2000 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

  • Regular Season Champions
LeagueEastern Division ChampionCentral Division ChampionWestern Division ChampionWild Card Qualifier
American LeagueNew York YankeesChicago White SoxOakland AthleticsSeattle Mariners
National LeagueAtlanta BravesSt. Louis CardinalsSan Francisco GiantsNew York Mets

  • World Series Champion – New York Yankees
  • Postseason – October 3 to October 26
Click on any series score to link to that series' page.

Higher seed has home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.

The American League Champion has home field advantage in the World Series as a result of the pre-2003 "alternating years" rule.

Major League Baseball final standings

Events

January

  • January 3 - Bobby Bonilla is released by the New York Mets. The Mets, still owing Bonilla money on his contract, agree to a deferment system that would pay Bonilla $1.19 million dollars every year on July 1st from 2011 until the year 2035.
  • January 6 – Major league officials say that Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker is to undergo psychological testing following derogatory racist remarks he makes in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine. Commissioner Bud Selig says he'll listen to what the doctors say before deciding what punishment—if any—is handed down to the pitcher.
  • * Dwight Gooden is signed as a free agent by the Houston Astros.
  • January 11 – The baseball writers elect catcher Carlton Fisk and first baseman Tony Pérez to the Hall of Fame. Fisk is chosen in his 2nd year on the ballot, while Pérez is picked on his 9th try.
  • January 31 – Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker is suspended from baseball until May 1 by Commissioner Bud Selig for his racial and ethnic remarks in an article published in Sports Illustrated last month. He is also fined an undisclosed amount and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.

    February

  • February 10 – The Seattle Mariners accommodate center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., trading him to his hometown Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Pérez and minor leaguer Jake Meyer.
  • February 29 – Manager Sparky Anderson, 19th-century star Bid McPhee, and Negro leagues player Norman "Turkey" Stearnes are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

    March

  • March 1 – Independent arbitrator Shyam Das cuts Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker's suspension from 28 days to 14 days. Rocker, who is allowed to report to spring training with the team, also has his fine cut.
  • March 29 – The Chicago Cubs open the major league season in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, by defeating the New York Mets, 5–3, in the first big league game ever played outside of North America. Jon Lieber gets the victory and Mike Hampton takes the loss. Mark Grace and Mike Piazza also homer.

    April

  • April 3
  • *Andrés Galarraga hits a home run in his first game back after missing the entire 1999 season following cancer surgery, as the Atlanta Braves defeat his former team, the Colorado Rockies, 2–0, at Turner Field.
  • *A new major league record for Opening Day is set with five players having multiple home run games. Gabe Kapler becomes the first player to hit home runs in his first two at-bats in a Texas Rangers uniform, while his teammate Iván Rodríguez also adds a pair of homers in a 10–4 Texas victory against the Chicago White Sox. Vladimir Guerrero also hits a pair of homers for the Montreal Expos, but the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Montreal, 10–4, behind Eric Karros' grand slam. Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics hits two home runs against the Detroit Tigers. Despite Giambi's effort, Detroit edges the Athletics, 7–4.
  • April 4 – Montreal Expos closer Ugueth Urbina ties a major league record by striking out the side on nine pitches. His victims are F. P. Santangelo, Devon White and Mark Grudzielanek in the ninth inning, as Montreal defeats the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10–4, at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
  • April 7 :
  • *A total of 57 home runs are hit in the 15 games played, for a new major league record. The previous mark of 55 was set in 17 games on August 13, 1999. There are 36 homers hit in the AL, smashing the previous mark for a single league.
  • *The Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Houston Astros, 4–1, in the first game played at Enron Field in Houston.
  • April 9 – The Minnesota Twins defeat the Kansas City Royals 13–7. In the process, they become the first teams in major league history to each hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the same game. Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matt LeCroy hit consecutive homers for Minnesota in the 6th inning, followed by three in a row by Carlos Beltrán, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney of Kansas City two innings later.
  • April 10 – The Colorado Rockies punch out the Cincinnati Reds, 7–5, despite Ken Griffey Jr.'s 400th career home run. Aged 30, Griffey is the youngest player in major league history to reach that milestone.
  • April 11 :
  • *The Los Angeles Dodgers edge the San Francisco Giants, 6–5, in the first game played at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco. Shortstop Kevin Elster leads the Dodgers attack with three home runs.
  • * The Detroit Tigers sink the Seattle Mariners, 5–2, in the first game played at Comerica Park in Detroit.
  • April 13 The Tampa Bay Devil Rays purchase the contract of Dwight Gooden from the Houston Astros.
  • April 15 – The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Minnesota Twins, 6–4, as Cal Ripken Jr. gets the 3,000th hit of his illustrious career. Ripken goes 3-for-5 in becoming the 24th player to reach the milestone, and the seventh to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
  • April 16 – Cleveland Indians starter Chuck Finley, who is already the only pitcher to strike out four batters in one inning twice, does it for the third time as the left-hander strikes out Tom Evans, Royce Clayton, Chad Curtis and Rafael Palmeiro in the third inning. Finley beats the Texas Rangers 2–1 with the help of back-to-back ninth-inning home runs from Manny Ramírez and Jim Thome.
  • April 21 – The Anaheim Angels melt the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9–6. Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon hit back-to-back home runs for Anaheim in the fourth inning, then repeat the feat in the ninth. Troy Glaus also homers in those same two innings, marking the first time in major league history that three players homer in the same inning twice in the same game. The three players with two home runs in the game ties another major league record.
  • April 23 – In the New York Yankees' 10–7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees' Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada each hit home runs from both sides of the plate, marking the first time in major league history that a pair of teammates accomplish the feat in the same game.
  • April 26 – Vladimir Guerrero hits his 100th career home run helping the Montreal Expos beat the Colorado Rockies 9–2.
  • April 29 – The San Francisco Giants finally win, beating the Montreal Expos 2–1 for their first victory at Pacific Bell Park. The Giants are the first team to lose six straight games to begin play in a newly constructed home park.
  • April 30 :
  • *Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks compiles what might have been the best first month for a pitcher in major league history, going 6–0 with an 0.91 ERA, three complete games and a pair of shutouts.
  • *The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4–3, as Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds hit home runs. St. Louis finishes the month with 55 homers, a new record for the month of April. It also ties the National League mark for homers in any month. Major league batters also set a record for most home runs in a month by hitting 931 in April – the total is 140 more than the number hit in.