Arizona Diamondbacks

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1998
• Home ballpark: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
• Owner: Ken Kendrick
• Team colors: Sedona red, black, teal, and white

Overview

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team playing in the National League (NL) West division. Long known as a spring training site, Arizona received its own MLB franchise as part of a wave of expansion in the 1990s. The Diamondbacks joined the league in 1998 and quickly became the most successful expansion franchise in baseball history. With a pitching staff led by imposing lefty Randy Johnson, the Diamondbacks won the NL West in their second year of existence and the World Series just two years later. The franchise struggled to match the success it enjoyed in its first few seasons, and for much of the 2000s and 2010s, Arizona faced long stretches characterized by postseason appearance droughts. However, a successful playoff run in 2023 saw the Diamondbacks earn the team an appearance in that year's World Series against the Texas Rangers. Despite their initial playoff success, the Diamondbacks were ultimately defeated in the World Series by the Rangers in five games. The following year, the Diamondbacks missed the playoffs.

History

Baseball was first played in the Phoenix, Arizona, area in the late nineteenth century when the future state was just a US territory. In 1929, the Detroit Tigers were the first MLB team to hold spring training in the region, but the team moved to California the next year. MLB teams would not return until 1947, when the New York Giants trained in Phoenix, Arizona. By the 1970s, eight teams held spring training in Arizona, and by the late 2010s, that number had grown to fifteen. In 1958, the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the now-San Francisco Giants played in Phoenix and remained there for most of the next forty years.

In the early 1990s, MLB was looking to expand and placed two new franchises in Miami, Florida, and Denver, Colorado. Those teams entered the league in 1993. That same year, Jerry Colangelo, the owner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Phoenix Suns, began mounting an effort to bring a team to Arizona in the next round of expansion. In 1995, MLB awarded his group a franchise for $130 million. The team was to begin play in 1998 along with a new franchise in Tampa, Florida, known as the Tampa Bay Rays. Arizona fans were asked to submit ideas for a team name that captured the essence of the surrounding desert landscape. Among the more popular suggestions were Coyotes, Diamondbacks, Phoenix, Rattlers, Saguaros, and Scorpions. In the end, Diamondbacks was chosen, not only because a diamondback is a species of desert rattlesnake but also because the term “diamond” invoked the image of a baseball diamond.

Like most expansion teams, Arizona struggled in its first season. The team lost ninety-seven games and finished last in the NL West. However, the Diamondbacks’ management knew that the key to building a competitive team was acquiring quality starting pitchers. It took a big step toward reaching that goal by signing free-agent left-hander Randy Johnson after the 1998 season. By this time, Johnson had been in the league since 1988 and won the 1995 Cy Young Award with the Seattle Mariners. The addition of Johnson and several other key acquisitions immediately gave Arizona a boost, and the team responded by winning one hundred games and capturing the NL West title in 1999.

The Diamondbacks fell short of the playoffs in 2000 but added to their wealth of pitching in a midseason trade for right-hander Curt Schilling. Johnson and Schilling were two of the most dominant strikeout pitchers of the era, and Arizona had them both in its rotation. The Diamondbacks’ one-two punch lived up to its billing in 2001, with Johnson winning twenty-one games and Schilling leading the NL with twenty-two wins. Arizona not only made the playoffs but also advanced to the World Series. Their opponent, the New York Yankees, had won the previous three championships and was heavily favored for a fourth straight win. Arizona jumped out to a 2–0 series lead, only to see New York win three close games to jump ahead 3–2. In the deciding seventh game, the Yankees held a 2–1 lead in the ninth inning with future Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera on the mound. The Diamondbacks scraped out a run to tie and won the game—and the World Series—on a single by outfielder Luis Gonzalez. By winning a title in just their fourth season, the Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to win a championship in MLB history. Of the four major North American sports, only the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks, who won the NBA Finals in just their third season, accomplished the feat in a shorter time.

Arizona won another division title in 2002 but fell in the first round of the playoffs. The Diamondbacks took a step back in 2003, and by 2004, Schilling had been traded, and age was beginning to catch up to Johnson. Arizona struggled until 2007 when the team bounced back to win a division title. The Diamondbacks advanced to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) where they lost to the Colorado Rockies.

