2002 American League Championship Series

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2002 American League Championship Series
Terry Smith (KLAC)
ALDS
(3–2)
← 2001 ALCS 2003 →

The 2002 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a matchup between the Wild Card Anaheim Angels and the Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins. The Angels advanced to the Series after dethroning the reigning four-time AL Champion New York Yankees in the 2002 American League Division Series three games to one. The Twins made their way into the Series after beating the Athletics three games to two. The Angels won the Series four games to one and went on to defeat the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series to win their first World Series championship.

Summary

Minnesota Twins vs. Anaheim Angels

Anaheim won the series, 4–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 8 Anaheim Angels – 1, Minnesota Twins – 2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 2:58 55,562[1] 
2 October 9 Anaheim Angels – 6, Minnesota Twins – 3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 3:13 55,990[2] 
3 October 11 Minnesota Twins – 1, Anaheim Angels – 2
Edison International Field of Anaheim
 3:13 44,234[3] 
4 October 12 Minnesota Twins – 1, Anaheim Angels – 7 Edison International Field of Anaheim 2:49 44,830[4] 
5 October 13 Minnesota Twins – 5, Anaheim Angels – 13 Edison International Field of Anaheim 3:30 44,835[5]

Game summaries

Game 1

Tuesday, October 8, 2002 at

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0
Minnesota 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 2 5 1
WP: Joe Mays (1–0)   LP: Kevin Appier (0–1)   Sv: Eddie Guardado (1)

Joe Mays outdueled Kevin Appier as the Twins won Game 1. A. J. Pierzynski hit a sacrifice fly with runners on first and third to put the Twins out in front in the second, but in the third, the Angels got back-to-back two-out singles by Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein before shortstop Cristian Guzmán's error on Darin Erstad's ground ball tied the game. The Twins would take a one-run lead when Corey Koskie doubled in a run in the fifth. Though three Angel relievers kept the Twins scoreless for the rest of the game, Mays pitched eight innings Eddie Guardado got the save as the Twins took a 1–0 series lead. Until 2023, this was the last postseason game the Twins won at home.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 9, 2002 at

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 10 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 11 1
WP: Ramón Ortiz (1–0)   LP: Rick Reed (0–1)   Sv: Troy Percival (1)
Home runs:
ANA: Darin Erstad (1), Brad Fullmer (1)
MIN: None

The Angels took their first lead in the series when

Cristian Guzman hit a leadoff double and scored on Corey Koskie's single. After David Ortiz struck out, Torii Hunter doubled before Doug Mientkiewicz's two-run single cut the Angels' lead in half. Neither team would score afterward off each other's bullpen and Troy Percival
earned the save as the Angels tied the series heading to Anaheim.

Game 3

Friday, October 11, 2002 at

Edison International Field of Anaheim in Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
Anaheim 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 2 7 2
WP: Francisco Rodríguez (1–0)   LP: J. C. Romero (0–1)   Sv: Troy Percival (2)
Home runs:
MIN: None
ANA: Garret Anderson (1), Troy Glaus (1)

Garret Anderson started the scoring by hitting a lead-off home run in the bottom of the second. Twins 'Eric Milton and Angels' Jarrod Washburn dueled for seven innings. The Twins tied the game in the seventh when Dustan Mohr hit a leadoff single and scored on Jacque Jones's two-out double in the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, Troy Glaus hit the go-ahead home run off of J. C. Romero to put the Angels on top 2–1. Troy Percival got the save in the ninth and Francisco Rodríguez got the win in relief of Washburn with a perfect eighth.

Game 4

Saturday, October 12, 2002 at

Edison International Field of Anaheim in Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 2
Anaheim 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 X 7 10 0
WP: John Lackey (1–0)   LP: Brad Radke (0–1)

The game remained scoreless into the seventh inning as Brad Radke and John Lackey waged a classic pitcher's duel, but the Angels would strike in the bottom of the seventh. A single, stolen base in combination with an error, and walk put runners on first and third with no outs. After Garret Anderson popped out to third, Troy Glaus's RBI single made it 1–0 Angels. Radke struck out Brad Fullmer, but Scott Spiezio's RBI double made it 2–0 Angels. Next inning, Darin Erstad singled with one out off of Johan Santana, moved to second on an error, and then to third on a groundout by Alex Ochoa before scoring on Anderson's single off of J. C. Romero. Mike Jackson relieved Romero and allowed a single to Glaus before Fullmer's two-run double made it 5–0 Angels. After Spiezio was intentionally walked, Bengie Molina's two-run triple made it 7–0 Angels. Ben Weber in the ninth allowed a two-out double to Corey Koskie and subsequent RBI single to David Ortiz before striking out Torii Hunter to end the game and give the Angels a 3–1 series lead.

