The 2001 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2001 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 made their seventh straight postseason appearance, the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics returned for the second straight year, and the Cleveland Indians returned for the sixth time in eight years. The 2001 Mariners set an MLB record by winning 116 games during the regular season. This was Seattle’s last postseason appearance until 2022, and their last postseason appearance as a division champion until 2025.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves made their tenth consecutive postseason appearance, becoming the first team in MLB history to accomplish this feat. Joining them were the St. Louis Cardinals, who returned for the second year in a row. The Houston Astros made their third appearance in the past four years, and the Arizona Diamondbacks made their second appearance in the past three years.
The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. pushed the end of the regular season from September 30 to October 7. Because of the attack, the World Series was not completed until November 4. The 2001 World Series was the first World Series to end in November.
The postseason began on October 9, 2001, and ended on November 4, 2001, with the Diamondbacks shocking the three-time defending World Series champion Yankees in seven games in the 2001 World Series. It was the first major professional sports championship won by a Phoenix-based team.
Playoff seeds
The following teams qualified for the postseason:
American League Seattle Mariners – 116–46, AL West champions New York Yankees – 95–65, AL East champions Cleveland Indians – 91–71, AL Central champions Oakland Athletics – 102–60
National League Houston Astros – 93–69, NL Central champions (9–7 head-to-head vs. STL) Arizona Diamondbacks – 92–70, NL West champions Atlanta Braves – 88–74, NL East champions St. Louis Cardinals – 93–69 (7–9 head-to-head vs. HOU)
Playoff bracket
Note: Two teams in the same division could not meet in the division series.
American League Division Series
(1) Seattle Mariners vs. (3) Cleveland Indians
This was the second postseason meeting between the Mariners and Indians. They had previously met in the ALCS in 1995, which the Indians won in six games before falling in the World Series. The Mariners narrowly defeated the Indians in five games to return to the ALCS for the third time in seven years.
Bartolo Colón pitched eight shutout innings in Game 1 as the Indians stunned the Mariners 5–0 on the road. In Game 2, Mike Cameron, Edgar Martínez, David Bell all homered for the Mariners as they won 5–1 to even the series headed to Cleveland. In Game 3, the Indians blew out the Mariners 17–2 to regain the series lead, handing the Mariners their worst playoff loss ever and were now one win away from completing a massive upset. However, their lead wouldn’t hold. Freddy García pitched seven solid innings in Game 4 as the Mariners won by four runs to send the series back to Seattle for a decisive fifth game. Jamie Moyer and Kazuhiro Sasaki kept the Indians offense at bay in Game 5 as the Mariners won 3–1 to hang on and advance.
This was the most recent playoff win for Seattle until 2022, and their last LDS series win until 2025.
(2) New York Yankees vs. (4) Oakland Athletics
In a rematch of the previous year's ALDS, the Yankees rallied from a two-games-to-none series deficit to once again defeat the Athletics in five games, returning to the ALCS for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
The Athletics’ offense chased Roger Clemens from the mound as they stole Game 1 on the road. Tim Hudson pitched eight innings of shutout ball as the Athletics took Game 2 to go up 2–0 in the series headed to Oakland.
Game 3 of this ALDS was memorable for a play by Derek Jeter in the top of the eighth inning. During that inning, Oakland's Terrance Long hit a towering foul pop up in a two-run game. Jeter then went after the ball making a backhanded grab, and then turning his body, flipped into the stands. For a moment, no one knew if the ball had been caught, but it was eventually confirmed. The Yankees would end up winning Game 3 by a 1-0 score to get on the board in the series.
In Game 4, the Yankees blew out the Athletics to force a decisive fifth game back in the Bronx. In Game 5, David Justice helped secure a Yankees win in the top of the sixth with a solo homer as they won 5-3 to advance.
Game 5 of this ALDS is shown in the opening scene of the 2011 film Moneyball. The film shows Johnny Damon's first inning leadoff double followed by Jason Giambi’s RBI single. Then, the defensive miscues by Oakland are shown as three errors were committed. The final out of the game (Eric Byrnes striking out) is used as a transition point from the game footage to the actual beginning of the film.
National League Division Series
(1) Houston Astros vs. (3) Atlanta Braves
In the third postseason meeting between these two teams, the Braves swept the top-seeded Astros to return to the NLCS for the ninth time in eleven years.
Chipper Jones, Brian Jordan, and Andruw Jones all homered for the Braves as they rallied late to win Game 1 in Houston. Tom Glavine and John Smoltz kept the Astros’ bats silent in Game 2 as they pitched a 1–0 shutout to give the Braves a 2–0 series lead headed back home. John Burkett and the Braves’ bullpen once again neutered the Astros’ offense as they won 6–2 to complete the sweep. This was the Braves’ last playoff series win until 2020.
