Arizona Diamondbacks
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:MLB infobox Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. They are popularly referred in the local press as the D-Backs.
Contents |
Franchise history
The desire for baseball in the desert
In the fall of 1993, Jerry Colangelo, owner of the Phoenix Suns, the area's wildly popular and successful NBA franchise, announced he was assembling an ownership group to apply for a Major League Baseball expansion team. This was after a great deal of lobbying by the Maricopa County Sports Authority, a local group formed to preserve spring training in Arizona and eventually secure a Major League franchise for the state. This group was headed at the time by sports attorney Joe Garagiola, Jr. (Garagiola would go on to become the team's first general manager). Maricopa County superviors Jim Bruner and Mary Rose Wilcox were also key proponents of baseball in Phoenix, aligning themselves with Garagiola's group. A firestorm of local controversy was the result. Many area residents did not want public tax money used for a sports team. However, just as many residents felt that by the early 1990's, Phoenix had finally "arrived" as a major American city and deserved a Major League Baseball team.
All this was after a previous attempt was mounted by Martin Stone, owner of the Phoenix Firebirds, the city's Triple-A minor league baseball team and an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. In the late 1980's Stone approached St. Louis (football) Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill about sharing a proposed 70,000 seat domed stadium in Phoenix; Bidwill, with plans already in the works to leave St. Louis, opted instead to sign a long term lease with Arizona State University to use its Sun Devil Stadium as the home of his soon-to-be Arizona based NFL franchise, thus ending Stone's bid.
Colangelo's group was ultimately successful. On March 9, 1995, the city of Phoenix was awarded the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise for play beginning in the 1998 season, along with plans for a new retractable-roof ballpark, Bank One Ballpark (renamed in 2005 to Chase Field) to be built in an industrial/warehouse district on the southern edge of downtown Phoenix.
The name "Diamondbacks" was the winning choice in a name-the-team contest sponsored by Colangelo's group, which took out a full page ad promoting the contest in the sports section of the February 13, 1995 edition of the Arizona Republic. (The group was known as "Arizona Baseball, Inc." and seemed reasonably confident that a franchise would be awarded.) First prize was a pair of lifetime season tickets awarded to the person who submitted the winning entry.
As noted above, there was some controversy over public financing of a new stadium, but in the spring of 1994, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a quarter-cent increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding.
The Diamondbacks replaced the Firebirds, as that team was obligated to leave Phoenix soon after the Diamondbacks announcement, and is now the San Francisco Giants AAA affiliate, the Fresno Grizzlies.
Two seasons before their first opening day, Colangelo hired Buck Showalter, the American League Manager of the Year in 1994 with the New York Yankees.
Their lower level minor league teams began play in 1997; the expansion draft was held that year as well.
Early success and a World Series championship
The Diamondbacks' first major league game was played against the Colorado Rockies on March 31, 1998, at Chase Field (then known as Bank One Ballpark). The Rockies won, 9-2, with Andy Benes on the mound for the Diamondbacks, and Travis Lee being the first player to hit, score, homer and drive in a run. Over 50,000 fans were in attendance.
In their first five seasons of existence, the Diamondbacks won three division titles (1999, 2001, & 2002) and one World Series. In 1999, Arizona won over 100 games in only its second season to win the National League West division. They lost to the New York Mets in the first round of playoffs.
Colangelo fired Showalter after a relatively disappointing 2000 season, and replaced him with Bob Brenly, the former Giants catcher and coach, who had up to that point been working as a color analyst on Diamondbacks television broadcasts.
In 2001, the team was led by two of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball: Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Arizona had postseason victories over the St. Louis Cardinals (3-2 in the NLDS) and the Atlanta Braves (4-1 in the NLCS) to advance to the World Series where, in one of the most exciting series ever, they beat the reigning champions, the New York Yankees, 4 to 3, to become the youngest expansion franchise to win the championship.
An estimated crowd of 300,000 celebrated at the Diamondbacks victory parade, held at Bank One Ballpark and the surrounding downtown Phoenix streets on November 7, 2001. This was the first major professional sports championship for the state of Arizona and the first for a team (in the four major North American professional sports leagues) owned or controlled by Colangelo, whose basketball Suns made it to the NBA Finals in 1976 and 1993 but lost both times. (Colangelo's Arizona Rattlers won the Arena Football League championship in 1994 and 1997.)
