The 2000 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2000 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the American League, the New York Yankees returned to the postseason for the sixth straight time, the Chicago White Sox made their first appearance since 1993, the Seattle Mariners returned for the third time in six years, and the Oakland Athletics made their first appearance since 1992. This was the first of three straight appearances for the Athletics.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves made their ninth straight appearance in the postseason. Next were the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, who both returned for the second time in five years, marking the first time since 1989 that both teams from the San Francisco Bay Area made the postseason. The last team on the NL side were the New York Mets, who returned for the second straight year. This postseason was notable in that it was the first time that both #1 seeds from the American and National Leagues failed to make it past the LDS.
The postseason began on October 3, 2000, and ended on October 26, 2000, with the Yankees defeating the Mets in five games in the 2000 World Series, also known as the "Subway Series" as both teams were from New York City. The Yankees completed a three-peat and won their 26th title in franchise history, and were the last repeat World Series champion until the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025.
Playoff seeds
The following teams qualified for the post-season: American League Chicago White Sox – 95–67, AL Central champions Oakland Athletics – 91–70, AL West champions New York Yankees – 87–74, AL East champions Seattle Mariners – 91–71
National League San Francisco Giants – 97–65, NL West champions St. Louis Cardinals – 95–67, NL Central champions (4–3 head-to-head record vs. ATL) Atlanta Braves – 95–67, NL East champions (3–4 head-to-head record vs. STL) New York Mets – 94–68
Playoff bracket
American League Division Series
(1) Chicago White Sox vs. (4) Seattle Mariners
The Mariners upset the top-seeded White Sox in a sweep to return to the ALCS for the second time in six years.
The Mariners took Game 1 in Chicago in extra innings thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud in the top of the tenth. Game 2 started off tied at two runs early, until Jay Buhner hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth that put the Mariners in the lead for good, giving them a 2–0 series lead headed home. In Game 3, the White Sox got out to an early lead thanks to a sacrifice fly from Herbert Perry, but the Mariners tied the game and then won in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a bunt from Carlos Guillén.
The White Sox returned to the postseason in 2005, where they won the World Series over the Houston Astros in a sweep.
(2) Oakland Athletics vs. (3) New York Yankees
This was the second postseason meeting between the Yankees and Athletics. They last met in the ALCS in 1981, which the Yankees won in a sweep before falling in the World Series. The Yankees once again defeated the Athletics, this time in five games, to return to the ALCS for the fourth time in five years.
The Athletics took Game 1 at home as Gil Heredia outdueled Roger Clemens in a 5-3 win. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera blanked the Athletics offense in Game 2 as the Yankees won 4-0 to even the series heading to the Bronx. In Game 3, Orlando Hernández pitched seven solid innings and Rivera got another save as the Yankees won 4-2 to take the series lead. In Game 4, Clemens lost yet another pitchers’ duel to Barry Zito as the Athletics blew out the Yankees to force a decisive fifth game back in Oakland. In Game 5, the Yankees jumped out to a big lead early, and Mike Stanton and Rivera stopped a rally by the Athletics to prevail 7-5.
Both teams would meet again in the ALDS the next year, and in the Wild Card Game in 2018, with the Yankees winning both meetings.
National League Division Series
(1) San Francisco Giants vs. (4) New York Mets
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Mets. The Mets defeated the top-seeded Giants in four games to advance to the NLCS for the second year in a row.
The Giants took Game 1 by four runs, capped off by a three-run home run from Ellis Burks. In Game 2, the Mets held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, when J. T. Snow hit a three-run home run to force extra innings. Jay Payton then put the Mets back in the lead for good with an RBI single in the top of the tenth to even the series headed to Queens. In a long and grueling Game 3, the Mets won in the bottom of the thirteenth thanks to a walk-off homer from Benny Agbayani. In Game 4, Bobby Jones pitched a one-hit complete game shutout for the Mets as they won 4-0 to advance to the NLCS.
This marked the first time in postseason history that both #1 seeds fell in the LDS. Both teams would meet again in the Wild Card Game in 2016, which the Giants won in a shutout.
(2) St. Louis Cardinals vs. (3) Atlanta Braves
This was the third postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Braves (1982, 1996), and their first meeting outside of the NLCS. The Cardinals swept the defending National League champion Braves to advance to the NLCS for the second time in four years, ending the Braves’ eight-year NLCS appearance streak.
