2002 World Series
The 2002 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball 's 2002 season. The 98th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Anaheim Angels and the National League champion San Francisco Giants; the Angels defeated the Giants, four games to three, to win their first, and, to date, only World Series championship. This was the first professional sports championship ever won by an Anaheim-based team. The series was played from October 19–27, 2002, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco and Edison International Field of Anaheim in Anaheim.
This was the first World Series since the 1995 inception of the wild card in MLB in which both wild card teams would vie for the title. The Angels finished the regular season in second place in the AL West division. They defeated the four-time defending AL champion New York Yankees, three games to one, in the best-of-five AL Division Series, and in doing so won their first postseason series in franchise history. They then defeated the Minnesota Twins, four games to one, in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series to advance to the World Series, another first in franchise history. The Giants finished the regular season in second place in the NL West division. They defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series to advance to the World Series, giving the team their 20th NL pennant and 17th appearance in the Fall Classic but only their third since moving from New York City to San Francisco in 1958.
The series was the fourth World Series played between two teams from California, after,, and, and the latest Fall Classic that featured teams from the same city or state. Barry Bonds, Reggie Sanders, and J. T. Snow each hit home runs to help propel the Giants to win Game one. Game two was a high-scoring affair that the Angels ultimately won on Tim Salmon's eighth-inning home run. The Angels routed the Giants in Game three, but lost Game four on a tie-breaking eighth-inning single by the Giants' David Bell. The Giants brought the Angels to the brink of elimination by winning Game five in a blowout. The Giants were eight outs away from winning the Series in Game six, but late game home runs by Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad, as well as a two-RBI double by Troy Glaus helped the Angels overcome a five-run, seventh-inning deficit to win. The Giants’ Game 6 collapse has been often cited as another manifestation of the Curse of Coogan's Bluff. A three-run double by Garret Anderson was the difference in the Angels' Game seven win to clinch the series. Glaus was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. The two teams set a record for combined most home runs in a World Series, which stood until 2017.
Background
This was the fourth World Series played between two teams from California and the last World Series as of today involving two teams from the same state. The 1974 World Series saw the Oakland Athletics defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers; the series saw the Los Angeles Dodgers getting revenge by defeating the Oakland Athletics. In the San Francisco Giants were defeated by the Oakland Athletics. The managers of the two clubs, Mike Scioscia of the Angels and Dusty Baker of the Giants, were teammates on the Dodgers from 1980 to 1983, and won a World Series in. This was the first World Series to feature opposing managers who had been teammates on a World Championship team as players.San Francisco Giants
Since their 1958 move from New York City to San Francisco, the Giants franchise and its fans had a long history of futility, frustration, and disappointment. The Giants had won their last World Series crown before the move, in. Since the move, the Giants made it to the World Series twice but lost both times. These included a dramatic, down-to-the-wire loss to the New York Yankees in the seven-game classic 1962 World Series, and a four-game sweep by their crosstown rival Oakland Athletics in the 1989 World Series that was marred by the Loma Prieta earthquake. Their most recent postseason appearance was in 2000, when they were defeated by the New York Mets in the NLDS. In addition, the Giants narrowly missed winning the National League pennant in 1959, 1964, 1965 and 1966. They finished in second place five years in a row from 1965 to 1969 and lost the 1971 National League Championship Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates.2002 was Dusty Baker's tenth season as manager of the Giants. It was also their third season playing at Pacific Bell Park. The Giants finished the previous season with a record of 90–72, finishing in second place in the National League West, two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. They also finished in second place in the NL wild card standings, three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Notable player departures included 2001 midseason acquisition Andrés Galarraga, who departed as a free agent, and Shawn Estes, who was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Desi Relaford. Notable player acquisitions included Reggie Sanders, a free agent, and David Bell, who the Giants received from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Desi Relaford and cash. During the season the Giants also acquired Kenny Lofton from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for two minor leaguers. Sanders, Bell, Shinjo, and Lofton helped bolster a Giants offense led by longtime Giants Barry Bonds, J. T. Snow, Rich Aurilia, and Jeff Kent, as well as relative newcomer Benito Santiago. The starting pitching rotation was led by Kirk Rueter and Jason Schmidt, with a bullpen led by Tim Worrell and closer Robb Nen.
During the 2002 regular season, the Giants led the NL West standings for most of April and a few days in May; however, by the end of May they had fallen to third place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. They spent most of the next three months in third place, but on September 9 they took second place for good, while the Dodgers either tied them or fell to third place for the rest of the season. The Giants finished the regular season with a record of 95–66, games behind the NL West champion Diamondbacks. They won the NL wild card, games ahead of the runner-up Dodgers.
In the 2002 postseason, the wild-card Giants' first opponent was the top-seeded Atlanta Braves, who they defeated in five games to return to the NLCS for the first time since 1989. In the NLCS, the Giants defeated the #3 seed St. Louis Cardinals in five games to advance to the World Series for the 17th time in franchise history. Dusty Baker became the first black manager to participate in a World Series since Cito Gaston for Toronto in and.
This was Giants' outfielder Reggie Sanders' second consecutive World Series appearance with different teams—in he got there with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This was the first time this happened since Don Baylor did it in three consecutive years with the Boston Red Sox in, the Minnesota Twins in, and with the Oakland Athletics in.
Anaheim Angels
Like the Giants, the Angels and their fans carried a long history of futility and disappointment. Enfranchised in 1961, the Angels had never before played in the World Series. They came close several times, including ALCS losses in 1979 to the Baltimore Orioles, 1982 to the Milwaukee Brewers, and in 1986 to the Boston Red Sox. After dropping the 1979 ALCS in four games, the Angels brought their opponents to the brink of elimination in each of those last two series, before losing the next three consecutive games and the series. The 1986 ALCS, in which the Angels were as close as 1 strike away from the World Series, was the Angels' latest postseason appearance, though they came close in 1995 when they lost a one-game tie-breaker for the AL West championship to the Seattle Mariners after blowing a 14-game lead in the standings.2002 was the Angels' third season under manager Mike Scioscia. The Angels finished the previous injury marred season with a record of 75–87, finishing in third place in the AL West. The most notable personnel change during the offseason was the trade of first baseman Mo Vaughn to the New York Mets in exchange for pitcher Kevin Appier. Offensively, the team was led by longtime Angels Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus and Tim Salmon, as well as relative newcomers Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein. The starting pitching rotation was led by Ramón Ortiz and Jarrod Washburn, as well as mid-season call-up John Lackey, while the bullpen was led by setup man Brendan Donnelly and closer Troy Percival. The bullpen was bolstered in late September by the addition of 20-year-old reliever prospect Francisco Rodriguez.
The Angels spent much of the season trailing the first-place Seattle Mariners and on occasion the Oakland Athletics in the AL West standings. However, the Athletics and Angels both mounted late-season comebacks that, coupled with a poor August record for the Mariners, knocked the Mariners down to third place. The Athletics won 20 straight games at one point, and the Angels finished the season in second place with a 99–63 record, four games behind the Athletics, but won the AL wild card, six games ahead of the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. Their 99 wins was third best in the A.L. and fourth best in baseball.
In the 2002 postseason, the wild-card Angels first faced off against the overall #1 seed and four-time defending American League champion New York Yankees in the ALDS. The Angels shocked the four-time defending AL champions in four games to return to the ALCS for the first time since 1986. Their opponent in the ALCS was the third-seeded Minnesota Twins, who they defeated in five games to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.