Two seasons ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks lost 110 games, their second-worst season in franchise history.
Now, the Diamondbacks are in the 2023 World Series after entering the postseason as a wild-card team. Arizona started the postseason with seven consecutive wins, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers. After falling behind 3-2 in the NLCS, the Diamondbacks won the final two games on the road to eliminate the Philadelphia Phillies.
Arizona hadn't appeared in the playoffs since 2017 when it was swept in the NLDS by the Dodgers. The last time they won more than two games in a postseason was 2011.
Now, the Diamondbacks have returned to the World Series for the first time since 2001 when they won the series in seven games against the New York Yankees. Here's a look back at the last time Arizona was in the Fall Classic:
You're a wizard, Harry
With magic in the air, the Diamondbacks stopped the Yankees' bid for four consecutive championships. Ten days after Arizona's Game 7 win, the first-ever Harry Potter film reached the theaters, marking the beginning of a 10-year series.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" became the biggest film of the year, grossing over $1 billion.
R&B dominates the charts
Contrary to the current top-10 of Billboard Hot 100, R&B made most of the top 10 of the October 2001 chart with songs from Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez leading the way.
Keys' "Fallin'" slotted in at No. 1 ahead of Lopez's "I'm Real." Usher and Mary J. Blige had songs in the top 10, too. Jay Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A)" also fit in at No. 9. Now, Taylor Swift tops the charts at No. 1, with multiple rappers and country artists taking space in the top 10.
Baby Diamondbacks
Game 7 hero Corbin Carroll was just one year old the last time the Diamondbacks made it to the World Series. Carroll has batted .295 in the postseason with two home runs and four stolen bases and had two RBIs in Game 7. Gabriel Moreno leads Arizona with nine RBIs in the postseason and was also one year old in October 2001.
Top starting pitcher Merrill Kelly, who is undefeated in the playoffs, was 13 years old, while Ketel Marte was still in elementary school as an eight-year-old.
iPod introduced
Before iPhones and Apple Music, the iPod served as the staple for listening to music on the go. In October 2001, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the original iPod.
It sold for $399 with five GBs of space that Jobs described could hold "1,000 songs in your pocket." The iPod included the iconic wheel to scroll through menus of the system. The device sold over $400 million with various versions before being discontinued in 2022.