The 2001 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a rematch of the 2000 ALCS between the New York Yankees, who had come off a dramatic comeback against the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series after being down two games to zero, and the Seattle Mariners, who had won their Division Series against the Cleveland Indians in five games. The series had additional poignancy, coming immediately after downtown New York City was devastated by the events of September 11, 2001. (The series was played in late October due to Major League Baseball temporarily shutting down in the wake of the attacks).

Though the Mariners had won an American League record 116 regular season games (tying the major league record established by the 1906 Chicago Cubs), and had home field advantage, the Yankees proved overpowering as they won the first two games in Seattle. The Mariners' manager, former Yankee player and manager Lou Piniella, guaranteed after Game 2 that the Mariners would win at least two of the next three games in New York to return the series to Seattle. However, the Yankees closed out the series in New York, beating the Mariners four games to one. The series ended with a 12–3 Yankees victory in Game 5.

New York won the series, 4–1.

Wednesday, October 17, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington

Game 1’s starting date was the latest ever for a League Championship series. The Yankees took a 1–0 lead on a Chuck Knoblauch single that scored Jorge Posada in the second off of Aaron Sele, then increased it to 3–0 on a Paul O'Neill two-run home run in the fourth. The Mariners got on the board on a John Olerud groundout that scored Edgar Martínez in the fifth off of Andy Pettitte. The score remained 3–1 until the ninth when the Yankees increased their lead to 4–1 off of Jose Paniagua on a David Justice single that scored Alfonso Soriano, who singled and stole second. The Mariners got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Mariano Rivera threw a wild pitch to Bret Boone that scored Ichiro Suzuki, who doubled with one-out and went to third on another wild pitch, but Rivera retired Boone and the next batter, Edgar Martínez, to end the game.

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