4, and Jeter delivered the game-winner at 12:03. To answer your question, Jeter was given the tag as soon as he hit the blast. People lifted signs reading “Mr. November” and Michael Kay also exclaimed, “He is Mr. November!”

Although the outcome was heartbreaking for Yankee fans, Game 7 turned out to be another thriller, the third ninth inning comeback in the series.

Add on the mood associated with the series, which was not even two months after the tragedy. George Bush threw the first pitch in Game 3, which was an incredible moment of its own.

Another incredible thing was the matchup here: the Yankees were looking for their fourth straight title, while the Diamondbacks were looking for a championship in their fourth year of existence.

My YouTube---My Twitter

by OTRWaldo on Nov 1, 2011 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions