What ended "Donnie Baseball"'s aspirations for a 1994 World Series?
1994 New York Yankees season The New York Yankees' 1994 season was the 92nd season for the Yankees. New York was managed by Buck Showalter and played at Yankee Stadium. The team finished with a record of 70-43 finishing 6 ⁄ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, having the best record in the American League and the second-best record in Major League Baseball. The season was cut short by the infamous 1994 player's strike, which wiped out any postseason aspirations for their first postseason appearance since losing the 1981 World Series and that their star player and captain, Don Mattingly, had. On the day the strike began, the Yankees were on pace to win at least 100 games for the first time since 1980. The Yankees' ace, 33-year-old veteran Jimmy Key, was leading the majors with 17 wins and was on pace to win 24 games. Right fielder Paul O'Neill was also having a career year, as he was leading the league with a .359 batting average.
2001 American League Championship Series 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).