· The Arizona Diamondbacks were introduced as an expansion team in 1998.
· They play their games at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
· Their name comes from the “Western diamondback” a rattlesnake native to the region known for injecting a large amount of venom when it strikes. It was the winning entry for a “name the team contest” that was in the sports section of the Arizona Republic in 1995.
· They have made the playoffs six times with five being division tiles and one being a wild card berth.
· They have won one NL Pennant and one World Series both in 2001.
Batting Lineup:
1. SS Tony Womack
2. 2B Orlando Hudson
3. LF Luis Gonzalez
4. RF Justin Upton
5. DH Conor Jackson
6. 3B Matt Williams
7. 1B Mark Grace
8. C Miguel Montero
9. CF Steve Finley
Pitching Staff:
3. Brandon Webb
5. Dan Haren
Bullpen:
1. Closer: Byung Hyun Kim
3. Brad Ziegler
4. JJ Putz
6. Matt Mantei
Bench:
OF-Eric Byrnes
OF-Eric Byrnes
INF-Craig Counsell
INF-Stephen Drew
Coaching Staff:
Manager-Kirk Gibson
Kirk Gibson managed the Diamondbacks for five seasons where he finished with the most wins in their history with 353. He guided them to one NL West division title and won manager of the year once.
Bench Coach-Buck Showalter
Buck Showalter managed Diamondbacks for three years and finished with the fifth most wins with 240. He was their first manager history and was hired two years before the team was scheduled to begin play in order to take a more active role in developing the eventual roster. He guided them to one NL west title, making them one of the fastest expansion teams to win a division title. Bob
1B Coach-Bob Melvin
Bob Melvin managed the Diamondbacks for five years where he finished with second most wins with 337. He also guided them to one NL west title in with the best record in the NL and won NL manager of the year once. He was the bench coach when they won the World Series in 2001.
3B Coach-Bob Brenly
Bob Brenly managed the Diamondbacks for four years where he finished the third most wins with 303. He guided them to two NL west division titles, one NL Pennant and the World Series Championship 2001.
Hitting Coach-Torey Lovullo
Torey Lovullo has managed the Diamondbacks for three seasons where he already has the fourth most wins with 260. He also won NL manager of the year once and took them to the playoffs once as wild card
Pitching Coach-Bob Welch
Bob Welch a former pitcher was the pitching coach when the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001.
Bullpen Coach-Glenn Sherlock
Glenn Sherlock has been the bullpen coach fifteen times and worked for eight different managers in his 19 seasons on the Diamondbacks MLB staff.
The Diamondbacks have had three Hall of Fame players who have played for them at different points in their respective careers. They have two retired numbers for players.
Randy Johnson pitched eight seasons for the Diamondbacks as their greatest pitcher where he put numbers that speak for themselves that got him elected into the Hall of Fame in 2015 and they retired his 51. He made five of his ten All-Star appearances, won the NL CY Young award four straight years, won the pitching Triple Crown once, led the majors in wins once, led the NL in ERA three times, led the NL in strikeouts five times, pitched a perfect game, pitched a no-hitter, was on the 2001 World Series Championship team and was the Co-MVP of the 2001 World Series Championship while there. He finished as the franchise leader in many categories in Diamondbacks history like having the most wins, highest WAR for pitchers, most strikeouts, lowest ERA, most games started, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts.
Curt Schilling pitched four seasons for the Diamondbacks where he put up numbers that speak for themselves that should get him elected into the Hall of Fame eventually. He made two of his six All-Star appearances, led the majors in wins twice, won the Roberto Clemente award, won the Branch Rickey Award, was on the 2001 World Series Championship team and was the Co-MVP in the 2001 World Series Championship while there. He also finished in top 10 for many pitching categories in Diamondbacks history like having the second lowest ERA, third highest WAR for pitchers, second most complete games, third most shutouts and best win-loss percentage to name some.
Luis Gonzalez spent eight seasons in leftfield for the Diamondbacks as their greatest player/greatest outfielder/longest tenured outfielder where he made all five of his All-Star appearances, won his only silver slugger, is most remembered for hitting a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to give the Arizona their first World Championship and his number is retired. He also finished as the franchise leader in Diamondbacks history for many offensive categories likes having the highest batting average, the most games played, hits, doubles, homeruns, runs scored, RBIs, at bats, plate appearances, singles, extra base hits and total bases.
Justin Upton spent six seasons in right field for the Diamondbacks as their longest tenured/best right fielder where he won one of his three silver slugger and made had two of his four All-Star appearances while there. In his rookie year he help lead his team to a sweep of the Cubs during the NLCS and finished the playoffs with a .357 batting average and a .571 slugging percentage. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the fifth highest on base percentage, fifth most runs scored, sixth highest WAR for position players, sixth highest offensive WAR, sixth highest slugging percentage, sixth most stolen base, walks and home runs to name some.
Steve Finley spent six seasons for the Diamondbacks as their greatest center fielder where he made one of his two All-Star appearances, won three of his five gold gloves and was on the 2001 World Series Championship team while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the third highest slugging percentage, the third highest offensive WAR, fourth highest WAR for position players, third most runs scored, hits, total bases, home runs and RBIs to name some.
Matt Williams spent six seasons for the Diamondbacks as their greatest/longest tenured third basemen where he made one of his five All-Star appearances and was on the 2001 World Series Championship team while there. He was also on the coaching staff for five years. He finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the sixth most RBIs, seven most home runs, seventh highest slugging percentage, and ninth most total bases to name some.
