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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.

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 Cactus League 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 1990s, 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 1980s 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 was also strongly encouraged in the baseball bid by one of his friends, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and media reports say that Commissioner of Baseball and Milwaukee Brewers founder Bud Selig was a strong supporter of Colangelo'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 southeast edge of downtown Phoenix. A $130 million franchise fee was paid to Major League Baseball.

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.

According to the original press release from Colangelo's group (which remained posted on the team website during the first few seasons) the chosen team colors were Arizona turquoise, copper, black and purple. "...Turquoise was chosen because the greenish-blue stone is indigenous to Arizona, copper because Arizona is one the nation's top copper-producing states and purple because it has become a favorite color for Arizona sports fans, thanks to the success of the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns." *

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. It remains the Giants AAA affiliate, but after the 1997 season, relocated to Fresno, California and was renamed the Fresno Grizzlies.

There was some talk (which actually persisted for a few years after the awarding of the franchise) about the Diamondbacks being placed in the American League West Division, and Colangelo expressed strong and vocal disagreement with that, pushing baseball officials to allow the new team to play in the National League. Colangelo cited the relative close proximity of Phoenix to the other NL West cities; the similarities between the two fast-growing cities of Phoenix and Denver (home to the Colorado Rockies); the long history of Arizona tourism to San Diego; the Giants' 30-plus years of supporting a minor league team in the Phoenix area; and the fact that Dodgers games were broadcast in the Phoenix and Tucson market for many years. *

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 later nicknamed "The BOB"). 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 (in just their fourth season of play). That classic World Series is chronicled in Charles Euchner's book "The Last Nine Innings" (Sourcebooks, 2006).

An estimated orderly crowd of over 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 (and notably including millions of dollars in deferred compensation being given to several key members of the 2001 team). 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. Existing investor Ken Kendrick took over as managing general partner.

Colangelo was criticized for plunging the team into millions of dollars in debt to secure the services of expensive veterans in order to be a competitive team quickly. In a 2004 interview with columnist Hal Bodley of USA TODAY, Colangelo defended his actions:

"I understand where some people felt I wasn't doing it appropriately. The only analogy I can use is that Tampa Bay (the other '98 expansion team) went one direction and where did they end up? (Six last-place finishes and low attendance)...We went another direction to establish a fan base because our investment was much larger than Tampa Bay's. And we put so much money into our own stadium ($130 million). After the first year and the decrease in season tickets, I was convinced we had to build a fan base...We won three division titles, a World Series and established a fan base..."

"...I believe what we did will last a long, long time...Right or wrong, a number of teams today are in the $50 million payroll range and competitive — Oakland, Minnesota, Texas are examples. Our goal was to get returns from our farm system. We built into our cash-flow that we would be paying out the deferments and that our payroll could drop to $50 million for a few years...A few things hurt us...The economy was bad, and I was hoping for more national money (from baseball's central fund) coming in." *

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 a 26-game improvement over 2004, and 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

Current Record

46-46 (.500), 2nd place in the NL West
3 games behind the San Diego Padres as of July 17
Last game was a 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field in Phoenix on July 17.

The 2006 season: a pennant squandered?

During the 2005 off-season, the Diamondbacks made several key moves to bolster a disappointing pitching staff and improve the team defensively. Highly regarded pitching coach Bryan Price (who was already a resident of nearby Scottsdale) was hired not long after he resigned from the Seattle Mariners after 19 years with that organization, the last six as pitching coach; he served with Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin when he was manager at Seattle in 2003 and 2004.

Key player acqusitions included catcher Johnny Estrada; right-handed pitchers Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino; outfielder Chris Young; second baseman Orlando Hudson (an All-Star and a Gold Glove Award recipient in 2005 with the Toronto Blue Jays), for whom Troy Glaus was traded; right-handed pitcher Miguel Batista (previously a member of the Diamondbacks from 2001-2003, including the 2001 World Series team); free-agent outfielder Eric Byrnes and veteran free agent pitcher Terry Mulholland (who would go on to spend two separate terms on the disabled list and get released in late June).

In Janaury, 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 included a trip to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Upton began the regular season at Class A South Bend.

The D-Backs posted a respectable 18-14 record for the 2006 Cactus League spring training campaign.

Frustrated by not having a set spot in the rotation, Hernandez was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for reliever Jorge Julio on May 24. While on the Diamondbacks he posted a 2-4 record with a 6.11 ERA.

The team was in first place through the month of May, and they started the month of June with a 4-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field - then posted an astonishingly terrible 4 wins and 20 losses the rest of the month. The GrimsleyGate scandal (see below) may have been one factor in the "June swoon".

GrimsleyGate

Based on several media reports that appeared on June 7, reliever Jason Grimsley admitted to taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs, specifically human growth hormone, as part of the IRS probe of BALCO, best known for similar allegations concerning San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds. IRS agents apparently made an extensive search of Grimsley's Scottsdale, Arizona residence seeking evidence. *

Grimsley and team officials declined comment before the June 6 home game vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. Grimsley was released from the Diamondbacks on June 7 on his request, and his locker cleaned out. * *

It was later announced by Grimsley's agent, Joe Bick, that Grimsley decided to retire from the game of baseball, and that it was his understanding that the remainder of his $825,000 salary would be paid.

