The Phillies were around for 97 years before winning their first World Series. The Diamondbacks did it in 4. It took 93 years for the Phillies to have a 100 win season. The Diamondbacks did it in 2. What the hell??? How in the world did they manage that?
Monday, August 31 at 9:40p – Aaron Nola vs Brandon Pfaadt (R)
Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ
Tuesday, September 1 at 9:40p – Jesus Luzardo vs Eduardo Rodriguez (L)
Wednesday, September 2 at 3:40p – Andrew Painter vs TBA
MLB Draft?
You would think a team starts with an Expansion Draft, but that’s only for when a team is ready to play. Things really kicked off two years earlier with the MLB Draft. The Diamondbacks picked 30th overall back in 1996 and selected Nick Bierbrodt. He didn’t really make it. To be honest, almost none of their selections from the first few drafts were anything to write home about. Their best overall pick was high schooler Brad Penny, but he didn’t blossom until he was traded to the Marlins before his debut. Brandon Webb was their best overall pick before the World Series, but he didn’t debut until 2003. It wasn’t the Draft.
Expansion Draft
Well then surely when it was time to play the games in their inaugural 1998 season, they plucked just the right set of players from other teams in the expansion draft, right? Well, there was Jeff Suppan and Cory Lidle, but neither would play an inning for Arizona. Brian Anderson was their first pick, but he managed -.9 WAR for the World Series team. The only productive player from this draft was Omar Daal. He threw two sub-4 ERA seasons in 1998 and 1999 and was later traded. We’ll get back to him.
Free Agents and Trades
The first big free agent in Diamondbacks history was a very unexpected one. Kris Benson went 1st overall in the 1996 Draft to the Pirates. The Twins picked 2nd and selected Travis Lee out of San Diego State. Oddly, the Twins never formally offered Lee a contract and he was declared a free agent. He signed with the Diamondbacks right away. This was a sign of things to come out in Arizona.
The winter of 1997 was the first season Arizona could sign free agents and trade for big league players; they did not waste time. Matt Williams came over in a trade from Cleveland and Jay Bell signed away from Kansas City. Neither helped much that first season and the Diamondbacks went 65-97. Year 2 was a different story.
After being traded from Seattle to Houston the year before, Randy Johnson signed as a free agent. His 4 year contract yielded 4 straight Cy Young awards. It is without a doubt the greatest free agent signing in MLB history and was one of the first ever for the Diamondbacks. After getting Johnson, Arizona traded Karim Garcia to Detroit for Luis Gonzalez. Gonzalez went from hitting .267 for the Tigers to .336 for Arizona. Steve Finley signed as a free agent after a 0.00 WAR year in San Diego, then put up 4.9 with his new team. They also made an absolutely nothing trade for a guy named Tony Womack. We’ll get back to him too.
In 1999, Arizona overachieved to a ridiculous 100-62 record but lost to the Mets in the NLDS. Six players on the team managed 4+ WAR seasons. 5 of those players were 31 or older. Instead of relying on young players, the Diamondbacks leaned heavily on veterans.
2000 did not have the same magic and Arizona missed the playoffs with an 85-77 record. They did however sign Craig Counsell and make a huge building block trade that everyone in Philadelphia remembers. Curt Schilling was sent from the Phillies in exchange for Daal, Lee, Nelson Figueroa, and Vicente Padilla.
2001
They say baseball is a team game, but the 2001 Diamondbacks were led all year by their stars. They signed Mark Grace as a free agent but Gonzalez put up MVP level numbers (but finished behind Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa) while Johnson and Schilling finished 1-2 in Cy Young voting. The team finished 92-70, good for first in the NL West and a date with the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round.
The Cardinals series was all about Schilling. He pitched a 3 hit shutout in Game 1 then came back for 9 more innings and just one run in the decisive Game 5. Against the Braves in the next round, Johnson joined the show by throwing a shutout of his own in Game 1 then giving up 2 runs over 7 to close it out a week later. It was on to the World Series.
Schilling shoved in a Game 1 demolition in Arizona and Johnson followed him up with another shutout. After losing Game 3, Schilling came back on short rest for Game 4 and left after 7 with a 3-1 lead. Young closer Byung-Hyun Kim blew it in the 9th inning to tie the game, then again in the 10th to lose it. He would blow it the next game too1 to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Johnson started Game 6 and dominated.
The following day was Game 7. Roger Clemens was on the hill for the Yankees against Schilling. Clemens left in the 7th down 1-0, Schilling lasted into the 8th down 2-1. Johnson came on for relief on ZERO rest to keep the deficit at 2-1 in the 9th (they were NOT going to Kim). Mariano Rivera was on to save the game and win the World Series for the Yankees. A single by Grace, fielder’s choice error, and a bunt by original Diamondback Jay Bell put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for maybe the last guy anyone remembered, Tony Womack. With the biggest swing of his life, the 5’9″ 160 pound Womack hit a double over the head of first baseman Tino Martinez and the game was tied. Craig Counsell was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Luis Gonzalez.
Gonzalez hadn’t been that great the whole playoffs and certainly wasn’t carrying the team in the World Series. He was 0-4 in the game. The infield was drawn in and looking to throw home on contact with just one out. With one strike, Gonzalez got just enough of it to get the ball weakly over Derek Jeter‘s head, Jay Bell scored, and the Diamondbacks were champs after just 4 years in the majors.
While Schilling and Johnson were MVPs and Luis Gonzalez got to live out the fantasy of every child who ever tossed around a baseball.
Photo: MSgt. Raheem Moore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Do people remember how bad he was this series? ↩︎
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