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The Best of the Best
"If I had to place the 2001 World Series amongst the greatest of all
time, I don't even know if it would make my top 3."
By Ben Simrin
 How
about them Yankees? Well, one thing's for sure, the Arizona Diamondbacks weren't
intimidated by the Yankees after losing three straight games in New York. The
Diamondbacks took on the Yankees' back-to-back-to-back World Series Championships
and defeated them. They dismantled the Yankees reign over the baseball world.
Even though the 2001 World Series did reach a decisive Game 7, any true baseball
fan could tell that the Yankees were completely overmatched. If you don't believe
me, just look at the numbers. The Diamondbacks' pitching stifled the "mighty"
Yankee sluggers to a dismal .183 batting average. The Diamondbacks' pitching
staff had an amazing 1.94 ERA. The Diamondbacks exploited the Yankees' weaknesses
and in the process, ended their dynasty.
In Games 4 and 5, the Diamondbacks entered the bottom of the ninth with a 2-0
lead. In both situations they turned to their usually dependent closer, Byung-Hyun
Kim. In both situations, with two outs in the inning, Kim gave up a two run
homerun to send the game into extra innings and in both situations, the Yankees
ended up pulling out the win. If the Diamondbacks had won those two games, there
wouldn't have been a Game 6 or Game 7. If they had finished off the aging Yankees,
people wouldn't be calling the 2001 World Series one of the best ever.
In fact, if I had to place the 2001 World Series amongst the greatest of all
time, I don't even know if it would make my top 3. Instead, I would pick 1996,
1991, and 1960 as my top 3.
1996
First we'll start at number three. The 1996 World Series was one for the ages,
pitting the Cleveland Indians against the Florida Marlins. Cleveland led 2-0
when Bobby Bonilla homered off Jaret Wright in the seventh to make it 2-1. The
Marlins tied it in the bottom of the ninth, with Craig Counsell's sacrifice
tying it up. In the 11th, Bonilla singled off Charles Nagy, Fernandez made his
error and Edgar Renteria delivered a two-out, bases-loaded single to win it.
1991
At number two, is the 1991 World Series. The Minnesota Twins edged the Atlanta
Braves 1-0 in a 10 inning battle. A World Series that featured three extra-inning
games, five games decided by one run and four games won in the final at-bat,
it ended with Morris going the distance with his famous gem. The winning run
was scored when Dan Gladden blooped a hustle double into left-center and scored
on Gene Larkin's single.
1960
And at number one, is the 1960 World Series. Even though I wasn't alive for
this World Series, my father always reminds me that this particular World Series
made him fall in love with the game of baseball. It involved the Pittsburgh
Pirates and the same New York Yankees. Bill Mazeroski became the only man ever
to end Game 7 of a World Series with a home run.
Don't get me wrong; the 2001 World Series was very exciting. It allowed Americans
to get their minds off of the September 11th tragedy. However, if the Diamondbacks
had finished off the Yankees following Game 2, there wouldn't be any discussion
about the 2001 World Series being the greatest World Series ever.
— Ben Simrin is a high school junior and an intern at Youth Radio.
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