2001 Seattle Mariners
The 2001 Seattle Mariners tied the 1906 Chicago Cubs for most wins in a single season with 116. They defeated a 102 win Oakland A's team in the West Division of the American League by a full 14 games. In the playoff, they opened up by defeating the Cleveland Indians three games to two in the League Division Series to advance to the ALCS. Unfortunately for the Mariners and their fans, that would be the end of the road as they were defeated handily by the New York Yankees four out of five games to end their magical run.
Ichiro Suzuki took the league by storm in 2001, leading the league in batting with a .350 mark while stealing 56 bases. He won both the Rookie-of-the-Year and Most Valuable Player awards. Veterans Bret Boone (.950 OPS, 37 HR, 141 RBI) and Edgar Martinez (.966 OPS, 23 HR, 116 RBI) also had big seasons. The team offense as a whole led the American League in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases.
The Mariners pitching was also excellent, leading the AL in both ERA an WHIP. The staff was led by 38-year old Jamie Moyer (20-6 3.43 ERA) and second year starter Freddy Garcia (18-8 3.05 ERA). Five starters actually won double-digit games. The bullpen was also the best in the league. Arthur Rhodes (8-0 1.72 ERA), Jeff Nelson (4-3 2.76 ERA) and Norm Charlton (4-2 3.02 ERA) provided the setup work. Kazuhiro Sasaki recorded 45 saves as the closer.
1986 Boston Red Sox
For three consecutive batters in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox were within one strike of winning their first series title since 1918. In each instance, the result was a single by a New York Mets batter. Everybody remembers Mookie Wilson's dribbler going between Bill Buckner's legs. Boston lost that game, which forced a Game 7. In the sixth inning of the deciding game, the Red Sox held a 3-0 lead, only to lose in the end 8-5. It was one of the most agonizing defeats in the history of sports.
Boston made it to the series by going 95-66 for the best record in the American League. They played a classic ALCS against the California Angels, eventually winning that series in seven games to advance to the Fall Classic. The team was led by a 23-year old Roger Clemens, who won his first of seven Cy Young awards. He also secured the MVP award in 1986 for a season that saw him go 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA while striking out 238 batters. The offense was paced by Wade Boggs, who led the American League in hitting with a .357 average.
PREDICTION
The Red Sox have one thing going for them, and that's Rocket Roger. But he will only be able to pitch in two games at most. Seattle is just too strong in this spot. It's a team with no real weakness. We'll give the Sox one win with Clemens on the hill but that's it. Mariners will advance. MARINERS 3-1
Fenway Park
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Seattle 2001 (1-0) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 0 | |
| Boston 1986 (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |
| W: F. Garcia (1-0) L: S. Crawford (0-1) | |||||||||||||
HR: E. Martinez (1, 9th inning off J. Sellers 0 on, 0 out)
Boston elected to throw a curveball right off the bat in the series, electing to start veteran Tom Seaver in game one over Roger Clemens. If the future Hall-of-Famer could steal the opener, the Sox would be looking good heading into game two with the '86 MVP on the hill. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Freddy Garcia didn't want to cooperate.
Seaver, for his part, pitched quite well, throwing into the 7th while allowing only five hits and two runs. The Sox could only muster a pair of hits off Garcia through the first six innings, but they tied the game up in the bottom of the 7th when Garcia finally started to tire. But the Mariners struck for five big runs off of the Boston bullpen in the 8th to take control. Garcia went the distance for the win. Boston now needs Clemens in the second game at Fenway to avoid going in a 2-0 hole.
Fenway Park
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||
| Seattle 2001 (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |
| Boston 1986 (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | |
| W: R. Clemens (1-0) L: J. Nelson (0-1) | ||||||||||||||
20-game winner Jamie Moyer had the unenviable task of dueling Roger Clemens in game two, but the crafty left-hander was up to the task. Seattle struck first in this one, manufacturing a run in the 3rd to take an early lead. But Boston came right back with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game back up. The Mariners pushed another run across in the 6th off of Clemens, only to see the Sox respond again in the bottom half with a run of their own.