The Braves and Astros would meet again in the NLDS two more times - in 2004 and 2005, which were both won by the Astros. They would also meet in the 2021 World Series, which the Braves won in six games.
(2) Arizona Diamondbacks vs. (4) St. Louis Cardinals
This was the first postseason meeting between the Diamondbacks and Cardinals. The Diamondbacks prevailed in a back-and-forth five game series to advance to the NLCS for the first time in franchise history.
Curt Schilling pitched a three-hit complete game shutout as the Diamondbacks took Game 1. Game 2 was a pitchers’ duel between Woody Williams and Randy Johnson, which was won by the former as the Cardinals won Game 2 by a 4–1 score to even the series headed to St. Louis. Game 2 was notable for Albert Pujols’ first postseason home run, which he hit in the top of the first. In Game 3, Craig Counsell helped complete a Diamondbacks comeback in the top of the seventh with a three-run homer as they won 5-3 to regain the series lead. Game 3 would ultimately be Darryl Kile’s final postseason game, as he died from coronary artery disease the following season at the young age of 33. In Game 4, Jim Edmonds put the Cardinals in the lead for good early on with a solo homer in the bottom of the second to force a decisive fifth game back in Phoenix. Schilling pitched yet another complete game in Game 5 as the Diamondbacks won their first postseason series.
Both teams would meet again in the NLDS the following year, which the Cardinals won in a sweep.
American League Championship Series
(1) Seattle Mariners vs. (2) New York Yankees
This was the third postseason meeting between the Yankees and Mariners, and a rematch of the previous year’s ALCS, which was won by the Yankees in six games. In a significant upset given their regular season win differential, the 95-win Yankees defeated the 116-win Mariners in five games to advance to the World Series for the fifth time in six years.
The series was lopsided in favor of the Yankees - Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera excelled on the mound as the Yankees stole Game 1 in Seattle. Mike Mussina and Rivera stopped a rally by the Mariners as they took Game 2 to go up 2–0 in the series headed to the Bronx. In Game 3, Jamie Moyer pitched seven solid innings and John Olerud, Jay Buhner, and Bret Boone all homered as the Mariners blew out the Yankees to get on the board in the series. Game 4 remained scoreless through seven innings until Boone put the Mariners in the lead with a solo home run in the top of the eighth. However, it wouldn’t hold as the Yankees rallied to win in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a walk-off two-run home run from Alfonso Soriano to take a commanding 3–1 series lead. The Yankees clinched the pennant with a blowout win in Game 5 as Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill all hit home runs.
With the win, the Yankees became the first team to win four straight league pennants since they did so from 1955 to 1958, and remain the only American League franchise to accomplish such a feat. The Yankees would win their next pennant in 2003 over their archrival in the Boston Red Sox in seven games after being five outs away from elimination in Game 7, but came up short in the World Series.
After the series loss, the Mariners entered a slump, and held the longest postseason appearance drought in North American sports, as they would not return to the postseason again until 2022. The Mariners would return to the ALCS in 2025, but they would narrowly lose to the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games after being eight outs away from the pennant in Game 7, which is to date the closest the Mariners have come to winning a league pennant.
In 2023, MLB.com ranked the Yankees’ upset of the Mariners as the third biggest upset in postseason history.
National League Championship Series
(2) Arizona Diamondbacks vs. (3) Atlanta Braves
The Diamondbacks defeated the Braves in five games to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
Randy Johnson pitched a three-hit complete game shutout as the Diamondbacks took Game 1, out-dueling Greg Maddux. In Game 2, Tom Glavine pitched seven strong innings as the Braves blew out the Diamondbacks to even the series headed to Atlanta. Curt Schilling pitched another complete game for the Diamondbacks as they regained the series lead in Game 3. In Game 4, the Diamondbacks blew out the Braves to take a 3–1 series lead. In Game 5, Byung-hyun Kim held off a late rally by the Braves as the Diamondbacks held on to win and secure their first NL pennant.
The Diamondbacks would return to the NLCS in 2007, but were swept by the Colorado Rockies. They would win their next and most recent pennant in 2023 over the Philadelphia Phillies in seven games before coming up short in the World Series.
The Braves returned to the NLCS in 2020, but they fell to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games after leading 3–1 in the series. They would eventually win the pennant again in 2021 over the aforementioned Dodgers in six games en route to a World Series title.
2001 World Series
(AL2) New York Yankees vs. (NL2) Arizona Diamondbacks
This was the first World Series ever played in the Mountain West region. In what is considered by many to be one of the greatest World Series ever played, the Diamondbacks shocked the three-time defending World Series champion Yankees in seven games to win their first championship in franchise history, denying the Yankees a fourth straight title.