PHOENIX — Jay Bell’s place in Arizona lore is secure as the player who scored the winning run to bring the Diamondbacks their lone World Series title.
That occurred on Nov. 4, 2001, when Bell crossed the plate on Luis Gonzalez’s broken-bat single against Mariano Rivera to end the Yankees’ run of three straight championships.
Twenty-two years later, the World Series is returning to the desert, with Game 3 between the Rangers and D’backs scheduled for Monday night at Chase Field.
And there won’t be a more interested observer than the former shortstop Bell, who still resides in the area and has savored the D’backs’ success this season.
Bell, who spent a final season with the Mets after his Arizona tenure, doesn’t have to look too hard to see the similarities between the 2001 D’backs and this bunch.
“[Owner] Jerry Colangelo first made the comment when I got here that we were a team full of character, not a team full of characters,” Bell told The Post. “We had a group of guys who understood how to play the game. We played the game right. From our generation, we always wanted to please the guys who played in the ’60s and ’70s. That was the style of play that we grew up on and it was always fun to hear some of the old players talk about how they respected the way we played, and that is the way this current team plays.”
Bell was referring to this current group’s methodology of scrapping for runs — with the bunt and stolen base as weapons — rather than waiting for home runs.
Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo have been the ringleaders of that scrap attack.
In Bell’s day, those names included Tony Womack, Craig Counsell and Steve Finley, with Gonzalez in his prime as one of the game’s best all-around hitters.
It also didn’t hurt having the dynamic combo of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling atop the starting rotation.
These Diamondbacks, under manager Torey Lovullo, qualified for the postseason with only 84 victories to become the latest public service announcement that a division title isn’t required for October/November success.
“I sent Torey a text right before the start of the postseason congratulating him, and his response was, ‘Looking forward to the sprint,’ ” Bell said. “And that was their mindset. They said anything can happen in this period of time and then they went out and they proved it. They played a great series against the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies. I expect them to continue.”
It’s a series tied 1-1 as Brandon Pfaadt prepares to face Max Scherzer.
The Rangers used late-inning thunder to win Game 1, with Corey Seager’s game-tying homer in the ninth and Adolis Garcia’s walk-off blast in the 11th.
The D’backs won the ensuing game on strong work from right-hander Merrill Kelly and the team’s 16 hits.
All four of Arizona’s victories in the 2001 World Series came in this ballpark, and the scene will again be frenzied after two decades of mostly underwhelming D’backs teams.
Bell calls the last World Series game played here an “iconic” moment in the city’s history.
It featured Schilling and Roger Clemens, with the Yankees taking a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Alfonso Soriano’s homer.
In the ninth, Rivera allowed a leadoff single to Mark Grace before throwing Damian Miller’s sacrifice bunt into center field.
The pinch-hitter Bell bunted and Rivera threw to third for the force.
Tony Womack tied the game with a double, with Bell advancing to third.
Counsell was plunked by a pitch and Gonzalez’s single won it.
“Having the opportunity to score the winning run was extraordinary and totally something I will remember forever,” Bell said. “It was pretty iconic for this city. But that entire Game 7 was just incredible, to watch Schill pitch and Roger pitch, to see the defense that was played, to see some of the big offensive moments. It was an incredible night. In my opinion, it was one of the all-time great baseball games.”