It’s been 20 years since the Arizona Diamondbacks brought Phoenix its first major championship.
In some ways, it feels longer. In some ways, it feels like it was last week.
It doesn’t feel that long ago that Bank One Ballpark was packed with a crowd of pom-pom-toting fans while hanging on every pitch from Johnson or Schilling or saying a silent prayer for Gonzalez or Womack to drive in a run.
That Fall Classic also served as a distraction and a way for the nation to come together after Sept. 11 attacks just a few weeks prior. For the first time ever, baseball crept into November, and it was unlike any other postseason we had seen before.
Sports360AZ will revisit each game of the 2001 World Series as their respective anniversaries roll around, and we’ll be joined by those who were there to share their perspective of the Diamondbacks’ championship run.
For Game 1, former public address announcer and long-time journalist Jeff Munn joins Sports360AZ to explain the atmosphere of the 9-1 D-backs victory, how the teams honored those who had lost their lives in September 11 and the mystique that the Yankees brought to Bank One Ballpark.