From 2008 to 2019, Arizona was seemingly on a roller coaster, mixing in competitive seasons with below-.500 campaigns. In 2011, the Diamondbacks finished with ninety-four victories and won the NL West, only to lose in the opening round of the playoffs. After two .500 seasons, Arizona lost ninety-eight games in 2014 and finished with a losing record in 2015 and 2016. A year later, the team improved to ninety-three wins and earned a playoff spot as a wild card; however, it was swept in the opening round. Arizona posted winning records in 2018 and 2019 but finished out of playoff contention.

After losing more than one hundred games in 2021, the Diamondbacks, with help from star rookie Corbin Carroll, rallied in 2023 to finish the regular season with a record of 84–78, which was good enough to earn the team a NL Wild Card Series appearance. Arizona, labeled by many as the underdogs of that year's postseason, bested the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series (NLDS) before playing the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. The Diamondbacks rallied to win the NLCS in seven games, which earned the team their first World Series appearance since 2001. However, the Diamondbacks ultimately lost the World Series to the Texas Rangers in five games.

Notable players

One former Arizona player has been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Randy Johnson spent a considerable period of time with the team. At six-foot-ten, Johnson was one of the tallest players in MLB history, earning the nickname “Big Unit.” His imposing height, blazing fastball, and deceptive breaking pitches made him the most feared pitcher of his era. Johnson played with Arizona from 1999 to 2004 and again in 2007 and 2008. During that time, he won four of his five career Cy Young Awards, capturing the honor from 1999 to 2002. Johnson struck out more than three hundred batters over those four seasons, including 372 in 2001, third most in modern baseball history. He set franchise records for wins with 118, strikeouts with 2,077, and an earned run average (ERA) at 2.83. Over his twenty-two-year career with multiple teams, Johnson won 303 games and struck out 4,875 batters, second most in MLB history.

Curt Schilling played in Arizona from 2000 to 2003, twice winning more than twenty games and finishing second to Johnson in the 2001 and 2002 NL Cy Young voting. Schilling struck out 316 batters in 2002, making him and Johnson the first teammates to strike out more than three hundred batters in a season. For their combined pitching performance in the 2001 World Series, Schilling and Johnson shared the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. The batting hero of that series, Luis Gonzalez, played with the Diamondbacks from 1999 to 2006. Gonzalez became the franchise leader in several major offensive categories, including hits (1,337), home runs (224), runs scored (780), and runs batted in (RBIs, 774). In 2001, he set team records with 57 home runs and 142 RBIs. Outfielder Steve Finley signed with Arizona as a free agent in 1999 and stayed with the team until 2004. Finley is fourth in hits (847) and third in home runs (153). Schilling expressed his interest in entering as a Diamondback should he ever receive an invitation to the Hall of Fame.

Pitcher Brandon Webb made his debut with Arizona in 2003 and soon blossomed into one of the NL’s best pitchers. Webb won sixteen games in 2006 to win the NL Cy Young Award; he won eighteen games in 2007 and twenty-two games in 2008, finishing second in Cy Young voting both times. Unfortunately, Webb suffered a serious shoulder injury in the 2009 season opener and underwent surgery. He was never able to fully recover and was forced to retire. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt began his career with Arizona in 2011 and played with the Diamondbacks until 2018. Goldschmidt became one of the premier first basemen in the NL, making six All-Star teams and leading the NL in home runs and RBIs in 2013. Goldschmidt trails only Luis Gonzalez on the Diamondbacks’ franchise list with 1,182 hits, 209 home runs, 709 runs scored, and 710 RBIs.

Former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke pitched in Arizona from 2016 to 2019, making three All-Star appearances in that span. In 2019, infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte led the Diamondbacks with thirty-two home runs and ninety-two RBIs and was voted onto his first All-Star team. Then, in 2023, Corbin Carroll became the first rookie in MLB history to steal fifty bases and hit twenty-five home runs in a season. In addition to making the World Series in his debut year, Carroll was also unanimously voted the National League Rookie of the Year.

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