When Luis Gonzalez hit the game-winning single to win the 2001 World Series, I ran into the backyard screaming because I was so happy. That year the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees. The Yankees are a team that everybody loves to hate, but not in 2001.
Looking back on 2001 now that I am older, I realize that if the Diamondbacks lost that World Series, it would not have been the worst thing in the world.
During the 2001 postseason the Yankees gave the people of New York hope after September 11. The Yankees helped the volunteers dig through the wreckage, aiding people like the wife whose husband never came home and comforting the fireman who had to look at a friend’s empty locker.
Watching the Yankees took New Yorkers’ minds off the terrible tragedy, even if it was only for a brief time.
The people of New York eventually came together and pulled through after the tragedies. If the Yankees had won that World Series, it would have helped to uplift that town even more. It was awesome to have a hometown team win a championship.
But if the Yankees had won that year I would think well of them. They needed it.
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