2000 Major League Baseball postseason

The 2000 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2000 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.

In the American League, the New York Yankees returned to the postseason for the sixth straight time, the Chicago White Sox made their second appearance in the last seven years, the Seattle Mariners returned for the third time in six years, and the Oakland Athletics returned for the third time in eleven years.

In the National League, the Atlanta Braves made their ninth straight appearance in the postseason, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants both returned for the second time in five years, and the New York Mets returned for the second straight year. This postseason was notable in that it was the first time that both #1 seeds from the American and National Leagues failed to make it past the LDS.

The postseason began on October 3, 2000, and ended on October 26, 2000, with the Yankees defeating the Mets in five games in the 2000 World Series, also known as the "Subway Series" as both teams were from New York City. The Yankees completed a three-peat and won their 26th title in franchise history.

Yankees

White Sox

Athletics

Mariners

Braves

Cardinals

Giants

Mets

American League Teams National League Teams

The following teams qualified for the post-season:

1. Chicago White Sox – 95–67, AL Central champions^[2]
2. Oakland Athletics – 91–70, AL West champions^[3]
3. New York Yankees – 87–74, AL East champions^[4]
4. Seattle Mariners – 91–71^[5]

1. San Francisco Giants – 97–65, NL West champions^[6]
2. St. Louis Cardinals – 95–67, NL Central champions (4–3 head-to-head record vs. ATL)^[7]
3. Atlanta Braves – 95–67, NL East champions (3–4 head-to-head record vs. STL)^[8]
4. New York Mets – 94–68^[9]

Seattle won the series, 3–0.

The Mariners upset the top-seeded White Sox in a sweep to return to the ALCS for the first time since 1995.

The Mariners took Game 1 in Chicago in extra innings thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud in the top of the tenth. Game 2 started off tied at two runs early, until Jay Buhner hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth that put the Mariners in the lead for good, giving them a 2–0 series lead headed home. In Game 3, the White Sox got out to an early lead thanks to a sacrifice fly from Herbert Perry, but the Mariners tied the game and then won in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a bunt from Carlos Guillén.

This was the last postseason appearance by the White Sox until 2005, where they went on to win the World Series.

New York won the series, 3–2.

This was the first postseason meeting between these two teams since the 1981 ALCS, which the Yankees won in a sweep en route to the World Series. The Yankees once again defeated the Athletics, this time in five games, to return to the ALCS for the fourth time in five years.

The Athletics took Game 1 at home as Gil Heredia outdueled Roger Clemens in a 5-3 win. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera blanked the Athletics offense in Game 2 as the Yankees won 4-0 to even the series heading to the Bronx. In Game 3, Orlando Hernández pitched seven solid innings and Rivera got another save as the Yankees won 4-2 to take the series lead. In Game 4, Clemens lost yet another pitchers’ duel to Barry Zito as the Athletics blew out the Yankees to force a decisive fifth game back in Oakland. In Game 5, the Yankees jumped out to a big lead early, and Mike Stanton and Rivera stopped a rally by the Athletics to prevail 7-5.

These two teams would meet again in the ALDS next year, and in the Wild Card Game of the 2018 postseason, with the Yankees winning both meetings.

New York won the series, 3–1.

This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Mets. The Mets defeated the top-seeded Giants in four games to advance to the NLCS for the second year in a row.

The Giants took Game 1 by four runs, capped off by a three-run home run from Ellis Burks. In Game 2, the Mets held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, when J. T. Snow hit a three-run home run to force extra innings. Jay Payton then put the Mets back in the lead for good with an RBI single in the top of the tenth to even the series headed to Queens. In a long and grueling Game 3, the Mets won in the bottom of the thirteenth inning thanks to a walk-off homer from Benny Agbayani. In Game 4, Bobby Jones pitched a one-hit complete game shutout for the Mets as they won 4-0 to advance to the NLCS.

This marked the first time in postseason history that both #1 seeds fell in the LDS. Both teams would meet again in the 2016 NL Wild Card Game, which the Giants won in a shutout.

St. Louis won the series, 3–0.

This was the third postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Braves. They previously met in the NLCS in 1996, which the Braves won in seven games after trailing in the series three games to one. The Cardinals swept the series, and denied the Braves a ninth straight trip to the NLCS.

The series was not close - the Cardinals completely dominated the Braves in this series. In Game 1, the Cardinals’ offense overwhelmed Greg Maddux and their bullpen held off a late rally by the Braves to win 7-5. In Game 2, Will Clark, Carlos Hernández, and Ray Lankford chased Tom Glavine from the mound as the Cardinals blew out the Braves to take a 2-0 series lead headed to Atlanta. Fernando Viña and Jim Edmonds led the way for the Cardinals’ offense in Game 3 in yet another blowout win to complete the sweep.

The Cardinals and Braves would meet in the postseason two more times - in the Wild Card game in 2012, and the NLDS in 2019, both won by the Cardinals.

