Arizona Diamondbacks History

In 1993, Jerry Colangelo, majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, announced he was putting together an ownership group called “Arizona Baseball, Inc,” to apply for a Major League expansion team. Colangelo’s group was so certain the league was going to grant them a team, they held a name-that-team contest and the winner would receive a pair of lifetime season tickets. The name “Diamonbacks” was the winner after the Western Diamondback, a rattlesnake known to the region for injecting large amounts of venom when it strikes.

On March 9, 1995, Colangelo’s group was awarded a franchise to begin play in 1998. That same year, Tampa Bay was also awarded a franchise.

The Diamondbacks first game was on March 31, 1999 against the Colorodo Rockies at the Diamondbacks Bank One Ballpark, before a rousing crowd of 50,179 fans. Pitcher Andy Benes was on the mound and Travis Lee hit the first home run in the franchise history. The Diamondbacks finished their first season 65-97 with Devon White being the first Diamondback to get selected in the all-star game.

In 1999, the Diamondbacks clinched the National League West title and becomes the first expansion team to win a division crown in its second year of competition. In the Diamondbacks first postseason series, they faced off against the New York Mets. Even though the Diamondbacks lost the series 4-0, outfielder Steve Finely won the Diamondbacks first Gold Glove award and pitcher Randy Johnson won the teams first Cy Young Award.

The Diamondbacks didn’t make the postseason in 2000, but pitcher Randy Johnson became the first pitcher in Major League history to record four consecutive 300-plus strikeout seasons and Curt Schilling became the Diamondbacks first 20-game winner.

After a disappointing season in 2000, Colangelo fired manager Buck Showalter and hired Bob Brenly to replace him.

In 2001, the Diamondbacks finished with a record of 92-70, winning their second NL West crown in three years after the Dodgers beat the Giants on the last day of the season. In the postseason, the Dbacks defeated the St.Louis Cardinals in five games to advance to the NLCS. In the National League Championship Series, the Dbacks faced off against the Atlanta Braves. The Dbacks defeated the Braves four games to one, to give the Diamondbacks their first ever National League pennant. In the World Series the Dbacks faced the powerful New York Yankees. After winning game one, the Dbacks won game two behind a superb pitching performance from Randy Johnson as he struck out 11 hitters and pitched a three game shutout. After 3 dramatic losses to the Yankees in New York, the Dbacks returned home to beat the Yankees 15-2, to set up a decisive game 7. The Diamondbacks were down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth. The Dbacks scored a run when Louis Gonzales’s soft single to left field scores Jay Bell to give the Diamondbacks their first and only to date World Series title. After the Dbacks won , they had a victory parade with over 300,000 fans trying to get a glimpse of the new world champions.

In the 2002 season, the Diamondbacks ended their season with a record of 98-64 and winning the NL West. They found themselves in the postseason where they played the St.Louis Cardinals in the NLDS, where they were swept by the Cardinals in four games.

After the 2002 season, the Diamondbacks suffered great setbacks. Owner Jerry Colangelo’s plan to create a fan base by overpaying players and spending millions of dollars on stadium cost would come back to haunt him and the team. Attendance dropped and the Dbacks couldn’t get support from the league, as a result, Colangelo had to release the players that took them to the World Series. This would lead to the quickest downfalls in major sports history.

By the 2004 season, the Dbacks lost 111 games only winning 51, having the 10th worst record in MLB history. Brenly was fired halfway into the season and Al Pedrique replaced him as manager. Around this time, Colangelo and other partners were in dispute over the financial well being of the team. Colangelo was forced to resign his managing general partner post, and then he sold his share to a group of investors who were all partners with Colangelo when the team got started.

After the 2004 season, the Dbacks hired Wally Blackman to be the team’s manager. Blackman was fired after management learned of legal problems and secrets of his past, so the Diamondbacks hired bench coach Bob Melvin as their new manager, after Blackman had been manager for 10 days.

The Dbacks under general manager Josh Brynes, spent heavily on free agents to rebuild the franchise. The Dbacks signed 3B Troy Gluas, P Russ Ortiz, SS Royce Clayton, and 2B Craig Counsell. The Dbacks finished the 2005 season with a record of 77-85 and finished in second place in the NL West behind the San Diego Padres.

In 2007, the Diamondbacks won the NL West title with a 90-72 record. Chris Young led the team in home runs with 32 and Eric Byrnes led the team with 83 RBI. In the NLCS, the Dbacks faced off against the Colorado Rockies. Despite the Dbacks being the favorite to win the series, Arizona lost in three straight games.