GLORY DAYS he story of the Arizona Diamondbacks begins in 1995 That year baseball owners decided to add two new teams for the 1998 season The Tampa Bay Devil Rays now known as the Rays joined the American League AL The Diamondbacks joined the National League NL The Diamondbacks were named after a species of rattlesnake that lives in the deserts of the American RIZONA Southwest The team's main owner was Jerry Colangelo He also owned the Phoenix Suns basketball team Colangelo's partners included Phillip Knight who owned Nike comedian Billy Crystal and basketball star Danny Manning The D backs struggled in their first season and finished last in the NL West Their
best players were Matt Williams Jay Bell Devon White and Andy Benes Arizona fans were willing to be patient with the Diamondbacks but the owners were eager to win right away Over the winter they added pitcher Randy Johnson and a whole new outfield of Luis Gonzalez Steve Finley and Tony Womack The Diamondbacks won 100 games in just their second season something no expansion team had ever done Over the next two seasons Arizona welcomed more experienced stars including Mark Grace Reggie Sanders Craig Counsell Curt Schilling and Miguel Batista In 2001 the Diamondbacks captured the pennant Johnson went 21 6 and won the Cy Young Award Gonzalez also had an amazing year He hit 57 home runs and had 142 runs batted in RBIs LEFT Luis Gonzales gets ready to hit ABOVE Jay Bell was a star for Arizona in its early
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The Diamondbacks faced the New York Yankees in the D 0 News 2001 World Series With America recovering from SPORTSMAN the shock and sadness of the of the YEAR September 11 terrorist attacks fans nationwide enjoyed the diversion that baseball EETS choice provided The series lasted seven dramatic games Arizona won the championship in the meantime last inning of the final game Johnson and Schilling shared honors as the series Most Valuable Player MVP With their title the Diamondbacks reminded fans that playing hard and having fun was a great recipe for victory The Diamondbacks won the NL West again in 2002 but they did not return to the World Series Over the next few years the team brought in more top stars including Shawn Green Russ Ortiz Orlando Hudson and Troy Glaus Unfortunately age and injuries kept the Diamondbacks from reaching the playoffs again until 2007 By then Arizona had rebuilt its team around a group LEFT Randy Johnson peers in at a hitter ABOVE The Sporting News picked Curt Schilling as its 2001 Sportsman of the Year
