Seattle Mariners: What if the M’s won Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS?
The turning point
Two of the next three New York hitters, David Justice and Tino Martinez, were lefties, switch-hitter Bernie Williams was sandwiched in between them. With left Norm Charlton already out of the game, Piniella went to his bullpen again, bringing in the other lefty Arthur Rhodes. On the surface, it was an easy decision; Rhodes had one of the best seasons of his 20-year MLB career in 2001, posting a 1.50 ERA and 0.85 WHIP.
Digging a little deeper tells a different story. The Yankees were Rhodes Achille’s heel. He had a career 7.43 ERA against them and yielded 17 home runs, the most of any opponent. At Yankee Stadium, Rhodes had a 5.89 ERA. New York wasn’t his team, and Yankee Stadium wasn’t his place.
Back to the game, Rhodes struck out Justice to bring up Williams, who naturally batted right-handed. Let’s hit the pause button. Williams was a .310 hitter against Rhodes and always did a little better against lefties than righties. Press Play.
The at-bat
The count went to 3-1 before Bernie whiffed on a high 93-mph fastball. The following pitch was a 96-mph high heater that Williams hit about 325 feet to the opposite field but on the wrong side of the foul pole, just missing the short porch in right field. Microseconds from a game-tying home run, and more importantly, it looked like Williams was getting his timing down against Rhodes.
His next pitch was the same pitch, at the same speed but belt high. Once again, Williams went opposite field and hit the ball slightly further than the last time but in fair territory to tie the game at 1-1. Rhodes then got the next two hitters out (barely) to end the inning.
M’s fans know how it went from there. Kaz Sasaki gave up a two-run homer in ninth to Alphonso Soriano to lose the game 3-1. New York won Game 5 at home to take the series 4-1.
Over the years, I often wonder if Piniella regretted going with Rhodes knowing how much he struggled against NYY or at least regretted challenging Williams at the plate.