Template:Baseballplayoffsbracket
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 National League Champion has home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the pre-2003 "alternating years" rule.
American League is seeded 1-3/2-4 as a result of the AL regular season champion (Seattle Mariners) and the AL wild card (Oakland Athletics) coming from the same division.
National League is seeded 1-3/2-4 as a result of the NL regular season champion (Houston Astros) and the NL wild card (St. Louis Cardinals) coming from the same division.
April 4 - Hideo Nomo hurls a 3-0 no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in his Boston Red Sox debut. It is Nomo's second career no-hitter, making him the fourth pitcher in history to hurl one in both the NL and the AL. It is also the earliest no-hitter, by date, in major league history, as well as the first by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead's gem in 1965.
April 12 - Seattle Mariners' Jose Hernandez hits two home runs and ties a team record with seven RBIs in a 12-4 win over the Houston Astros.
April 14 - A major league record is set as 11 one-run games are played, breaking the mark of 10 set in 1967. With a 1–0 win over the New York Mets, the Cincinnati Reds set the modern-day NL record with their 175th consecutive game without being shut out, breaking the mark of 174 set by the 1992-93 Philadelphia Phillies.
May 16 - Rickey Henderson leads off with a home run, extending his major league record for leadoff home runs to 79. This is more than twice the total for the #2 and #3 players on the list, Brady Anderson (44) and Bobby Bonds (35).
May 25 - Hideo Nomo of the Boston Red Sox tosses a one-hitter and strikes out 14 in a 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Nomo faces one batter over the minimum of 27, giving up a leadoff double in the fourth inning to Shannon Stewart. Previously, Nomo tossed a no-hit game on April 4 against the Orioles.
June 12 - Dodgers outfielder Gary Sheffield becomes the first player in major league history to win three 1-0 games in a season with a home run, when he solos to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0. He also supplied the only scoring by homering in April 2 versus Milwaukee, and in May 7 against Florida.
July 18 - An Enron Field first: Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros hits for a cycle in a 17-11 Astros win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
August 5 - The Impossible Return - Notably, the Indians tied a Major League Baseball record by erasing a 12-run Seattle lead. Thus, despite its relatively low-profile as a regular season match, the game is vividly remembered and beloved around Cleveland today. For Seattle fans, it is not only a source of angst because of the game itself but because, had the Mariners held on, they would have broken the all-time Major League record for most wins in a season, instead of tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs with 116 wins.
August 11 - Barry Bonds hit his 50th home run of the season to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. No other player had reached 50 home runs faster than Bonds.
September 1 - Rafael Palmeiro of the Texas Rangers collects his 100th run batted in. He becomes only the fourth major league player with seven consecutive seasons with at least 35 home runs and 100 RBI. This is the eighth time in his career he has had at least 100. He joins some elite company; Jimmie Foxx had nine such consecutive seasons., and Babe Ruth and Sammy Sosa also had seven.
September 12 - Minor League Baseball cancels the remainder of the 2001 playoff series. All leaders in their series are deemed champions, and those series which had not started or tied had all teams participating named co-champions.
September 21 - In the first sporting event in New York City since the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, Mike Piazza hits a dramatic 2 run home run in the 8th inning to give the Mets a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Before the game the 2 rival teams shake hands to show that America was a country united.
The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 1-0, setting the American league record to 116 wins in a regular season and tying the major league mark set by the Chicago Cubs in 1906.
Barry Bonds extends his major-league record with his 73rd home run of the season. He will finish the year with a .863 slugging percentage to break Babe Ruth's all-time single-season record.
In a day of records, the Chicago Cubs lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates in their final game of the season, 4–3. They become the first team in major league history to not allow an opposing pitcher to throw a complete game against them all season. Sammy Sosa closes out 2001 with his 64th home run in his final at-bat of the game and sets a new franchise record with 98 extra base hits, one more than Hack Wilson (1930). Sosa also finishes with another franchise record of 425 total bases (the seventh best all-time total), two ahead of Wilson. His 160 RBI are the highest total in the NL since Chuck Klein posted 170 in 1930; Sosa's RBI total for the past four years also breaks Klein's four-year mark set in 1929-32. To finish out the record day, five Cubs pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts as the staff sets a major league record with 1,246 strikeouts. The New York Yankees did the same, setting an AL mark with 1,266 strikeouts.
