2003 World Series: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American99th baseballedition of Major League Baseball's championship series}}

| television = [[Major League BaseballMLB on Fox|Fox]] ([[United States]])<br>[[MLB International]] (International)

| umpires = [[Randy Marsh (umpire)|Randy Marsh]] (crew chief), [[Larry Young (umpire)|Larry Young]], [[Gary Darling]], [[Jeff Kellogg]], [[Ed Rapuano]], [[Tim Welke]]

The '''2003 World Series''' (also known as the '''Centennial World Series''') was the [[World Series|championship series]] of [[Major League Baseball]]'s (MLB) [[2003 Major League Baseball season|2003 season]].<ref name="baseball-reference1">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2003_WS.shtml|title=2003 World Series|website=Baseball-Reference|access-date=January 6, 2014}}</ref> The 99th edition of the World Series, it was a [[best-of-seven playoff]] between the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) champion [[2003 Florida Marlins season|Florida Marlins]] and the [[American League]] (AL) champion [[2003 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]]; the Marlins upset the heavily-favored Yankees, four games to two. The series was played from October 18 to 25, 2003. This is the most recent Series in which the losing team outscored the winning team; the Yankees lost, despite outscoring the Marlins 21–17 in the Series. This was the Marlins' second World Series championship win, having won their first in [[1997 World Series|1997]]. The Marlins would not return to the postseason until [[2020 Major League Baseball seasonpostseason|2020]].

{{further|2003 MLBMajor PostseasonLeague Baseball postseason|Curse of the Billy Goat|Steve Bartman incident|Curse of the Bambino}}

The 2003 World Series featured the [[2003 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] in their sixth Series appearance in eight years. Opposing them were the [[Wild card (sports)|wild card]] [[2003 Florida Marlins season|Florida Marlins]], appearing in their second World Series in their 11-year franchise history. The Marlins became the second straight wild card team to win the World Series; the [[2002 Anaheim Angels season|Anaheim Angels]] [[2002 World Series|won in 2002]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/how-many-mlb-wild-card-teams-have-won-the-world-series.html/?a=viewall|title=How Many MLB Wild-Card Teams Have Won the World Series?|access-date=August 26, 2017|publisher=The Cheat Sheet}}</ref> The series was, however, somewhat overshadowed by the League Championship Series that year, when the [[2003 Chicago Cubs season|Chicago Cubs]] and the [[2003 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]], both teams that had gone decades without winning a World Series (95 years for Chicago, 85 for Boston), went down in dramatic defeats only five outs away from the pennant, and each in seven games. By losing the series, the Yankees became the first team to lose two World Series to post 1960 expansion teams; losing to the [[2001 Arizona Diamondbacks season|Arizona Diamondbacks]], who entered the National League in [[1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season|1998]], in the [[2001 World Series]] and now the Marlins who entered the National League in [[1993 Florida Marlins season|1993]].

The Marlins started the season 16–22 when they fired manager [[Jeff Torborg]] and hired McKeon, who had been retired from baseball for over two years. They went 75–49 under McKeon to win the wild card. At 72, McKeon would become the oldest manager to win a World Series. They lost the first game of the [[2003 National League Division Series|NLDSNational League Division Series]] to the [[2003 San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants]], but came back to win the final three. After going down three games to one to the Cubs in the [[2003 National League Championship Series|NLCSNational League Championship Series]], they rallied to win the final three games. In the World Series, the Marlins put up their young roster with a $54 million payroll up against the storied Yankees and their $164 million payroll. By facing the Marlins, the Yankees faced every team in the National League that had won a National League pennant. Since then, the [[2005 Houston Astros season|2005 Houston Astros]], [[2007 Colorado Rockies season|2007 Colorado Rockies]] and the [[2019 Washington Nationals season|2019 Washington Nationals]] have reached the World Series without facing the Yankees (although the Astros would face the Yankees in the postseason after their switch to the American League in 2013).

[[Major League BaseballMLB on Fox|Fox]] again provided coverage of the World Series on American television. [[Joe Buck]] and [[Tim McCarver]] broadcast the series for Fox. National radio coverage was provided by [[ESPN Radio]], with [[Jon Miller]] and [[Joe Morgan]] calling the action.

| time3 = 3:21 (:39 delay)

| score4 = New York Yankees – 3, '''Florida Marlins''' – 4 <small>(12 innings)</small>

|Date=Saturday, October 18, 2003

|Date=Sunday, October 19, 2003

|Date=Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Game 3 was a close [[Glossary of baseball (P)#pitchers' duel|pitcher's duel]] for the first seven innings. Florida starter [[Josh Beckett]] held the Yankees to one run through seven innings, the lone run coming on a [[bases-loaded]] walk after two consecutive borderline pitches that were called balls. The Marlins struck early off New York starter [[Mike Mussina]] with Miguel Cabrera singling in Juan Pierre in the bottom of the first. Mussina settled down and did not allow another run to the Marlins in seven strong innings. Beckett pitched strong into the eighth until he started to tire. He left with one out in the eighth having recorded ten strikeouts for the night.

