The Yankees entered the 2001 season as owners of the first three-peat since the A’s of the early ‘70s and winners of four of the last five World Series. They were at the peak of their powers — surely no team, even as mighty as the 116-win Mariners, could unseat them from the mountaintop. Thus the stage was set for perhaps the biggest clash of titans that the ALCS had ever seen.
Final Score: Yankees 3, Mariners 1
Game MVP: Alfonso Soriano
From pretty early on in the regular season, it increasingly felt like a foregone conclusion that the Yankees and Mariners would cross paths in the playoffs.