Game 5

Sunday, October 13, 2002 at

Edison International Field of Anaheim in Anaheim, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 9 0
Anaheim 0 0 1 0 2 0 10 0 X 13 18 0
WP: Francisco Rodríguez (2–0)   LP: Johan Santana (0–1)
Home runs:
MIN: None
ANA: Adam Kennedy 3 (3), Scott Spiezio (1)

Game 1 winner

Scott Spezio and Bengie Molina hit consecutive leadoff singles off of Johan Santana before Kennedy's third home run of the game put the Angels back in front 6–5. LaTroy Hawkins relieved Santana and allowed three straight singles to David Eckstein, Darin Erstad, and Tim Salmon to load the bases with no outs. J. C. Romero relieved Hawkins and walked Garret Anderson to force in Eckstein. After Troy Glaus struck out, Shawn Wooten's single scored Erstad, then a wild pitch scored Alex Ochoa (who was pinch-running for Salmon) before Spezio's second single of the inning scored Wooten to make it 11–5 Angels. Bob Wells relieved Romero and allowed two straight singles to Chone Figgins and Kennedy to re-load the bases, then hit Eckstein with a pitch to force in Spiezio before Darin Erstad's groundout scored Figgins for the last run of the inning. Ben Weber and Troy Percival
pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively as the Angels' 13–5 win earned them the American League pennant, their first in franchise history.

Composite box

2002 ALCS (4–1):

Anaheim Angels over Minnesota Twins

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim Angels
 1 4 2 0 2 2 12 6 0 29 49 2
Minnesota Twins 1 2 0 0 1 3 4 0 1 12 37 4
Total attendance: 245,451   Average attendance: 49,090

Impact and aftermath

The Anaheim Angels would go on to win the

Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Mighty Ducks would sweep the Wild to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, before losing to the New Jersey Devils
.

While the Angels and Twins experienced regular-season success in the following years, 2002 would mark a high point for both franchises. To date, the Angels have not won World Series, let alone a pennant since 2002, while the Twins did not win another postseason until 2023. In 2020, the Twins set a mark of postseason futility when they lost their 18th straight postseason game, setting a record for major professional sports in North America.[6]

David Ortiz, or 'Big Papi' as a nickname he would later be known by, batting for the Red Sox in 2009

The Twins would infamously release

Jose Morban, would never play in a game for the team. Recently, some Twins fans have considered the team cursed due to the decision to release Ortiz in 2002.[8][9]

After leaving Minnesota in 2007, center fielder Torii Hunter signed a five-year free agent contract with the Angels, where he continued his gold glove work in center field until moving to right field due to age and the emergence of Mike Trout.[10] Hunter returned to the Twins in 2014, which was the last season of his career. He was later inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2016.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ "2002 ALCS Game 1 - Anaheim Angels vs. Minnesota Twins". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "2002 ALCS Game 2 - Anaheim Angels vs. Minnesota Twins". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "2002 ALCS Game 3 - Minnesota Twins vs. Anaheim Angels". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "2002 ALCS Game 4 - Minnesota Twins vs. Anaheim Angels". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "2002 ALCS Game 5 - Minnesota Twins vs. Anaheim Angels". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  6. ^ Boeck, Scott. "Minnesota Twins postseason misery continues: Record losing streak reaches 15 games". USA TODAY.
  7. ^ CAMPBELL, DAVE (December 16, 2002). "Minnesota Twins Release David Ortiz". Midland Daily News. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Ryan, Shane. "The Curse of David Ortiz: Why the Minnesota Twins will never win another playoff series". The Loop. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Baumgartner, C.J. (February 1, 2022). "Did Cutting Big Papi Create the Twins' "Curse of the Bambino"?". Zone Coverage. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Angels move Torii Hunter to right field". ESPN.com. August 3, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  11. ^ Park, Do-Hyoung. "Torii joins Twins greats in club's Hall of Fame". MLB.com. Retrieved August 8, 2022.

External links