Moyer pitched into the 8th, but after a leadoff double by Rich Gedman, he was relieved by Arthur Rhodes. Wade Boggs was issued an intentional pass to setup the force play. Both runners moved up a base when Bill Buckner grounded out for the first out of the inning. With runners on second and third, Jim Rice was intentionally walked to load the bases. Ed Romero was called upon to pinch-hit, and he laid down an attempted suicide squeeze bunt. But the lead runner was gunned down at the plate to keep the game tied. Dwight Evans struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The game headed to the 9th still tied 2-2.
Neither team scored in the 9th to send the game to extra-innings. Clemens, still on the hill for the Sox, struck out two batters in the 10th to keep the game tied. Jeff Nelson relieved Rhodes for the M's. Buckner opened the inning with a single. After Jim Rice flew out to deep right, Dave Henderson stepped up and drilled a double to left, scoring Buckner and knotting the series at a game apiece. Clemens goes the full ten innings, striking out 15 Seattle batters. The series heads out West for the final games.
Game 3
Safeco Field
Safeco Field
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Boston 1986 (1-2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | |
| Seattle 2001 (2-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 | |
| W: A. Sele (1-0) L: B. Hurst (0-1) SV: K. Sasaki (1) | |||||||||||||
HR: R. Gedman (1, 1st inning off A. Sele 1 on, 0 out)
HR: D. Wilson (1, 6th inning off B. Hurst 2 on, 1 out)
Boston hit the ground running in this one. Leadoff hitter doubled off Seattle starter Aaron Sele to open the game, then came home when second hitter Rich Gedman blasted a deep drive to right to give the Sox a super fast 2-0 lead. Boston starter Bruce Hurst was crusing along through four, but was touched for a single run in the 5th to tie the game at one apiece.
Sele had settled down at this point. He set the Sox down in order in the 6th. The Mariners would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning when catcher Dan Wilson cracked a three-run homer. Boston pushed a single run across in the 7th to cut the lead to one, but Arthur Rhodes and Kaz Sasaki closed out the final two innings to put the Mariners up two game to one in the series. They look to close it out in game four.
Game 4
Safeco Field
HR: D. Bell (1, 3rd inning off B. Stanley 2 on, 2 out), M. Cameron (1, 8th inning off S. Stewart 0 on, 1 out)
HR: D. Wilson (1, 6th inning off B. Hurst 2 on, 1 out)
Boston hit the ground running in this one. Leadoff hitter doubled off Seattle starter Aaron Sele to open the game, then came home when second hitter Rich Gedman blasted a deep drive to right to give the Sox a super fast 2-0 lead. Boston starter Bruce Hurst was crusing along through four, but was touched for a single run in the 5th to tie the game at one apiece.
Sele had settled down at this point. He set the Sox down in order in the 6th. The Mariners would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning when catcher Dan Wilson cracked a three-run homer. Boston pushed a single run across in the 7th to cut the lead to one, but Arthur Rhodes and Kaz Sasaki closed out the final two innings to put the Mariners up two game to one in the series. They look to close it out in game four.
Game 4
Safeco Field
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Boston 1986 (1-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |
| Seattle 2001 (3-1) | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 11 | 11 | 0 | |
| W: P. Abbott (1-0) L: O. Boyd (0-1) | |||||||||||||
The Mariners would not be denied in game four. They scored two in the first to take the early lead off Boston starter Oil Can Boyd, then plated six in the 3rd and two more in the 4th to seal the deal. Seattle starter Paul Abbott was strong in this one, tossing the complete game, giving up only seven hits and two runs.
Series Recap
This one pretty much played out as expected. Boston almost turned the series on it's head though in the first game by throwing Tom Seaver on the mound to start the opener. The game was actually tied, at Fenway, heading into the 8th inning. If the Sox could have pulled that one out heading into game two with Roger Clemens on the hill, the outcome of the series could have been different. But as it was, they lost game one. Clemens came back and won game two, but Seattle was just too much at home and closed the series out in four. Freddy Garcia earned series MVP honors for going the distance in the opener. The Mariners advance to play the 1954 Cleveland Indians in the second round