During the Diamondbacks home game on June 10, managing general partner Ken Kendrick told reporters that the Diamondbacks had no intention of paying Grimsley his salary and that the club would file termination papers on Grimsley with MLB on June 12 to that effect; this prompted Bick to announce that he would be filing a grievance on Grimsley's behalf with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

On June 12, the Commissioner's office announced that it would suspend Grimsley for 50 games for violating baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, effective if Grimsley chooses to come out of retirement. Michael Weiner, general counsel to the MLBPA, stated that the union would file a grievance on his behalf. *

It appears that the controversy surrounding Grimsley, popular and well-liked with the other team members, possibly affected the team play of the Diamondbacks, leading to a "June Swoon."

The "June Swoon"

The Diamondbacks returned from a 10-game East Coast road trip in which they won 7 and lost 3 (including the above-mentioned 4-game sweep of the Braves) and found themselves 2 1/2 games in front of the Los Angeles Dodgers by June 5, to find themselves in a lengthy homestand in which they did not won a single contest until their June 13 home win against the Giants. The final Diamondbacks record in June was 4 wins and 20 losses.

Reliever Jose Valverde, the closer coming out of spring training (he was also in that role at the end of the 2005 season), was effective in April and most of May getting 12 saves and keeping the opposition to four runs in his first 16 appearances; in late May and June Valverde faltered to the point where his closer's job was given to newly acquired Jorge Julio; Valverde struggled for much of June, allowing 15 runs in nine appearances, and his ERA was 7.12 as of June 29. He was optioned to the AAA Tucson Sidewinders on July 3. The bullpen in general, while showing brilliance early on, has struggled somewhat as a whole in June, although Julio ended the month with his seventh save in eight chances.

Popular outfielder Luis Gonzalez, who became the number one fan favorite in Phoenix in the years since hitting the winning RBI in the 2001 World Series (which capped his 57 regular season HR's, still a team record), has struggled somewhat offensively in 2006; it wasn't until June 27 against the Seattle Mariners that "Gonzo" hit his first home run since April 20.

As the second half of the season approached, fans writing on various Diamondback fan blogs expressed opinions ranging from frustration with the players and coaching staff (especially Melvin, who is seen by many fans as having too casual and relaxed of an attitude to properly motivate the players) for what they see as the squandering of a potential NL West Championship season, to frustration with fellow fans for not being patient and allowing a highly talented current core of younger players, including Stephen Drew, Carlos Quentin, Micah Owings and Scott Hairston, to develop in the minor league farm system and contribute to the D-Backs success in later years (and possibly as soon as this season).

On July 9, the Diamondbacks announced an agreement with manager Melvin on a two-year contract extension with an option for the 2009 season.

On July 15, shortstop Stephen Drew was called up from AAA Tucson to replace Craig Counsell, who broke a rib during an at-bat on July 14. Drew got his first major league hit on July 17 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, for which his brother J.D. Drew plays. Both Drew's parents were in attendance.

Goodbye Russ Ortiz

According to reports on Diamondbacks flagship radio station KTAR and in the Arizona Republic, RHP Russ Ortiz, who had a highly disappointing tenure with the D-Backs after signing a $33 million contract during the 2004 offseason, was designated for assignment (DFA) on June 13. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles on June 25. Ortiz has slightly more than $22 million left on his contract which the Diamondback organization will apparently pay.

Ortiz, previously with the Giants and Braves, was 0-5 with a 7.54 ERA in six starts this year, and was 5-11 with a 6.89 ERA last year. As of June 13, he was 108-71 overall with a 4.23 ERA in an eight-year career.

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; he served as the regular public address announcer at Chase Field in the early days of the franchise. 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 1990s. He is also the play-by-play radio voice for ASU women's basketball.

Former Diamondback and Chicago Cub Mark Grace and former Major League knuckleball pitcher Tom Candiotti are the D-Backs primary color analysts for the 2006 season. Former Diamondback player (and current Diamondbacks minority owner) Matt Williams also does color commentary on occasion.

The team's games are broadcast on KTAR radio in Phoenix; roughly half the games are televised on KTVK 3TV and half on 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)

  • |*when Brennaman is on FOX assignment
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
2006 Thom Brennaman > Greg Schulte* Mark Grace Greg Schulte > Jeff Munn* Tom Candiotti > Mark Grace

Season-by-Season Records

Postseason appearances

Year NLDS NLCS World Series
1999 New York Mets L
2001 St. Louis Cardinals W Atlanta Braves W New York Yankees W
2002 St. Louis Cardinals L

Quick facts

Founded: 1995, began Major League play in 1998 (National League expansion)
Uniform colors: Arizona turquoise (teal), copper, black and purple (presumably the same purple as used by the Phoenix Suns)
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.
Team motto: A New Brand of Baseball.
Playoff appearances (3): 1999, 2001, 2002
General Manager Josh Byrnes
Local Televison: FSN Arizona, KTVK (Channel 3)
Spring Training Facility: Tucson Electric Park, Tucson, AZ
Rivals: Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers

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

See also

External links

Arizona Diamondbacks | Major League Baseball teams | 1998 establishments | Sports in Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks | Diamondbacks de l'Arizona | 애리조나 다이아몬드백스 | Arizona Diamondbacks | アリゾナ・ダイヤモンドバックス | Arizona Diamondbacks | Arizona Diamondbacks | 亞利桑那響尾蛇

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Arizona Diamondbacks".

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