Six days. That's all the time between the greatest high of the 2003 season and the beginning of the end. The New York Yankees rode Aaron Boone's walk-off homer into the World Series like conquering heroes, and then a 72-year-old manager and a 23-year-old pitcher from the Florida Marlins ruined everything. The Marlins won the series in six games. I'm still trying to figure out how.
The Yankees' payroll was $164 million. The Marlins' was $54 million. Florida wasn't even a division winner -- they were the NL Wild Card. On paper, this was a joke. On the field, it was a nightmare.
Games 1 Through 3: Trading Punches
The Marlins stole Game 1 at the Stadium, 3-2. Right away, something felt off. This was supposed to be a coronation, not a fight. The Yankees bounced back with identical 6-1 wins in Games 2 and 3 -- the first at home, the second down in Miami at Pro Player Stadium. (Two 6-1 wins in a row with the same score. That's the kind of detail that makes baseball weird and wonderful.) Pettitte was terrific in Game 2, and the Yankees looked like the team everyone expected.
Up 2-1 in the series. Heading to Game 4 with momentum. This is where it all fell apart.
Game 4: The Gonzalez Homer That Changed Everything
Game 4 went to extra innings -- the kind of grinding, tense postseason game that ages you five years. Roger Clemens started and the Yankees held a lead before the Marlins clawed back. Then in the bottom of the 12th, Florida's Alex Gonzalez -- a light-hitting shortstop who'd batted .256 during the regular season -- drove a Jeff Weaver pitch into the seats. Walk-off. Marlins 4, Yankees 3. Series tied 2-2.
(Jeff Weaver. Of all the arms in that bullpen, Joe Torre went to Jeff Weaver in a tied extra-inning World Series game. I've thought about this at least once a month for 20-plus years.)
Game 5: The Deficit Grows
Florida won Game 5, 6-4, taking a 3-2 series lead heading back to New York. The Yankees' bats couldn't string enough together against the Marlins' pitching staff, which was deeper and scrappier than anyone gave them credit for. Jeter, Posada, and the rest of the lineup kept grinding, but the Marlins played like a team with nothing to lose. Because they didn't.
The series was slipping away, and everybody could feel it.
Game 6: Beckett's Masterpiece
October 25, 2003. Yankee Stadium. Josh Beckett took the mound for Florida on short rest and pitched like a man who didn't know he was supposed to be intimidated. Five hits. Nine strikeouts. Complete-game shutout. Marlins 2, Yankees 0. Championship clinched on the road, on the biggest stage, against the most expensive roster in baseball.
Beckett was 23 years old. TWENTY-THREE. He attacked the Yankees lineup with fastballs and curves, and they couldn't touch him. Bernie went hitless. Matsui couldn't get anything going. The Stadium was silent by the seventh inning, and Beckett just kept throwing.
He was named World Series MVP. Rightfully so. He was the best player in the series by a mile, and he saved his best for last.
The Aftermath
The Marlins celebrated on the Yankees' field. Manager Jack McKeon -- who'd been retired before Florida hired him midseason -- became the oldest manager to win a World Series. The Marlins then did what the Marlins do: they dismantled the championship roster in a fire sale that offseason, trading away their best players because ownership didn't want to pay them. (Some things about baseball ownership never change.)
For the Yankees, it was the second World Series loss in three years -- after 2001's Game 7 heartbreak against Arizona. The club wouldn't reach the Fall Classic again until 2009, when they finally won number 27. That's a six-year gap, which doesn't sound long until you remember this franchise's standards.
101 wins. A rotation with four guys who won 15 or more games. Mo with 40 saves and a 1.66 ERA. And it wasn't enough. A Wild Card team with one-third of the payroll came into the Stadium and shut the lights off.
That's baseball. And that's why it drives us crazy.
| Series Result | Marlins 4, Yankees 2 |
| WS MVP | Josh Beckett (age 23) |
| Yankees Payroll | $164 million |
| Marlins Payroll | $54 million |
| Game 6 Final | Marlins 2, Yankees 0 (Beckett CG SHO) |
Game 1: Marlins 3, Yankees 2
Florida steals the opener at Yankee Stadium. The upset is already in motion.
Game 2: Yankees 6, Marlins 1
Andy Pettitte dominates and the Yankees even the series at home.
Game 3: Yankees 6, Marlins 1
Another 6-1 win -- identical to Game 2 -- gives the Yankees a 2-1 series lead in Miami.
Game 4: Marlins 4, Yankees 3 (12 inn.)
Alex Gonzalez hits a 12th-inning walk-off homer off Jeff Weaver. The series turns.
Game 5: Marlins 6, Yankees 4
Florida takes a 3-2 series lead heading back to the Bronx.
Game 6: Marlins 2, Yankees 0
Josh Beckett pitches a five-hit complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts on short rest. Marlins clinch the championship at Yankee Stadium.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2003 World Series?
The Florida Marlins defeated the Yankees 4 games to 2. Josh Beckett pitched a five-hit complete-game shutout in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium to clinch the title. Beckett was named World Series MVP at age 23.
How much did the 2003 Yankees spend compared to the Marlins?
The Yankees' payroll was $164 million, while the Marlins' was $54 million -- nearly a 3:1 ratio. Despite the spending gap, the Marlins won the series in six games. It remains one of the most lopsided payroll matchups in World Series history.
Who hit the walk-off home run in Game 4 of the 2003 World Series?
Alex Gonzalez, the Marlins' shortstop, hit a walk-off home run off Jeff Weaver in the bottom of the 12th inning. The Marlins won 4-3 to tie the series at two games apiece. It was the turning point of the series.
When did the Yankees next win the World Series after 2003?
The Yankees didn't return to the World Series until 2009, when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to win their 27th championship. The six-year gap (2004-2008) was the club's longest World Series absence since the 1981-1996 stretch.