Reliever [[Dontrelle Willis]] entered the 1–1 game and got one out, but gave up an opposite-field single to [[Hideki Matsui]] to give the Yankees their first lead of the night. [[Chad Fox]] relieved Willis and struck out Rubén Sierra to end the inning. The Yankees offense would return in the ninth. [[Aaron Boone]] led off the inning with a home run to left, and after walkinga walk by [[Alfonso Soriano]] and hitting, [[Derek Jeter]], was hit by a pitch before [[Bernie Williams]] hit a three-run shot to center to give the Yankees a 6–1 lead. Williams' home run was his 19th in the postseason, a new Major League record. His 65 RBIs were also the most in postseason history. Yankees closer [[Mariano Rivera]] pitched the final two innings for his record 30th career postseason save. Mussina received his fifth postseason win. The game was interrupted in the seventhfifth by a 39-minute rain delay lasting 39 minutes. It was, the first weather-related delay of a World Series game since Game 1 of the [[1996 World Series]], which also involvedat theYankee YankeesStadium.

|Date=Wednesday, October 22, 2003

The Marlins jumped out to an early lead against Yankees starter [[Roger Clemens]]. [[Miguel Cabrera]] hit a two-run homer in the first and [[Derrek Lee]] hit an RBI single. Clemens settled down and held the Marlins scoreless in the next six innings. When Clemens struck out [[Luis Castillo (second baseman)|Luis Castillo]] to end the seventh, it was then thought to have marked the end of his Major League career. With flashbulbs lighting up the stadium, the crowd gave him a standing ovation; the Marlins even paused to applaud in recognition of Clemens' what then appeared to be a hallHall-of-fameFame career (as it turned out, Clemens would put off his retirement to sign with the [[Houston Astros]] for 2004). Meanwhile, the Yankees scored their first run on a sacrifice fly by [[Aaron Boone]] in the second inning. Marlins starter [[Carl Pavano]] held the Yankees to that lone run through eight strong innings.

Clemens was set to get the loss until the Yankees rallied in the ninth inning against [[Ugueth Urbina]]. [[Bernie Williams]] singled with one out, [[Hideki Matsui]] walked and [[Jorge Posada]] grounded into a force play with Matsui out at second. Pinch-hitter [[Rubén Sierra]] fouled off two full-count pitches before tripling into the right-field corner to score Williams and pinch-runner [[David Dellucci]] to tie the ball game. The game headed to extra innings. The Yankees threatened to score in the top of the 11th inning when they loaded the bases with one out off [[Chad Fox]]. [[Braden Looper]] relieved Fox and struck out Boone, and replacement catcher [[John Flaherty]] popped out to third. The Marlins won the game in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 12th inning when [[Álex González (shortstop, born 1977)|Álex González]] led off with a home run off [[Jeff Weaver]] that just cleared the fence in left to help the Marlins win 4–3. Prior to the home run, Gonzalez had been 5-for-53 in the 2003 postseason.

|Date=Thursday, October 23, 2003

|Date=Saturday, October 25, 2003

The [[2003 Florida Marlins season|2003 World Champion Marlins]] were led by stars picked up in 1997 [[fire sale]], [[Derrek Lee]], [[A. J. Burnett]] and [[Braden Looper]], and after it - [[Mike Lowell]], [[Josh Beckett]], [[Juan Pierre]] (picked up in trade for [[Preston Wilson]]). There were slight tweaks to the teamMarlins over the next two years as they traded away [[Derrek Lee]], [[Mark Redman]] and [[Brad Penny]] and lost [[Carl Pavano]] and [[Ivan Rodriguez]] to free agency.

But the team began a full blown fire sale after the [[2005 Florida Marlins season|2005 season]]. They let Burnett, [[Todd Jones]], [[Antonio Alfonseca]], [[Jeff Conine]] and [[Juan Encarnación]] leave as free agents. They then traded [[Carlos Delgado]] and [[Paul Lo Duca]] to the [[New York Mets]] in two separate deals that brought in prospects [[Mike Jacobs (first baseman)|Mike Jacobs]] and [[Yusmeiro Petit]]. On the same day as the Delgado deal, they also sent Lowell, Beckett and [[Guillermo Mota]] to the [[Boston Red Sox]] for future [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]] [[Hanley Ramirez]], [[Anibal Sanchez]] (who threw a no-hitter in 2006), [[Harvey Garcia]] and [[Jesus Delgado]]. Just days after that deal, second baseman [[Luis Castillo (second baseman)|Luis Castillo]] was sent to the [[Minnesota Twins]] for [[Travis Bowyer]] and Scott Tyler. For his part, outfielder [[Juan Pierre]] was then sent to the [[Chicago Cubs]] for [[Sergio Mitre]], [[Ricky Nolasco]] and [[Renyel Pinto]].