Mark Grace spent three seasons at first base for the Diamondbacks where he was on the 2001 World Series Championship and was the hitting coach for one season in their minor leagues plus two seasons on the major league staff. He belted a home run in Game 4 of the World Series and led off the bottom of the 9th inning with a single off Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera, which rallied the Arizona Diamondbacks to a come-from-behind victory in Game 7. His .515 batting average in League Championship Series play is a record for players in at least ten games.
Orlando Hudson spent three seasons for the Diamondbacks as their greatest second basemen where he made one of his two All-Star appearances, two of his four gold gloves, a fielding bible award once and had career highs in batting average, homeruns, RBIs and runs scored while there. He also finished with the third highest on base percentage, fourth highest batting average and the ninth highest defensive WAR in Diamondbacks history.
Tony Womack spent five seasons for the Diamondbacks at shortstop, second base and the outfield where led the NL in stolen bases once while there and was on the 2001 World Series Championship team. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the most stolen bases, second most triples, the third most singles and the seventh most runs score to name some.
Miguel Montero spent nine seasons behind the plate for the Diamondbacks as their greatest/longest tenured catcher where he both of his All-Star appearances and caught Edwin Jackson’s no hitter while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the with him having the third most games played, fourth most RBIs, hits, singles, four highest offensive WAR, seventh highest WAR for position players and eight highest WAR for defense to name some.
Connor Jackson spent six seasons at both first base and the outfield for the Diamondbacks as their second longest tenured first basemen where he finished with the fourth highest on base percentage in Diamondbacks history.
Brandon Webb pitched seven seasons for the Diamondbacks where won the NL CY Young award once, made three All Star appearances, and led the NL in wins twice while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories like having the second most wins, strikeouts, shutouts, innings pitched, WAR for pitchers, games started, third lowest ERA and the third most complete games to name some. He is one of the biggest ifs in history about where his career as a whole could have gone if he stayed healthy but will always be remembered the third best pitcher in Diamondbacks history.
Brian Anderson pitched five seasons for the Diamondbacks where he was on the 2001 World Series Championship team while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Diamondbacks history like having the fourth most shutouts, complete games, innings pitched and the eight most wins to name some.
Dan Haren pitched three seasons for the Diamondbacks where he made two of his three All-Star appearances while there. He also finished in the top 10 for many pitching categories in Diamondbacks history like having the fifth highest WAR for pitchers, fifth highest win-loss percentage, sixth lowest ERA and eight most strikeouts to name some. Another notable starter in Diamondbacks history was Miguel Bautista.
Eric Byrnes spent four seasons in the outfield for the Diamondbacks where he won a Fielding Bible Award once, is one of a few players to have 50 stolen bases and hit 20 home runs in one season while there. He also has fifth most stolen bases in Diamondbacks history.
Danny Bautista spent five seasons in the outfield for the Diamondbacks where he was on the 2001 World Series Championship team and his batting average of. 583 in the World Series is fifth all-time in a single World Series He also has the third highest best batting average and the tenth highest on base percentage in Diamondbacks history. Other notable outfielders in Diamondbacks history have been Shawn Green, active outfielders Chris Young, David Peralta, AJ Pollock and Gerardo Parra.
Stephen Drew spent six seasons for the Diamondbacks as their longest tenured shortstop where he hit for the cycle in 2008 the first in Chase Field history. He also finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history with him having the most triples, fourth most doubles, fifth total bases, extra base hits, hits, sixth highest defensive WAR, seventh highest offensive WAR and the eight highest for position players to name some.
Craig Counsell spent six seasons all over the infield for the Diamondbacks where he won the 2001 NLCS MVP and was on the 2001 World Series Championship team. He also was hit by a pitch by Mariano Rivera to load the bases which set up Gonzalez to hit the game winning single in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to win it all. He finished in the top 10 for many offensive categories in Diamondbacks history like having the second highest defensive WAR, the eight highest on base percentage, eight most walks and singles to name some. Other notable infielders in Diamondbacks history have been Junior Spivey, Jay Bell, Aaron Hill, Alex Cintron, Kelly Johnson, active players Mark Reynolds and Paul Goldschmidt.
Damian Miller spent five seasons behind the plate for the Diamondbacks as their second longest tenured where he made his only All-Star appearance and was the starting catcher on the 2001 World Series Championship team.
Byung Hyun Kim was the Diamondbacks closer for six seasons where he made his only All-Star appearance and was on the 2001 World Series Championship team where he became first Asian-born and Korean-born baseball player to appear and win a World Series title while there. He also became the first pitcher since Goose Gossage to earn two-inning saves on back-to-back days in the postseason. He finished with the second most games finished, the four most saves, the sixth most games played and the tenth best WAR for pitcher in Diamondbacks history.
Jose Valverde was the Diamondbacks closer for five seasons where made one of his three All-Star appearance, won reliever of the year once and led the majors in saves once while there. He also finished with the most saves, games finished and the fourth most games played in Diamondbacks history.
Brad Ziegler spent seven seasons in the bullpen for the Diamondbacks where he finished with the most games played, third most games finished and fifth most saves Diamondbacks history while there.
JJ Putz spent four seasons as the Diamondbacks closer where he finished with second most saves and the fifth most games played in Diamondbacks history while there. He currently is a special assistant to club president for them.
Greg Swindell spent four seasons in the Diamondbacks bullpen where he was on the 2001 World Series Championship team and finished the tenth most games played in Diamondbacks history while there.
Matt Mantei spent five seasons in the Diamondbacks bullpen where he was on the 2001 World Series Championship team and he finished with the third most saves and fourth most games finished in Diamondbacks history while there. Other notable relievers in Diamondbacks history have been Gregg Olson, Brandon Lyon and Chad Qualls to name some.
