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Great Debate Standings

Writers Name Win Lose GB
Anthony Catanzaro 9 3  
Boris From DownUnder 8 4 1
Greg Marta 5 5 3
Eric Gehman 4 7 6
Richard Carter 2 10 7

Joey has dropped out of the competition. We'd like to wish him nothing but the best of luck.
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18
May
2009
Joe : TOP TEN DIVISION SERIES SINCE 2001 PDF  | Print |  E-mail
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Written by Joey Vanzo   
Joey breaks down the TOP TEN DIVISION SERIES SINCE 2001

#10  Seattle over Cleveland in 5 games, 2001.

The Mariners came into the series as the best team in baseball with 116 victories.  Bartolo Colon took the air out of the first ever playoff game in Safeco with a 6-hit shutout.  Cleveland took a 2-1 lead in the series with a game 3 route, 17-2.  The M's looked like dead men walking going into game 4 at Jacobs Field, but Seattle righted the ship with 6-2 and 3-1 victories in Games 4 and 5.  Jaime Moyer was the hero, winning both game 2 and the deciding game 5.  Seattle went on to lose in 5 games to the Yankees in the ALCS.

#9  San Francisco over Atlanta in 5 games, 2002.

Russ Ortiz won games 1 and 5, and Robb Nen saved both.  Barry Bonds hit 3 homers in the series and Rich Aurilia had 7 RBIs.  This was the beginning of the end for Atlanta in the playoffs, as they lost the next 4 years in the National League Division Series.  Frisco ousted St. Louis in 5 in the NLCS and lost games 6 and 7 at Anaheim in the World Series.

#8  Anaheim over New York in 5 games, 2005.

Excellent series.  Every game was close as Francisco Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera recorded two saves each.  Bengie Molina led the charge with 3 homers and the Angels won games 2, 3, and 5 behind their lights out bullpen.  Rookie Ervin Santana burst onto the scene in game 5 when starter Bartolo Colon left with an injury in the 2nd inning.  Ervin threw 5.1 innings and got the win in the 5-3 victory. The Angels went on to lose in the ALCS to the eventual champion White Sox.


#7  Houston over Atlanta in 4 games, 2005.

This series trumped the ‘04 series between these two, when Houston won in 5.  John Smoltz dominated in Game 2, and rookie Brian McCann hit a monster bomb off Roger Clemens in the Braves’ only win of the series.  In the game 4 clincher, Tim Hudson gave the Braves a 6-1 lead in the 8th, but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead; they surrendered a grand slam to Lance Berkman and a game tying, two-out, solo shot by Brad Ausmus in the 9th.  Chris Burke hit a walk-off homer in the 18th inning, and Roger Clemens got the win in 3 innings of relief.  John Smoltz was waiting in the wings for game 5 and never got a chance to toe the slab.  Game 4 was the longest playoff game in MLB history.  Houston would go on to reach its first ever World Series, falling to Jermaine Dye and the White Sox.

#6  Minnesota over Oakland in 5 games, 2002.

Oakland experienced nothing but Heartbreak Hotel during its entire Mulder-Hudson-Zito Era in the playoffs.  They lost in 5 games in four straight division series dating from 2000-2003.  Brad Radke won games 1 and 5 for Minnesota and the A's failed to win either of Tim Hudson's starts in games 1 and 4.  A.J. Pierzynski was the hitting hero for the Twinkies, compiling a .438 average with 4 RBIs, including the game winning homer in game 5.  After another season he was shipped to San Fran for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser.  Who got the better end of that deal?  Minnesota lost to Anaheim in the ALCS in 5.

#5  Chicago over Atlanta in 5 games, 2003.

Kerry Wood won games 1 and 5 and Mark Prior outdueled Greg Maddux in game 3 in what appeared to be the passing of the torch from hall of famer to future hall of famer.  It appears we got a little ahead of ourselves.  John Smoltz won game 2 for Atlanta and saved game 4 at Wrigley to send the series back to Atlanta.  Every game was decided by two runs, except for game 5, in which Chicago won 5-1 behind homers by Aramis Ramirez and Alex Gonzalez.  We all know what happened to the Cubs in the NLCS at the hands of Florida and a certain famous fan.

#4  Florida over San Francisco in 4 games, 2003.

