Last Updated: April 15th, 2024 by Michael Schatz
The 2001 World Series will go down in history as one of the best ever played. It was the first World Series after the 9/11 terror attacks and pitted the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were making their first appearance in the Fall Classic.
This series had everything. Stacked teams. Drama. Tension. Blowouts. Walk offs. It was a baseball fan’s dream. As we all know, the Diamondbacks won on Luis Gonzalez’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 9th off Mariano Rivera.
We could talk about this series for days. But today, we’re going to focus on the man who dominated it from the hill.
The Big Unit Randy Johnson.
It’s no secret that the Diamondbacks won this series because of Johnson and his Co-MVP Curt Schilling. But a lot of people forget just how dominant Johnson was. Well, let us remind you…
With the D-Backs leading the series 1-0, Johnson took the hill for game two. All he did that night was throw a complete game shutout in a 4-0 win. He allowed 3 hits, a walk, and struck out 11. Pretty, pretty good.
After an incredible three games in New York gave the Yankees a 3-2 series lead, the Diamondbacks turned to Johnson to save their season in Game 6. He responded by pitching 7 innings of two-hit ball, leading the Diamondbacks to a decisive 15-2 win.
That set the stage for Game 7, which was taking place the next day. Johnson had thrown 104 pitches in Game 6, but with the Diamondbacks trailing late in Game 7, they couldn’t afford to let the Yankees extend their lead. So D-Backs manager Bob Brenly turned to Johnson in hopes of keeping the deficit at 1. The Big Unit proved his manager a genius by doing just that, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings, keeping the Yanks’ lead at just one, and setting the stage for Gonzalez to win it.
When it was all said and done, Johnson finished that World Series with a 3-0 record, a 1.04 ERA, and 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.
It was truly one of the greatest pitching performances in World Series history.