New York won the series, 4–2.

This was the first postseason meeting between these two teams since the 1995 ALDS, which the Mariners won after being down two games to none in the series. The Yankees defeated the Mariners in six games, and returned to the World Series for the fourth time in five years.

Freddy García and Kazuhiro Sasaki kept the Yankees’ offense silent in Game 1 as they prevailed in a 2-0 shutout on the road. In Game 2, Orlando Hernández pitched eight solid innings as the Yankees blew out the Mariners to even the series headed to Seattle. Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera stymied the Seattle offense in Game 3 as the Yankees blew out the Mariners again to take the series lead. Roger Clemens pitched a one-hit complete game shutout in Game 4 as the Yankees won 5-0 to take a 3-1 series lead. In Game 5, the Yankees led 2-1 after four innings, but the Mariners offense finally woke up as they put up five unanswered runs in the bottom of the fifth in part thanks to home runs from Edgar Martínez and John Olerud to send the series back to the Bronx. Game 6 was an offensive shootout between both teams, which was won by the Yankees as David Justice hit a three-run home run in a six-run seventh inning to put the Yankees in the lead for good.

This was the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.

Both teams would meet again in the ALCS next year, which the Yankees also won.

New York won the series, 4–1.

This was the first postseason meeting between the Mets and Cardinals. The Mets defeated the Cardinals in five games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1986 (in the process denying a rematch of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals).

Mike Hampton pitched seven solid innings as the Mets stole Game 1 on the road. Game 2 was tied going into the top of the ninth, where Jay Payton won the game for the Mets with an RBI single to go up 2-0 in the series headed to Queens. In Game 3, Andy Benes pitched eight solid innings as the Cardinals blew out the Mets for their only win of the series. Game 4 was an offensive shootout that was won by the Mets as they once again chased St. Louis starter Darryl Kile from the mound. Game 5 was marred by controversy as Payton was hit near his left eye by a fastball from Cardinals’ pitcher Dave Veres in the bottom of the eighth. A fight then broke out between Veres and Payton, both benches and bullpens cleared, and the Shea Stadium crowd started mocking the Cardinals by chanting Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye and booing them as the inning ended. Otherwise, Game 5 was a stellar performance for the Mets, as Mike Hampton pitched a three-hit complete game shutout in a blowout win to clinch the pennant and set up the first all-New York City World Series since 1956.

This was the second edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS. This phenomenon occurred the previous year, and would occur once more in 2024.

The Cardinals returned to the NLCS in 2002, but they fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They would win their next NL pennant in 2004, against the Houston Astros in seven games. This was the last time the Mets won the NL pennant until 2015, where they swept the Chicago Cubs before falling in the World Series.

Both teams would meet again in the 2006 NLCS, which the Cardinals won in seven games en route to a World Series title.

The "Subway Series"

New York (AL) won the series, 4–1.

This was the first World Series to feature two teams from New York since 1956, and the first to feature two teams from the same state since 1989. The Yankees defeated the Mets in five games to complete a three-peat, becoming the first team since the 1972–74 Oakland Athletics to accomplish such a feat (the Athletics, ironically, also beat the Mets during their dynasty run, in 1973).

In the Bronx, the Yankees took Game 1 after twelve innings of play. During Game 2, minor controversy occurred when a pitch from Roger Clemens shattered Mike Piazza's bat. The ball went foul, but a sharp edge of the bat came towards Clemens. He came off the mound and threw the bat towards the baseline, almost hitting the running Piazza. Piazza appeared baffled by Clemens' actions. After the game, Clemens would say he did not see Piazza running and threw the bat because he was pumped up with nervous energy and initially charged the incoming broken bat, believing it to be the ball. The Yankees won Game 2 by a narrow 6–5 score to go up 2–0 in the series. When the series shifted to Queens for Game 3, the Mets prevailed by a 4–2 score to avoid a sweep. However, the Yankees narrowly prevailed in Games 4 and 5 to secure the title and cap off a three-peat. Game 5 was the last World Series game ever played at Shea Stadium.

This would be the last World Series appearance for the Mets until 2015, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals in five games. The Yankees returned to the World Series again the next year in hopes to win a fourth straight title, but fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games. The Yankees' next and most recent title would come in 2009, where they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

This was the final year under a five-year U.S. rights agreement with ESPN, Fox, and NBC. Division Series games aired across the three networks. NBC then televised the American League Championship Series. With the 2000 United States presidential debates being held on October 3 and 17, NBC did a reverse mirror with the Pax Network, which it held minority ownership at the time. In some markets, the debates were shown on the local NBC station while the local Pax station aired baseball; in other markets, baseball aired on the local NBC station and the debates were televised on the local Pax station. Fox aired both the 2000 National League Championship Series and the World Series. NBC declined to renew it broadcasting rights after the season, eventually resulting in Fox televising the World Series ever since.

• League Baseball Standings & Expanded Standings - 2000