Let me tell you about myself.

I am a die-hard New York Yankees fan. Have been since I was 6. In fact, I had the pleasure of reviewing the New York Yankees Fall Classic Collector's Edition 1996-2001 some time back. It's a good review (if I say so myself). Go check it out. I'll wait...

Done? So now you know my long history with the Yankees and you may be asking yourself - "Why the hell are you reviewing this collection? You know the (future) D'backs won this world series, right? You know they ended the three-time defending World Series Champion Yankees' streak and were most likely responsible for the departures of fan-favorites Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez, right?!?!?"

Well, let me answer the last two questions first - yes and yes. As for why I wanted to review it, it's simple...games 4 & 5 contain some of the greatest moments in Yankee games i've ever seen, with most of them involving the three previously mentioned players. (More on that later.)

But enough about the Yanks.

I suppose one could say it's impressive that a ballclub, in its fourth year of existence, could cut down the mighty Yankees. One could also rave about the performances of co-MVPs Curt (future Red "bloody/ketchup" Sox ace) Schilling and Randy Johnson (future unproductive Yankee "ace"). One could also say the fact that the Diamondbacks posted a 1.94 ERA and held the Yanks to a .183 (42-for-229) batting average (the lowest in a WS) is mind-boggling. I won't say any of those things, but one could say them.

In fact, I find it hard to say anything complementary about the Arizona Diamondbacks. Not because they defeated my team and not because i'm sure the loss instigated the retiring of Brosius, O'Neill and Steinbrenner's decision to replace Tino with Jason Giambi.

No, the reason is September 11th.

Let me explain. After the terrorist attacks here in New York, it was a different place. Not only that, but America was a different place. Tensions were high and morale was low. People were overdosing on the evening news with the color coded terror alert and Bush's promise that the "evildoers" will pay. They wanted something to get their minds off the disaster - no matter how short that time was. For New Yorkers, they found that distraction with the New York Yankees, who were once more in the race for another World Championship. In fact, during the days leading up to the playoffs, there were signs of support for both New York and the Yankees - even in Boston! Leave it to a fairly new and scrappy club to crush the spirits of both Yankee fans and New Yorkers.

Anyways, Major League Baseball Productions/A&E's latest release, the Arizona Diamondbacks 2001 World Series Collector's Edition is a seven-disc collection with each game, from the original television broadcast, on its own separate single sided disc. Additionally, the seventh disc contains some DVD extras (listed below).

From my previous the New York Yankees Fall Classic Collector's Edition 1996-2001 review (the words, not the pictures):

"2001 World Series - vs. Arizona Diamondbacks - Game 4

Though there was no happy ending to this series, Games Four and Five stand out as two of the greatest games i've ever experienced. Scheduled a month and a half after the events of 9/11, Game Four was the first World Series game to ever extend into November. It was also a highly emotional game for the city of New York, the baseball players and fans. Thanks to a great pitching duel between Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and "Saint" Curt Schilling, the game was tied through the eighth, until Arizona scored two runs to take the lead 3-1. In the bottom of the ninth, Derek grounds out, O'Neill singles to left and Bernie strikes out. With two outs on the scoreboard, Tino Martinez - who had been hitless in the series so far, only reaching base twice on walks - takes the first pitch from Byung-Hyun Kim and drives it to the bleachers to dramatically tie the game. Derek Jeter follows it up with a "walk-off" home run in the tenth to win Game Four (it was the 12th time that a World Series game ended on a home run and the fourth in Yankees history).

Later that evening during Game Five, the Diamondbacks held a 2-0 lead over the Yanks until the ninth inning. After a heart-felt ovation for Paul O'Neill from the fans during the top of the inning, the Yanks were down to their last out with Posada on base, Byung-Hyun Kim on the mound and Scott Brosius at the plate. And like Tino the night before, Brosius hits a two-run home run off of Kim to tie the game until Soriano knocked Knoblauch in to score the game winning run in the twelfth. Unfortunately, they didn't include this game, nor is it mentioned on the bonus disc."

Bonus Features

Along with the seven complete games, A&E has included some extra material, such as Jeanne Zelasko's interviews with Grace, Womack and Gonzalez, as well as trophy presentations and the final outs of the Division and Championship series. If I were a D'Backs fan, i'd be pretty disappointed that the only participants for the featurettes were Gonzalez and Grace, with co-MVPs Schilling and Johnson noticeably absent.

• Inside the Moments: 2001 World Series [8m 3s] - Originally broadcast May 14th, 1996 on MSG, this is the last inning of Doc's no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners. He faces Ken Griffey, Jr, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Paul Sorrento and...A-Rod!
  
  
• Winning the NLDS [12m 17s] - The last outs against the St. Louis Cardinals.
  
  
• NLCS Champions [6m 1s] - Byung Hung Kim against the Atlanta Braves.
  
  
• Craig Counsell Receives NLCS MVP Trophy 3s] - From the FOX broadcast.
  
  
• President Bush Throws Out Game 3 First Pitch [2m 25s] - Bush takes time off from searching for Bin Laden to throw out the first pitch before game 3.
  
  
• Luis Gonzalez Game 7 Post-Game Interview [1m 10s] - After hitting the series winning single off of Mariano Rivera, FOX's Jeanne Zelasko interviews Luis Gonzalez as he walks off the field.
  
  
• Mark Grace Game 7 Post-Game Interview [1m 41s] - A brief interview with Mark Grace.
  
  
• Tony Womack Game 7 Post-Game Interview [1m 26s] - Yep, you guessed it - a brief interview with Tony Womack.
  
  
• 2001 World Series Trophy Presentation [3m 15s] - Bud Selig presents Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo with the World Series trophy.
  
  
• 2001 World Series MVP Presentation To Randy Johnson And Curt Schilling [4m 27s] - Randy and Curt are given the MVP trophy.
  
  
• Destiny In the Desert [9m 38s] - This recap of game seven features material from the Inside the Moments featurette.

So, how's it sound? - Each disc contains the disclaimer "The game footage that follows includes occasional audio and visual imperfections inherent in the master tapes." As with the New York Yankees Fall Classic Collector's Edition, there aren't any issues with the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track - which means that Joe Buck still comes in loud and clear.

So, how's it look? - Each game is sourced from the original broadcast and is in a standard fullscreen 1.33:1 television format. I'm not sure if these games were broadcast in HD, but the picture isn't bad at all and it's comparable to the original broadcast.

What'dyathink? - As usual, A&E has done a good job documenting the 2001 World Series. Then again, all they really do is slap the recordings on a disc and put it out there. No remastering, just a few "extras" and that's it. Then again, is there any more that's really needed? Even though the outcome is not the one I would've liked, i'm glad to have the highly emotional (and exciting) 3rd, 4th and 5th games on disc. Arizona Diamondbacks fans would definitely want the first, and so far only, World Series run by the team in their collection. And, as always, the facts on the the thinpaks covers are always informative. Highly Recommended. And, though I did warn you that this would be a biased review, here're some pics to make up for it..