From world champs to Fantasy Camp coaches, 2001 D-backs' bond as strong as ever

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Hard as it is to believe, the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks team is approaching the 25th anniversary of its riveting World Series championship, when the D-backs beat the Yankees in seven games.

No doubt, the Diamondbacks' organization will commemorate the occasion in 2026, but that tight-knit team doesn't need an anniversary as an excuse to stay in touch. It's something the former players do on a regular basis through a group text thread -- and a number of them show up every year as coaches for the organization's annual Fantasy Camp, which just wrapped up this past week.

Jay Bell, Greg Colbrunn, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Mike Morgan, Greg Swindell and Matt Williams served as coaches this year, while Hall of Famer Randy Johnson stopped by to visit with his former teammates as well.

Steve Finley, Reggie Sanders, Erubiel Durazo and other members of the 2001 team have served as coaches in the past.

"It's like coming home," Williams said. "As soon as you walk into the clubhouse the memories come back. We always immediately jump into 'Remember this? Remember that?' This week is a lot of fun for us."

The 2001 World Series captured the attention of the nation, taking place not long after the terrorist attacks in New York City on 9/11. It was a Fall Classic filled with emotional moments like when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch before Game 3 at the original Yankee Stadium.

It was the first World Series that saw games played in November, with Derek Jeter's walk-off homer in Game 4 occurring just after midnight earning him the nickname "Mr. November."

And it ended in dramatic fashion with the Diamondbacks rallying for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off eventual Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera. It was a bloop single by Gonzalez that scored Bell from third with the winning run as the on-deck hitter, Williams, waited to greet him at the plate.

If anyone could relate to what the Blue Jays and Dodgers players went through in their recently completed epic seven-game World Series, it's the 2001 Diamondbacks.

"I watched the game," Gonzalez said. "Just seeing how tight the game was I was remembering how the feeling was for us, you know? Just the anticipation, the anxiety, all the emotions that were going through us. And not just us. They showed the fans cringing in the stands, and I was remembering our fans in Game 7 cringing and gripping the arms of their seats."

Until this year's series it seemed like a no-brainer that the best World Series Game 7 of this century was 2001. Now, well, it depends on who you ask.

"I watched the [2025] World Series and it was amazing," Williams said. "A great series. I think with all that was going on in our country at that time in 2001, it made our series so emotional and unique. I'm partial to our series because of course you're going to when you're playing and winning it as opposed to watching it on TV, but this year's series was a really good one.

"The Blue Jays gave the Dodgers all they could handle, they should be proud of how they played."

All these years after they celebrated on the field together, the 2001 Diamondbacks still commemorate moments together on their group text thread. They celebrate when someone's kid gets married or they become grandparents.

And even more importantly, they are there to lift up and encourage each other when illness or tragedy strikes.

"It's just a special bond," Gonzalez said. "We were a tight-knit group before that, but winning the World Series just really adds to it. We had a lot of veteran guys who had little kids and our kids got to know each other, too. And we had a bond with the fans. We didn't shy away from interacting with the fans or the community. We embraced them and they embraced us."

That embrace remains strong 25 years later.