For a detailed look at the 2001 series please see 2001 World Series.
Tough times and the end of the Colangelo era
By the 2004 season, however, the Diamondbacks had dropped to a dismal 51-111 record, the worst in Major League Baseball that year, despite Johnson pitching a perfect game on May 18 of that season. Brenly was fired partway through the season and was replaced on an interim basis by coach Al Pedrique.
By this time Colangelo and the other partners were embroiled in a dispute over the financial health and direction of the Diamondbacks. He resigned his managing general partner post in the late summer of 2004.
Colangelo sold his controlling interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks team to a new group of investors lead by Jeff Moorad, a former sports agent with several MLB players as clients, including key members of the Diamondbacks. Moorad was subsequently named CEO of the team and became its primary public face.
Following the 2004 season, the Diamondbacks also hired Wally Backman to be the team's manager. Backman was formerly manager of the Class A California League Lancaster JetHawks, one of the Diamondbacks' minor-league affilliates. Backman was fired after management learned of legal troubles and improprieties in Backman's past, and former Seattle Mariners manager and Giants catcher Bob Melvin became the new manager after a ten-day tenure for Backman.
Following the Backman incident, the Diamondbacks spent heavily on free agents in order to build a contender. The club signed 3B Troy Glaus, P Russ Ortiz, SS Royce Clayton, and 2B Craig Counsell, among others. Then, they traded Randy Johnson to the Yankees, while acquiring Javier Vazquez, Brad Halsey and Shawn Green in a three-team trade that included the Dodgers, and sent Shea Hillenbrand to the Blue Jays. Finally, they traded Casey Fossum to the Devil Rays for José Cruz, Jr..
The Diamondbacks, led by Melvin, finished the 2005 season with a disappointing record of 77 wins and 85 losses. However, this was actually good enough for second place in the woefully weak NL West, five games behind the San Diego Padres.
The Diamondbacks were considered by some to be the favorite to win the division after spending big money on the aforementioned free agents; however, injuries hurt the team's chances of reaching its expected potential.
Starting pitcher Ortiz was out for some time which really hurt the pitching staff. Glaus played with a hurt knee all season. Of all the free agents that signed before the season, no one had a better season than first baseman Tony Clark. Clark started the season as a bench player and ended the season starting and being an important part of the team. Clark was rewarded with a new contract at the end of the season.
In October 2005 the Diamondbacks hired 35 year old Josh Byrnes to replace the out-going Joe Garagiola, Jr. as General Manager. Garagiola took a position in Major League Baseball's main offices in New York City.
Current events
Off-season moves and propsects for the 2006 season
Last updated 3/8/2006:
As taken from the Diamondbacks official website:
12/7/2005: The Diamondbacks acquired catcher Johnny Estrada from the Atlanta Braves for relievers Oscar Villarreal and Lance Cormier. Estrada will likely share time behind the plate with Chris Snyder.
12/20/2005: The Diamondbacks acquired right-handed pitchers Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino along with Minor League outfielder Chris Young from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for pitcher Javier Vazquez and cash considerations.
12/27/2005: Just a little more than a year after signing him to a four-year, $45 million contract, the Diamondbacks traded third baseman Troy Glaus along with Minor Leaguer Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for second baseman Orlando Hudson, a Gold Glove award recipient in 2005, and right-handed pitcher Miguel Batista, a member of the Diamondbacks from 2001-2003, including the 2001 World Series team.
12/30/2005: The Diamondbacks signed free-agent outfielder Eric Byrnes to a one-year, $2.25 million contract. Byrnes, who turned 30 in February, played for three different clubs (the Oakland Athletics, the Colorado Rockies and the Baltimore Orioles) in the 2005 season.
1/9/2006: The Diamondbacks signed highly touted 18-year-old shortstop Justin Upton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, to a $6.1 million contract that includes a trip to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Upton will most likely start the regular season at Class A South Bend.
1/12/2006: The Diamondbacks signed veteran free agent pitcher Terry Mulholland to a minor league contract. He is in spring training as a non-roster invitee.
3/2/2006: The D-Backs defeat the White Sox by a score of 9-2 in their first game of the Cactus League season. The game was played at Tucson Electric Park, the spring training home for both teams (the Sox were the home team). 3B Chad Tracy had 2 runs on 2 hits (went 2 for 2), both of his singles coming on line drives up the middle. Starting pitcher Miguel Batista pitched well as he allowed just one run -- on a wild pitch -- in his two innings. P Russ Ortiz, whom the team is hoping for a comeback season after a disappointing 2005, also was effective as he allowed just one hit over two innings.
