www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor Matt Tustison Copy Editor Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production Craig Hinton Cover Design Craig Hinton Photo Credits Jae C Hong AP Images cover Matt York AP Images title 11 23 37 47 John Bazemore AP Images 4 8 29 43 top middle 44 Kevork Djansezian AP Images 7 16 24 42 middle bottom Mike Fiala AP Images 12 Scott Troyanos AP Images 15 42 top Donald Miralle Allsport Getty Images 19 David Kennedy AP Images 20 Marcio Jose Sanchez AP Images 26 30 Khampha Bouaphanh AP Images 33 M Spencer Green AP Images 34 43 bottom Kathy Willens AP Images 38 Chris Pondy Icon SMI Corbis Images 41 Library of Congress Control Number 2014932915 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tricchinelli Rob 1985 Arizona Diamondbacks by Rob Tricchinelli p cm Inside MLB Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62403-460-2 1 Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball team History Juvenile literature I Title GV875 A64T75 2015 796 357'640979173 dc23 2014932915
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Glory 4 Chapter 2 The Beginnings 12 Chapter 3 After the Championship 20 Chapter 4 The Tumble 26 Chapter 5 Baby Backs and Growing Pains 34 Timeline 42 Quick Stats 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
CHAPTER 1 GLORY
I t was November 4 2001 The Arizona Dia mondbacks were in trouble It was the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series Arizona had to score a run against the New York Yankees just to tie the game Mariano Rivera was pitch ing for New York The previous 23 times Rivera pitched in a save situation in the postsea son the Yankees won And he had struck out the side in the eighth inning Arizona’s Mark Grace stepped to the plate He faced difficult odds The Yankees were a famously successful team They had won 26 World Series titles including three in a row from 1998 to 2000 The Diamond backs were in only their fourth season as a team They were in their first World Series Although it was a new team Arizona had several vet eran players Luis Gonzalez was the team leader on offense Grace Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez reacts after driving in the winning run in the Luis Gonzalez reacts after driving in the winning run in the Diamondbacks 3 2 victory in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series Diamondbacks 3 2 victory in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series GLORY 5
