(Photo by Dallas Morning News)
Around this time last year, the state of Arizona was in a flux when it came to professional sports. It got to a point where a YouTuber made a video recently about the teams' failure and how the city was cursed. Heck, I even created a character called the Crying Cactus to depict that. Obviously, this isn't news to anyone who lives here. The four major sports teams were in a state of uncertainty.
-The Cardinals finished with just four wins, prompting management to exile Kliff Kingsbury and Steve Keim and bring in Jonathan Gannon and Monti Ossenfort.
-The Suns were considered title contenders with the trade for Kevin Durant and new ownership under Mat Ishiba. They would eventually get blown out by the Nuggets at home and Monty Williams would eventually get the ax.
-The Coyotes were the nomads of the group, going from Glendale to Tempe and Mullet Arena.......home of ASU's hockey team. Wah, wah.
So, as you can see, same ol' script.
When it came to the Arizona Diamondbacks, again, same ol' script. Middle of the pack team, probably a third or fourth place finish in the NL West. Not much to ruffle the feathers of anyone. GM Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo were spared after the team finished with plus 100 losses in 2021. Management knew that it was time to reshuffle the deck and think about the long-term future of the franchise. You see, Hazen was able to find prospects that could help the D-Backs right away. His keen eye for finding talent in prospects made their farm system an intriguing one. Starting the 2023 season, Arizona was gearing up for a season where they could be world-beaters or fall into an abyss. However, two moves they made gave them hope.
-Promoting Corbin Carroll to the main roster and signing him to a long-term contract.
-Trading fan favorite Daulton Varsho to the Toronto Blue Jays for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno.
This gave the D-Backs a foundation at catcher and the outfield. Arizona's MLB team was starting the campaign off right.
The team was winning, and winning, and surprise, winning. You figured that they were going to falter.....in all honesty, there were some bumps along the way. However, at certain points throughout the season, Arizona was in first place! I kid you not, the D-Backs were exceeding expectations. Though small in stature, Corbin Carroll was carrying this franchise on his back. The pitching was solid as Zac Gallen and the renaissance of Merrill Kelly gave the D-Backs a couple of inning eaters. Things seem to be on the up for the franchise.
If there is a drawback, the fan interest seems to be up-and-down here. The D-Back faithful didn't know what to think about the team's surprising success. I was fortunate enough to attend the Father's Day game with my stepdad, brother and nephew to experience the lightning-in-a-bottle run. Chase Field was half-full or half-empty. The result wasn't great for the D-Backs as they were blown out by the Cleveland Guardians. Fans of the four major teams want to support a winner, yet they seem scarred by the sad outcome. Suns continue to hear Marv Albert bellow out, "Paxson for three, YES!" and Cardinals fans hear Al Michaels shout out, "Touchdown, Santonio Holmes!" in their nightmares. It's tough to be a fan here.
(Side note: I was going to say something about CEO Ken Kendrick wanting to move the team out of Chase Field, but he can go do something to himself that rhymes with pluck.)
Entering the All-Star break, the D-Backs sent four players (Carroll, Gurriel Jr., Gallen and Geraldo Perdomo) to the Pacific Northwest for the game. Also, Carroll was making his homecoming. At the trade deadline, Arizona made a couple of trades to help them in the playoff push. Tommy Pham brought veteran experience and toughness to a club that needed it. Mr. Pham once slapped a player because of fantasy football. There was one trade that gave the team the one thing they lacked in recent years, a dominant closer. The Seattle Mariners were more than happy to give the D-Backs their wish by sending Paul Sewald for Josh Rojas and prospects.
At around August and September, despite the great roll they have had during the season, Arizona went into a slump that made fans worrisome if the team could make the post-season. The Los Angeles Dodgers had overtaken them in the standings and all but wrapped up the division title. However, luck was on their side. The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants were faltering at the time, as was other teams during the stretch run. As the regular season concluded, it had happened. The Arizona Diamondbacks had exceeded expectations and reached the postseason.
As a wild-card team, the D-Backs were supposed to give an admirable effort and be forgotten. What happened put naysayers into a shock.
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