3/8/2006: The Diamondbacks acquired righthanded pitcher Jeff Bajenaru from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Alex Cintron. Bajenaru, who will turn 28 on March 21, spent the majority of last year with Chicago's AAA affiliate in Charlotte, posting a 4-6 record and 19 saves with a 1.41 ERA in 61 games. He struck out 83 in 70.1 innings, while allowing only 11 earned runs and 29 walks. He closed the year with 4 appearances for the White Sox, allowing 3 earned runs in 4.1 innings.
Diamondbacks broadcasters
The primary television play-by-play voice is Thom Brennaman, who also broadcasts baseball games nationally for FOX Television. Brennaman was the TV announcer for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds (along with his father Marty Brennaman) before being hired by Diamondbacks founder Jerry Colangelo in 1996, two years before the team would begin play.
Greg Schulte is the regular radio play-by-play voice, a 25-year veteran of sports radio in the Phoenix market, also well known for his previous work on Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State University (ASU) broadcasts.
Jeff Munn is a backup radio play-by-play announcer and serves as the regular public address announcer at Chase Field. He is well-known to many Phoenix area sports fans, having also served as the public address announcer for the Suns at America West Arena (now US Airways Center) in the 1990's. He is also the play-by-play radio voice for ASU women's basketball.
Mark Grace and Tom Candiotti are former players who are the D-Backs color analysts.
The team's games are broadcast on KTAR radio in Phoenix, and on KTVK 3TV and Fox Sports Arizona.
Miguel Quintana and Oscar Soria are the Spanish-language broadcasters. Spanish-language games can be heard in Phoenix on KSUN-AM 1400.
D-Backs Broadcasters Year-by-Year (English)
| Year | TV Play-by-Play | TV Analyst | Radio PbP | Radio Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Thom Brennaman | Bob Brenly | Greg Schulte | |
| 1999 | Thom Brennaman | Bob Brenly | Greg Schulte | |
| 2000 | Thom Brennaman | Bob Brenly | Greg Schulte | |
| 2001 | Thom Brennaman | Jim Traber and Joe Garagiola | Greg Schulte | |
| 2002 | Thom Brennaman | Jim Traber and Joe Garagiola | Greg Schulte | |
| 2003 | Thom Brennaman | Steve Lyons | Greg Schulte | |
| 2004 | Thom Brennaman | Mark Grace | Greg Schulte | Ken Phelps |
| 2005 | Thom Brennaman | Mark Grace | Greg Schulte | Ken Phelps |
| 2006 | Thom Brennaman | Mark Grace | Greg Schulte | Tom Candiotti |
Quick facts
- Founded: 1995, began Major League play in 1998 (National League expansion)
- Uniform colors: Purple, Teal, Black, and Copper
- Logo design: an "A" with one leg of the "A" alternating triangles to suggest a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. An alternate logo is a script "D" in the shape of a snake.
- Playoff appearances (3): 1999, 2001, 2002
- General Manager Josh Byrnes
- Local Televison: FSN Arizona, 3TV
Baseball Hall of Famers
- none
Retired numbers
None, although the team has not reissued Randy Johnson's No. 51 since he was traded to the New York Yankees.
Current roster
Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Tucson Sidewinders, Pacific Coast League
- AA: Tennessee Smokies, Southern League
- Advanced A: Lancaster JetHawks, California League
- A: South Bend Silver Hawks, Midwest League
- Short A: Yakima Bears, Northwest League
- Rookie: Missoula Osprey, Pioneer League
See also
- Diamondbacks award winners and league leaders
- Diamondbacks statistical records and milestone achievements
- Diamondbacks players of note
- Diamondbacks broadcasters and media
- Diamondbacks managers and ownership
External links
- Arizona Diamondbacks official web site
- Unofficial Fan site for the Arizona Diamondbacks
- AZ Snake Pit - an Arizona Diamondbacks blog
- Diamondbacks Bullpen fan forum
Template:MLB Team Arizona Diamondbacks
de:Arizona Diamondbacks fr:Diamondbacks de l'Arizona ja:アリゾナ・ダイヤモンドバックス pt:Arizona Diamondbacks sv:Arizona Diamondbacks zh:亞利桑那響尾蛇