Despite these deals, or maybe because of them, the Marlins actually contended for most of the [[2006 Florida Marlins season|2006 season]] before a late slump dropped them below .500. They are the only team in MLB history to have been 20 games under .500 and have a winning record at onedifferent pointpoints in the same season.<ref>{{cite butweb still|last1=Alder finish|first1=David with|title=The ahottest winningstarts recordin MLB history |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/hottest-team-starts-in-baseball-history-c269855358 |website=MLB.com |access-date=29 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> This was in stark contrast to their terrible performance in 1998, in which they lost 108 games one year after their original post-World Series fire sale that followed their first championship.{{cn|date=June 2022}}

InThe onefire-sale ofcontinued the more controversial deals in Major League Baseball ininto the 21st2007 centuryoff-season, when the Marlins sent [[Miguel Cabrera]] to [[Detroit Tigers|Detroit]] along with [[Dontrelle Willis]] for [[Burke Badenhop]], [[Frankie de la Cruz|Frankie De La Cruz]], [[Cameron Maybin]], [[Andrew Miller (baseball)|Andrew Miller]] and [[Mike Rabelo]] (plus a minor leaguer) in the 2007-2008 off-season. Cabrera went on to Detroit, going to seveneight more All-Star games, winning back-to-back [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|MVP awards]] and a [[Triple Crown (baseball)|triple crown]] in 2013. Meanwhile, for the Marlins, Maybin never developed into the star he was projected to be, Andrew Miller failed miserably as a starter and became a star reliever after leaving the club, De La Cruz pitched a total of 18 innings in a Marlins uniform, Rabelo hit .202 in 34 games in Miami, while Badenhop had a decent career for the Marlins as a middle reliever.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-13|title=Miami Marlins: A history of fire sales|url=https://us.blastingnews.com/sports/2017/12/miami-marlins-a-history-of-fire-sales-002228381.html|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Blasting News|language=en}}</ref>

Over the years, the Marlins became known as the team that will engage in the fire-sale. The Marlins changed their name (to Miami Marlins) and got a [[LoanDepot Park|new ballpark]] for the 2012 season, but were unable to change their ways, as they sold off players at the trade deadline and after the season after a disappointing first half of the 2012 season. Following the sale of the Marlins by [[Jeffrey Loria]] to [[Bruce Sherman]] and the installation of [[Derek Jeter]] as team president, after the 2017 season, there was some hope that the Miami franchise was about to turn a new leaf and make a serious effort at putting a competitive product on the field in order to rebuild its fan base's shattered confidence. Alas, this hope was very short-lived, as the new management team quickly sent out the word that they were looking to cut payroll as the team was supposedly losing money badly. During the 2017-2018 off-season, the team traded its star outfield consisting of [[Marcell Ozuna|Marcel Ozuna]], [[Christian Yelich]], and [[Giancarlo Stanton]].

The Marlins would not return to the playoffs until the [[2020 Major League Baseball season|COVID-19 shortened 60 game regular season in 2020]]. That season saw the Marlins lose their first playoff series in franchise history, losing the [[2020 National League Division Series|2020 NLDS]] to the [[2020 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] after winning their first seven postseason series.

In January 2004, [[Aaron Boone]] tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a pick-up basketball game in his hometown in [[Newport Beach]], California. In the game, Boone caught a pass from his teammate on the court and an opponent wiped him out on his side in a violent manner. Boone, who disobeyed the terms of his contract with the Yankees by playing basketball, was released fourteen days after the incident and ended up missing the entirety of the 2004 season.

Rodriguez ended up having a successful, yet controversial career with New York. He put up huge numbers throughout his tenure in pinstripes, which included antwo [[American League MVP|MVP]] seasonseasons in 2007 where he hit .314, with 54 home runs, 156 runs driven in,2005 and a slugging percentage of .6452007. Despite this, he was often the most criticized on the team when the Yankees flamed out in post-season, such as [[3-0 series deficit|blowing a 3-0 lead to the Red Sox]] in the [[2004 American League Championship Series]]. Rodriguez was also popped for steroids twice in pinstripes. Nevertheless, Rodriguez and the Yankees would win a World Series in [[2009 World Series|2009]]. In that postseason, he batted .365, hit six homeruns, and drove in 18 runs. Rodriguez also hit home run number [[600 home run club|600]] with the Yankees, becoming only the eighth player in baseball history to reach 600 home runs.

{{commons category|2003 World Series}}

[[Category:SportsBaseball competitions in Miami]]

[[Category:SportsBaseball competitions in New York City]]