Rickey Henderson (left) and Tony Gwynn
October 7, 2001: On the last day of the regular season -- delayed a week, due to the 9/11 attacks -- the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 14-5 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Rickey Henderson, now with the Padres, bloops a double down the right-field line off John Thomson of the Colorado Rockies. It is the 3,000th hit of his career.
Tony Gwynn, who is playing in his last game, meets him at home plate, 2 members of the 3,000 Hit Club together. Gwynn retires with a .338 lifetime batting average, which remains the highest of any player who debuted after the 1939 season. (That was Ted Williams' rookie year, and he finished his career at .344.) It is also the highest of any black man, whether American or Hispanic.
Also on this day, Barry Bonds extends his major league record for home runs in season to 73*, as he drives a 3-and-2 1st-inning knuckleball off Los Angeles Dodger Dennis Springer over the right field fence at Pacific Bell Park (now named Oracle Park). The blast also secures two more major league records * for the San Francisco Giants' left fielder, as he surpasses Babe Ruth (1920, .847) with a .863* season slugging percentage, and bests Mark McGwire (1998, one homer every 7.27 AB *) by homering in every 6.52 at-bats *. The Giants beat the Dodgers, their arch-rivals, 2-1.
Indeed, it is a day of records. The Chicago Cubs lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4–3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. They become the 1st 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 had in 1930.
Sosa also finishes with another franchise record of 425 total bases (the 7th-best all-time total), 2 ahead of Wilson. His 160 RBI are the highest total in the NL since Wilson set the MLB record with 191 in 1930. Chuck Klein had 170 that year. Sosa's RBI total for the past 4 years also breaks Klein's 4-year mark set in 1929-32. To finish out the record day, 5 Cubs pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts as the staff sets a major league record with 1,246 strikeouts. The Yankees do the same, setting an AL mark with 1,266 strikeouts.
Sosa also finishes with another franchise record of 425 total bases (the 7th-best all-time total), 2 ahead of Wilson. His 160 RBI are the highest total in the NL since Wilson set the MLB record with 191 in 1930. Chuck Klein had 170 that year. Sosa's RBI total for the past 4 years also breaks Klein's 4-year mark set in 1929-32. To finish out the record day, 5 Cubs pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts as the staff sets a major league record with 1,246 strikeouts. The Yankees do the same, setting an AL mark with 1,266 strikeouts.
As for the guy with whom Sosa battled for the single-season home run record in 1998, Mark McGwire plays his last game. He pinch-hits for Jim Edmonds in the bottom of the 9th, and flies to center, as the St. Louis Cardinals lose 9-2 to the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. He finishes with 583 home runs.
It hadn't been all that long since people were thinking he had a shot at breaking Hank Aaron's record of 755. But it would be Bonds that broke it. At 38, McGwire should have had something left. But he battled injury and batted just .187 that season. The steroids caught up to him.
*
October 7, 2001 was a Sunday. These other MLB games were played on this final day of the regular season:
* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 1-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Mike Mussina (4 innings), Orlando "El Duque" Hernández (4 innings and the winning pitcher) and Mariano Rivera (1 inning) combined on a 2-hit shutout. The only run of the game came on a home run by... Clay Bellinger? The Yankees only got 3 hits of their own, the others being by Chuck Knoblauch and David Justice.
* The New York Mets lose to the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Britt Reames (5 2/3rds innings), Scott Stewart (1 1/3rd) and Scott Strickland (2) limit the Mets to 3 hits.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 15-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels, 6-2 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).
* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The Mariners had won 116 games, setting a new American League record and tying the major league record of the 1906 Cubs. But they wouldn't even win the Pennant.
It was also an NFL Sunday:
* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 23-9 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-36 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.
* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-20 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans, 26-7 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-3 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 30-10 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-15 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers played their 1st game at Heinz Field, it having been postponed after the 9/11 attacks. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals 16-7. (In 2022, the stadium was renamed Acrisure Stadium.)
* The Cleveland Browns beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-16 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).
* The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs, at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-14 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.
* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-15 the Husky Stadium in Seattle.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-21 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the St. Louis Rams beat the Detroit Lions, 35-0 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
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