Our MLB Monday column today kicks off a new era of baseball, one where there has not been a repeat World Series champion for almost a quarter century now—thanks to one of the strangest Fall Classics ever that prevented a four-peat, in truth. That being said, we won’t spoil anything else, but like so many entries in our first miniseries of award analyses, there may be vacated awards for cheating and other illicit issues.

2001 World Series MVP: Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling, SPs, Arizona (tie) (original); Johnson (revised)

The Arizona Diamondbacks, a 1998 expansion team, dethroned the 3-time defending champion New York Yankees in a 7-game matchup that was pretty crazy, even now in review. Arizona outscored New York, 37-14, in this Fall Classic, but it went 7 games thanks to the Diamondbacks’ bullpen failures in Games 4 and 5. Ironically, it was a Yankees bullpen failure in the 9th inning of the last game that cost them another title.

Starters Randy Johnson (3-0, 1.04 ERA, 0.692 WHIP) and Curt Schilling (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 0.656 WHIP) were voted co-MVPs, and it’s fair to keep the decision between the two, really. Three different position players thrived as well, but none did so to the level of Johnson and Schilling. And we see the Big Unit as the superior choice here, simply because of the wins and the context for them: Game 2 start, Game 6 start, Game 7 relief.

2001 ALCS MVP: Andy Pettitte, SP, New York (original, confirmed)

Even though the Seattle Mariners won a record-116 games, the Yankees dispatched them in 5 games with ease, in a result we always felt was somewhat contrived in the post-9/11 landscape (and the World Series, too, despite its ending script failing to deliver). Nonetheless, New York SP Andy Pettitte (2-0, 2.51 ERA, 0.907 WHIP) won the MVP vote at the time. He won Games 1 and 5, and we will confirm this vote, readily.

There were no hitting stars who played flawless defense; while right fielder Paul O’Neill (2 HRs, 3 RBI, 1.378 OPS) did thrive without making an error, he only had 12 official at-bats in the matchup, and in a 5-game set, we really don’t see that as enough legitimate dominance. For the record, Pettitte did admit to using PEDs in 2002 at the earliest, so we can still award him this with a clear conscience (we’re certain he used by 2005).

2001 NLCS MVP: Craig Counsell, 2B, Arizona (original); Johnson (revised)

The D’backs beat the Atlanta Braves in 5 games to win the pennant, winning 3 straight games on the road to clinch/end the matchup. Second baseman Craig Counsell (.381 BA, 4 RBI, 1 SB) took home the MVP trophy, but we’re not so sold, as Johnson (2-0, 1.13 ERA, 0.813 WHIP, 19 Ks, 16 IP) was the real horse, again. Like Pettitte, he won the opener and the closer in the series, and with those numbers, our hardware is his, easily.

2001 AL MOTY: Lou Piniella, Seattle (original, confirmed)

The Mariners set a record for wins in a season, but they won the AL West by 14 games over a team that got a minus-2 PPP from its manager. Yes, Seattle Manager Lou Piniella (plus-7 PPP) was excellent, posting the top mark in the league. It just happened in a vacuum, really. The other contender is Cleveland Indians Manager Charlie Manuel (plus-3), who led his team to a 6-game division edge in the AL Central. Hmmm.

Second place in the Central went to Minnesota and its manager, Tom Kelly (plus-4). That means Manuel had to work hard(er) to win his division, really, with a lesser-talented roster. We also could consider Yankees Manager Joe Torre (plus-6), who guided his team to a 13.5-game edge in the AL East Division. Oh, what to do? With Piniella’s PPP mark twice as high as Kelly’s mark, we will confirm the vote win in the end.

2001 NL MOTY: Larry Bowa, Philadelphia (original); Larry Dierker, Houston (revised)

Two of the 3 division winners were almost run into the ground by managers with negative PPP marks. Philadelphia Phillies Manager Larry Bowa (plus-2), somehow, won the award vote by finishing second to the underachieving Braves in the NL East Division. His team did not even make the postseason. Meanwhile, Houston Astros Manager Larry Dierker (plus-5) got his team to a tie atop the NL Central Division. Hmmm.

The Astros tied the St. Louis Cardinals, who also underachieved to the tune of a minus-1 PPP. Yes, both teams made the postseason, with a 3-game cushion, but with Dierker’s plus-5 PPP effort, that is impressive enough to warrant this nod. Remember, we took the voted hardware away from him in 1998, and now we give a different trophy to him. This all evens out in the end, as we have said many times here.