Jorge Posada homers in the top of the 5th, to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. That lead holds in the 7th, but Terrence Long drives one into the corner. Right fielder Shane Spencer heaves the ball home, but it's off the line. Jeremy Giambi, brother of star Oakland slugger Jason Giambi, will score for sure.
Except… out of nowhere comes shortstop Derek Jeter, who sprints in, grabs the ball, and, holding it for less than half a second, flips it to Posada at the plate, and Posada juuuust barely tags Giambi on the back of the knee, before his foot touches the plate, completing one of the most amazing defensive plays in baseball history.
"The Flip" allows Mike Mussina and, in the 9th, Mariano Rivera to preserve the 1-0 shutout, and keep the Yankees from being eliminated. The Yankees would win the series in Game 5 at the old Yankee Stadium, with Jeter making another amazing play, tumbling into the stands to catch a foul pop, also off the bat of Terence Long.
Jeter's critics like to say he was "a poor defensive shortstop." He "had no range." He "couldn't go to his left." This one play makes them all look like idiots.
*
October 13, 2001 was a Saturday. In Game 3 of the other ALDS, the Cleveland Indians clobbered the heavily-favored Seattle Mariners, 17-2 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Mariners would win the series in 5 games, but the Yankees would beat them for the Pennant.
In the National League Championship Series, the Atlanta Braves finished off a sweep of the Houston Astros the day before; and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. But the Diamondbacks won Game 5, then beat the Braves for the Pennant, and beat the Yankees in a classic World Series.
There were college football games that day, including the following:
* There were a few upsets, including Number 1 Florida losing to Auburn, 23-20 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Florida bounced back, and won the Orange Bowl.
* Number 2 Miami beat their arch-rivals, Number 14 Florida State, 49-27 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. Miami went on to win the Big East Conference title.
* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 38-10 at David Booth Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma later lost to rival Nebraska, but bounced back to reach the Cotton Bowl.
* Number 4 Nebraska beat Baylor, 48-7 at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. Miami beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, and won the National Championship.
* Number 5 Oregon beat California, 48-7 at California Memorial Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Berkeley. Oregon won the Pacific-Ten Conference title.
* Number 6 Virginia Tech beat Boston College, 34-20 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. But Tech lost their next 2 games, hurting their title chances.
* Number 7 UCLA beat Number 10 Washington, 35-13 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California.
* Number 8 Fresno State beat Colorado State, 25-22 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.
* Number 9 South Carolina were upset by Arkansas, 10-7 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas reached the Cotton Bowl, but lost to Oklahoma.
* Number 11 Tennessee were idle, and went on to reach the Number 2 ranking and the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.
* Number 12 Michigan beat Number 17 Purdue, 24-10 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
* Number 20 Colorado beat Number 25 Texas A&M, 31-21 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado. Colorado later beat Texas in the Big Twelve Conference Championship Game, but lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oregon.
* Number 21 Ohio State lost to Wisconsin 20-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* Notre Dame, unranked, beat West Virginia, 34-24 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
* Illinois, unranked, beat Indiana, 35-14 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference title.
* Louisiana State, unranked, beat Kentucky, 29-25 at Commonwealth Stadium (now Kroger Field) in Lexington, Kentucky. LSU went on to upset then-Number 2 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, followed by an upset of then-Number 7 Illinois in the Sugar Bowl.
* Among the service academies, Air Force beat Wyoming, 24-13 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Army lost to East Carolina, 49-26 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Rice, 21-13 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
* And among New Jersey teams, Rutgers lost to temple, 30-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia; while Princeton lost to Brown, 35-24 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.
The NBA season wouldn't start for another 17 days. There were 12 NHL games:
* The New York Rangers played the Ottawa Senators to a tie, 2-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4 at the Nassau Coliseum. Steve Yzerman scored the winning goal with 2:28 left in overtime.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-2 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers, 5-2 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Craig Conroy scored the winning goal with 40 seconds left in overtime.
* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings, 1-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Compaq Center (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California.
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Buffalo Sabres, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild were not scheduled.
And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal beat Southampton, 2-0 at the St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire.
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