The series was not close - the Cardinals completely dominated the Braves in this series. In Game 1, the Cardinals’ offense overwhelmed Greg Maddux and their bullpen held off a late rally by the Braves to win 7-5. In Game 2, Will Clark, Carlos Hernández, and Ray Lankford chased Tom Glavine from the mound as the Cardinals blew out the Braves to take a 2-0 series lead headed to Atlanta. Fernando Viña and Jim Edmonds led the way for the Cardinals’ offense in Game 3 in yet another blowout win to complete the sweep.
The Cardinals and Braves would meet in the postseason two more times - in the Wild Card Game in 2012, and the NLDS in 2019, both won by the Cardinals.
American League Championship Series
(3) New York Yankees vs. (4) Seattle Mariners
This was the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Yankees and Mariners. They last met in the ALDS in 1995, which the Mariners won after being down two games to none in the series. The Yankees defeated the Mariners in six games, and returned to the World Series for the fourth time in five years.
Freddy García and Kazuhiro Sasaki kept the Yankees’ offense silent in Game 1 as the Mariners prevailed in a 2-0 shutout on the road. In Game 2, Orlando Hernández pitched eight solid innings as the Yankees blew out the Mariners to even the series headed to Seattle. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera stymied the Seattle offense in Game 3 as the Yankees blew out the Mariners again to take the series lead. Roger Clemens pitched a one-hit complete game shutout in Game 4 as the Yankees won 5-0 to take a 3-1 series lead. In Game 5, the Yankees led 2-1 after four innings, but the Mariners offense finally woke up as they put up five unanswered runs in the bottom of the fifth in part thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud to send the series back to the Bronx. Game 6 was an offensive shootout between both teams, which was won by the Yankees as David Justice hit a three-run home run in a six-run seventh inning to put the Yankees in the lead for good. Game 6 was the last MLB postseason game covered by NBC until 2026.
This was the second of what is currently four consecutive losses in the ALCS for the Mariners - the Yankees and Mariners would meet again in the ALCS the next year, where the 95-win Yankees defeated the 116-win Mariners in one of the biggest upsets in postseason history. Then, a quarter of a century later, the Mariners returned to the ALCS only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games after leading the series two games to none and being eight outs away from the pennant in Game 7.
National League Championship Series
(2) St. Louis Cardinals vs. (4) New York Mets
This was the first NLCS since 1990 to not feature the Atlanta Braves. This was also the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Mets and Cardinals. The Mets defeated the Cardinals in five games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1986 (in the process denying a rematch of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals).
Mike Hampton pitched seven solid innings as the Mets stole Game 1 on the road. Game 2 was tied going into the top of the ninth, where Jay Payton won the game for the Mets with an RBI single to go up 2-0 in the series headed to Queens. In Game 3, Andy Benes pitched eight solid innings as the Cardinals blew out the Mets for their only win of the series. Game 4 was an offensive shootout that was won by the Mets as they once again chased St. Louis starter Darryl Kile from the mound. Game 5 was marred by controversy as Payton was hit near his left eye by a fastball from Cardinals’ pitcher Dave Veres in the bottom of the eighth. A fight then broke out between Veres and Payton, both benches and bullpens cleared, and the Shea Stadium crowd started mocking the Cardinals by chanting Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye and booing them as the inning ended. Otherwise, Game 5 was a stellar performance for the Mets, as Hampton pitched a three-hit complete game shutout in a blowout win to clinch the pennant and set up the first all-New York City World Series since 1956.
The Cardinals returned to the NLCS in 2002, but they fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They would win their next pennant in 2004 against the Houston Astros in seven games after being ten outs away from elimination in Game 7, but came up short in the World Series.
The Mets would win their next and most recent pennant in 2015 over the Chicago Cubs in a sweep before falling in the World Series.
Both teams would meet again in the NLCS in 2006, where the 83-win Cardinals upset the 97-win Mets in seven games en route to a World Series title.
2000 World Series
(AL3) New York Yankees vs. (NL4) New York Mets
The "Subway Series"
This was the first all-New York World Series since 1956, and the first to feature two teams from the same state and same metropolitan area since 1989. The Yankees defeated the Mets in five games to complete a World Series three-peat, winning their 26th championship.