Florida got a split in Frisco before closing out the series in South Beach.  Jason Schmidt and Josh Beckett went at it Hamilton-Burr style in game 1, with the Giants prevailing 2-0.  Florida won game 2 by a score of 9-5 behind four hits and three RBIs from Juan Pierre.  The Marlins scored a 4-3 victory in game 3 with a walk-off single from Ivan Rodriguez in the 11th.  Game 4 wasn't short on drama either, as Florida won 7-6.  J.T. Snow was the series' final out as he was gunned down from left field trying to score on a base hit to Jeff Conine.  Ivan Rodriguez held onto the baseball during the collision at the plate and punched the Marlins ticket into the NLCS.  Florida went on to win their second World Series in seven seasons.

#3  Boston over Oakland in 5 games, 2003.

Oakland won the first two games of the series at home.  Ramon Hernandez won game 2, 5-4, with a walk-off bunt single in the 12th.  Barry Zito won game 2 for the A's, 5-1, with 7 innings of one-run baseball.  Then things got hairy...Oakland lost game 3 on a walk-off homer from Trot Nixon in the 11th.  Oakland had two runners thrown out at the plate in the sixth, one where Miguel Tejada failed to touch home plate in one of the goofiest moments in playoff history.  David Ortiz won game 4 with a two-out, two-run double in the 8th for a 5-4 win.  Boston won the clincher in Oakland, 4-3, by scoring all four runs in the 6th behind a solo homer by Jason Varitek and a three-run shot by Manny Ramirez.  Barry Zito had been cruising until the homer-infested 6th.  Derek Lowe shut the door for the save.  When Lowe struck out Terrence Long looking to close it out, it seemed the window of opportunity had shut for Oakland.  Miguel Tejada and Keith Foulke were headed for greener pastures, and
 the trio of aces was not far behind them.  Boston went on to lose a classic in the ALCS to New York.

#2  New York over Oakland in 5 games, 2001.

Oakland won games one and two at home behind Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson.  You know what happened next.  Mussina and Rivera beat Zito 1-0 in Game 3.  The Yankees only run was on a Jorge Posada solo homer in the 5th.  They managed only one other hit.  Derek Jeter made the play of the night defensively in the 7th, when he shoveled a relay from right field to home to cut down Jeremy Giambi as the tying run.   The Yanks roughed up Cory Lidle 9-2 in game 4 to send the series back to New York.  In Game 5, the Yankee bullpen threw 4.2 innings of no-hit baseball and won 5-3 behind a pinch-hit home run from David Justice.  The Yankee dynasty ended that season in the World Series because...

#1  Arizona over St. Louis in 5 games, 2001.

The best division series ever.  Period.  Curt Schilling was locked up with 22-game winner Matt Morris in both games 1 and 5 in Arizona.  The Snakes won 1-0 in game 1 behind a 3-hit complete game masterpiece from Schilling.  Rookie Albert Pujols had 2 hits and his first career playoff homer in Game 2 to tie the series at 1 apiece.  Woody Williams got the win going head-to- head with Randy Johnson.  In game 3, St. Louis couldn't hold a lead in the 7th when Craig Counsell hit a two-out, three-run shot for a 5-3 win.  Rookie Bud Smith won game 4, 4-1, with five solid innings of work to send the series back to the desert.  Game 5 was an absolute classic.  Schilling gave up his first (and only) run of the series on a JD Drew tying homer in the 8th.  Matt Morris surrendered one run in 8 innings of work for the no-decision.  Tony Womack singled off Steve Kline in the 9th with 2 outs to win the series.  Schilling’s final numbers for the series: 18 innings, 9 hits allowed, 1 run surrendered, and 18 strikeouts.  Arizona  went on to defeat Atlanta in the NLCS and the Yankees in 7 to win the World Series.

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written by JV, May 23, 2009
In my opinion, I would enjoy to read an article because it takes me back to all of those great series that otherwise may be forgotten.

I thought this idea would be unique because it got away from fantasy and therefore I was prepared to take some flack for it.

i feel that all of the other articles were well written but i didn't feel any of the topics stood out.

thanks for the comment.
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I will ask the obvious ?
written by Tony Cincotta, May 22, 2009
Of all the things to write about in the baseball universe, what said, " This is the article that will stand out." Nice article but the topic has me scratching.

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