November-December
November 1 - The New York Yankees pull off 2 incredible comebacks. With the Arizona Diamondbacks leading 3-1 with 2 outs in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, Tino Martinez hits a game tying 2 run home run. One inning later (at 12:04 ET) Derek Jeter hits a walkoff home run to win Game 4, while fans wave a banner which says "Mr. November". Later that night in Game 5, with the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the 9th inning with 2 outs, Scott Brosius hits a 2 run game tying home run to tie that game at 2. The Yankees win 3-2 and take a 3-2 series lead.
November 4 - The Arizona Diamondbacks win the first World Series of their four-year existence with a come-from-behind 3–2 win over the New York Yankees. Mariano Rivera, considered by many to be the best closer in postseason history, begins the bottom of the 9th inning with a 1 run lead, but is unable to protect it, allowing two runs, including a game winning RBI single by Luis González. Randy Johnson gets the win in relief and shares World Series MVP honors with Curt Schilling.
November 11 - Mark McGwire announces his retirement. His 583 career home runs place him fifth on the all-time list.
January 22 - Tommie Agee, 58, All-Star center fielder who was the 1966 AL Rookie of the Year with the White Sox, best remembered for two catches in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series that helped the Mets win the championship
January 28 - Curt Blefary, 57, outfielder who was the 1965 AL Rookie of the Year with the Orioles
February 16 - Bob Buhl, 72, All-Star pitcher who won 166 games, mainly with the Braves and Cubs; notoriously poor hitter was 0-for-70 in 1962
February 18 - Eddie Mathews, 69, Hall of Fame third baseman for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta who retired with 512 home runs, sixth most in history, hitting 40 four times and leading NL twice; batted .300 three times, scored 100 runs eight times and had five 100-RBI seasons; set major league records with 2181 games and 4323 assists at third base, and NL mark with 369 double plays; appeared on first cover of Sports Illustrated in 1954; was manager of Braves in 1974 when former teammate Hank Aaron broke career home run record
February 20 - Bill Rigney, 83, manager of the Giants when team moved to San Francisco, later managed Angels, and led Twins to 1970 division title; previously an All-Star infielder for Giants in New York
February 24 - Phil Collier, 75, sportswriter for the San Diego Union-Tribune who covered the Dodgers, Angels and Padres from 1958 to 1999
April 9 - Willie Stargell, 61, Hall of Fame left fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates who hit 475 home runs, leading NL twice; was MVP of the regular season, NLCS and World Series in 1979, the only player to do so; batted .300 three times and had five 100-RBI seasons
April 21 - Hal White, 82, pitcher for the Tigers who eaned shutouts in his first two major league starts; later a coach and scout
May-August
May 19 - Joe Lovitto, 50, the Texas Rangers' first center fielder, from 1972-75
June 2 - Gene Woodling, 78, All-Star left fielder who batted .318 in five World Series with the Yankees
June 16 - Sam Jethroe, 84, All-Star outfielder in the Negro Leagues, later the 1950 NL Rookie of the Year with the Braves at age 32
June 20 - Bob Keegan, 80, All-Star pitcher who won 40 games, including a no-hitter, for the White Sox
July 17 - Chief Hogsett, 97, pitcher for the Tigers who made a critical relief appearance in the 1935 World Series
August 10 - Lou Boudreau, 84, Hall of Fame shortstop for the Cleveland Indians who won 1948 MVP award after leading team to World Series title as a player-manager, the last person to do so; won 1944 batting title and led AL in doubles three times, later a broadcaster
August 24 - Hank Sauer, 84, All-Star left fielder for four NL teams after rookie season at age 31; won 1952 MVP award with the Cubs after leading league in home runs and RBI
August 29 - Dick Selma, 57, pitcher who won the San Diego Padres' first game in 1969 and saved 22 games for 1970 Phillies
November 23 - Bo Belinsky, 64, pitcher who enjoyed a 10-win rookie season in 1962 with the Angels, including the first no-hitter on the West Coast, but whose raucous personal life derailed his career
November 29 - Marcelino López, 58, Cuban pitcher who won 14 games as a 1965 rookie with the Angels but never recaptured the same form
December 24 - Hank Soar, 87, American League umpire from 1950 to 1973 who worked in five World Series; former football player with the New York Giants
December 26 - Tom McBride, 87, outfielder who batted .305 for the 1945 Red Sox, getting six RBI in one inning in August