Lou Piniella.
“You take the blue pill… the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want. You take the red pill… you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” – Morpheus from the Matrix. In our next red pill installment, we ask, What if the Seattle Mariners won Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS?
Being a manager or coach is an invitation to be second-guessed. For the overall majority of 2001, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella pushed all the right buttons at the time they needed to be pushed. After all, his team won an American League record 116 regular season games. But a pitching-change decision he made in Game 4 sunk his team.
Let’s set the stage. After their record-setting season, the Mariners beat Cleveland 3-2 in the ALDS to advance to the American League Championship Series against the three-time defending World Series Champion New York Yankees.
New York won Games 1 and 2 in Seattle before the Mariners came back to win Game 3 at Yankee Stadium 14-3. Series momentum was on the verge of changing.
If Game 3 featured an offensive explosion, the bats were quiet in Game 4. Through seven innings, the game was scoreless, and each team had only one hit (although Mariners pitchers gave up ten walks). In the top of the eighth, Mariners’ second baseman, Bret Boone, hit a solo home run to put his team up 1-0.
Going into the bottom of the eighth with a 1-0 lead, Piniella pulled Jeff Nelson, who pitched 1.2 stellar innings in relief. I know why Piniella did what he did next, but it’s a decision that haunts Seattle Mariners fans to this day.
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 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.
Since this is a “what if,” let’s go with it. Piniella, unfortunately, still has to bring in Rhodes. On 3-1 against Williams, Rhodes gets the pitch up too high, and it’s a walk. Martinez, who hit a hard line to first baseman John Olerud in his real at-bat, does the same, and being the great defensive player Olerud was, he tags out Williams for a double play. Sasaki takes care of business in the ninth, and the Series is tied 2-2.
It’s now a best of three with two of those games at Safeco Field. I like the Seattle Mariners’ chances in that scenario. Even if Aaron Sele threw a lemon in Game 5, as he did, Piniella had Freddie Garcia and Jamie Moyer to start the final two games.
To me, the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks had lots of holes for the M’s to exploit in a seven-game series. Both teams relied heavily on their top starters, but the back end of Seattle’s rotation and their bullpen was much better.
Aside from Luis Gonzalez, who had a Ruth-like season for Arizona in 2001, .325/.429/.688/1.017 with 57 home runs and 142 RBI, the Seattle Mariners had a better lineup. They also had five Gold Glove fielders. I think they would have won in six games for their first World Championship.
Do you think the Seattle Mariners go on to win the World Series if they won Game 4? Let us know in the comments section below.