Rejoice, Diamondbacks: For it is your turn to shine.
Rejoice, Diamondbacks: For it is your turn to shine. (Getty)

We've been venturing through the history of each of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, discussing some of the best and worst moments, players, teams, etc. It's more of a fun snapshot for discussion purposes than a be-all, end-all declaration. We continue today with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have been around just since 1998, but in that relatively brief span they've won a World Series and made five playoff appearances. That is, it's been an interesting young life, so let's dig in ...

Best team: 1999

The 2001 team won the World Series, yes, but the '99 squad is tops in franchise history when it comes to winning percentage (.632) and wins (100). Remarkably, the '99 team improved its win total by 35 games (!) relative to 1998. That's a stunning and quick turnaround, to say the least. Doubly so for a franchise in its second year of play. 

The offense smacked 216 homers (good for second in the NL), led by Jay Bell's 38. Matt Williams drove in 142 runs, and Erubiel Durazo provided a second-half charge, as he batted .329/.422/.594 after a late July call-up. In the rotation, well, there was Randy Johnson, who pitched not unlike Randy Johnson. As well, Omar Daal worked 214 2/3 quality innings, and a somewhat spotty bullpen was improved by the July acquisition of Matt Mantei. 

In the playoffs, the Snakes, who won the NL West by a healthy 14 games, fell to the Mets in the NLDS, but Buck Showalter's club grades out very well on the "body of work" front. 

Worst team: 2004

The '04 Diamondbacks indeed authored a miserable season: 51-111 record, out-scored by 284 runs, finished 42 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Arizona hemorrhaged 899 runs that season, and, in matters related, the rotation was an utter mess. Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb were typically excellent, but the grim remainder? Yeesh. How's this: Snake starters not named Randy Johnson or Brandon Webb in 2004 combined for an ERA of 5.87 over 92 starts. That's ... less than optimal. As noted, 111 losses ensued. 

Best trade: Luis Gonzalez

On Dec. 28, 1998, the D-backs sent outfielder Karim Garcia to the Tigers in exchange for Gonzalez. At that point, Gonzalez was a 30-year-old veteran coming off what looked like a late-career power spike (23 homers for Detroit in ’98) that wouldn’t be sustainable. Well, Gonzo spent the next eight seasons in Arizona, and over that span he batted .298/.391/.529 (130 OPS+, compared to a pre-trade OPS+ of 109) with 224 homers. Meanwhile, Garcia would last just 104 games with the Tigers.

Worst trade: Max Scherzer

The D-backs, as part of a three-team swap with the Yankees and Tigers, acquired right-handers Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson at a net cost of Scherzer and reliever Daniel Schlereth on Dec. 8, 2009. To be sure, there's a defensible element to all of this. Kennedy was quite good on Arizona's watch, and Jackson even twirled a no-hitter for them (albeit a 149-pitch no-hitter). Still, in Scherzer they parted with a future frontline ace. 

Scherzer, the 11th-overall pick of the 2006 draft, was a consensus top-100 prospect heading into 2008, and then he turned in a quality season-and-a-half for the D-backs (his 240 strikeouts in 226 1/3 innings for Arizona certainly hinted at his potential). With Detroit, Scherzer would of course win a Cy Young and develop into one of the very best starting pitchers in all of baseball. His recent mega-contract with the Nationals tells you what the market thinks of him, which is quite a lot. 

What could have been ... 

(Image: MLB Card Value)

Best walk-off: Luis Gonzalez, Game 7, 2001 World Series

There's no assailing this choice. Bottom of the ninth, score tied 2-2, bases loaded, one out, the peerless Mariano Rivera on the mound ... 

Arizona Diamondbacks, world champs.

Worst walk-off: Todd Pratt, Game 4, 1999 NLDS

The aforementioned '99 D-Backs matched up with the Mets in the NLDS, and Game 4 went to extras with the Mets holding a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. One out, no runners on, closer Matt Mantei on the bump, Todd Pratt -- he of the three regular season home runs -- at the dish ...

To this day, Steve Finley still checks his glove on occasion, just to be sure ... 

Best example of a fan's predicting the future: Gylene Hoyle

Know what's hard to do? Hitting a grand slam. What's harder? Predicting which player will hit a grand slam and in which inning. Take it away, Jay Bell and Gylene Hoyle ... 


Bell makes fan a millionaire by FOX_Sports_Interactive

One million bucks! Always useful!

Best number: 596

That's how many innings Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling combined to pitch in 2001, counting the postseason. That comes to almost 300 innings apiece, and that's an unheard-of total in the modern era. Stated another way, Johnson and Schilling that season teamed up to pitch 36.9 percent of the team's total innings that year. In the playoffs, Unit and Schill worked 58.2 percent of the team's innings. Fitting, then, that the two aces finished 1-2 in the NL Cy Young balloting and shared World Series MVP honors. 

Relevant image ... 

Best Randy Johnson season: 2002

There's much to choose from, as the Big Unit -- the greatest D-back of all-time -- rang up a ridiculous 53.0 WAR in his eight seasons in Arizona. However, I'll take '02: 260 IP, 2.32 ERA, 195 ERA+, 334 strikeouts (his fourth straight 300-K season) and a unanimous choice as NL Cy Young winner. 

Worst “what could have been”: Brandon Webb

At the outset, let’s say that Webb had a darn fine career. He won a Cy Young and finished runner-up on two other occasions, and his career ERA+ of 142 ranks a deeply impressive 13th on the all-time list (minimum 1,000 innings). Still, the sinkerballer was in essence done after his age 29 season thanks to an unfortunate run of labrum and rotator cuff problems. 

Webb still pitched at a very high level in his final full season. Had health allowed him to play out his peak and decline phase, might we be talking about a future Hall of Famer? 

Let us remember the nastiness ... 

(GIF: Groundy.com)

Worst -- i.e., dumbest -- controversy: Dodgers in the pool

Late in the 2013 season, the Dodgers clinched the NL West crown after a win over the D-backs in Chase Field. In celebration of said crown, they opted for leisurely and team-building dip in Arizona's sacred and inviolable outfield swimming pool. Perish the thought ... 

Hyun-Jin Ryu: Tardy for the party!

Anyhow, some degree of righteous outrage followed, most notably by Sen. John McCain ... 

Best/worst brawl: Dodgers, 2013

Not unrelated to L'Affaire Piscine noted above, here are these manifest hostilities from June of that same year ... 

Mark McGwire seems displeased by recent events, also large. 

Best uniform: 2007

#RealTalk: I don't care for any of the Diamondbacks' uniforms, to be frank. So consider what follows to be the "best" of any unfortunate menu of choices ... 

(Image: Dressed to the Nines)

It's fine, I guess.

Worst uniforms: 2001

So ... 

(Image: Dressed to the Nines)

Uniform of a major-league team or Gerry Spence's footie pajamas?

Best player to hit for the cycle twice in a span of 11 days: Aaron Hill

Would you expect anyone else?

Up next: Thursday will be the San Diego Padres' turn.

>> Want more franchise bests/worsts? CHC | MIL | STL | CIN | PIT |CLE | DET | MIN | CHW | KC | NYY | BOS | BAL | TOR | TB | MIA | WAS | NYM | PHI  | ATL | COL | LAD | SFO