The End has Come

What an apt way for it to end.

The team which defied the odds and statistics with a team attitude and an opportunistic offense met their match in an opponent with more power and experience.

The 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks will go down as one of the truly fascinating stories of the year. The myriad of story lines that surround this team and their season has been special.

The roller coaster season featured the highest of highs: 31 one-run game wins, 8 win streaks of 4 or more, a pitcher who can drive in as many runs as he allows, and defying the Pythagorean stat-heads. And the lowest of lows: 20 losses of 6+ runs, 10 losing streaks of 3 or more, and the bitter taste of a sweep by a division opponent in the NLCS. With such a topsy-turvy season like that, it is only fitting that it came to a conclusion with a three game win streak and a four game losing streak.

The main storyline surrounding this team is their lack of experience at key positions like shortstop and center field. The tremendous talent assembled though high draft picks, courtesy of several seasons of failure, was now expected to deliver. The fans were tired of hearing about the 'best farm system' in the Major Leagues and wanted to see the talent begin to perform. Perform they did. As such, the “known” contributors of Orlando Hudson, Eric Byrnes, Brandon Webb, and José Valverde have gotten their dues throughout the season. I do not wish to diminish or demean the veterans’ accomplishments, but the three

Players not even the most savvy of scouts had heard of emerged from the depths of the farm system and delivered. The first blow to the team came with the Mark Reynolds emerged in mid-May to replace the injured Chad Tracy, one of the few veterans on the team. Reynolds delivered in a big way, contributing to several early win streaks. He then struggled mightily, with a streak of over 20 straight strike-outs that gave him the nickname of MarKKKKKK Reynolds. To his credit, he rebounded late in the year and contributed when we needed him in September to help clinch the division.

Stephen Drew was with the team from Spring Training, but I had doubts about his attitude stemming from his contract holdout when the DBacks drafted him a couple of years ago. All bad thoughts disappeared, however, once I saw him on the field. His range is above where I would expect it to be for his age, and he can throw off-balance to first as well as anyone. He too endured his share of struggles, but nowhere on the magnitude of Reynolds. When Stephen struggled, I was favorably impressed that his physical demeanor did not waver and his offensive failures did not travel with him onto the field. It is true that he led the team in errors, but that statistic is less of a factor of his ability than a result of the sheer number of plays that he participated in.

Chris B. Young, a throw-in in the Javier Vasquez trade (Addition by subtraction -ed.) who was not expected to amount to anything, became a disruptive force on the basepaths with a speed that was also a tremendous asset on defense. One of the plays of the year came as a result of Young's speed. In the midst of a four-game road series in Petco Park, CY ran all the way to the wall, elevated, and robbed Mike Cameron of a grand slam. His 8 lead-off home runs provided an incalculable confidence boost to our starting pitchers. The one major flaw with CY is his high strikeout ratio, but I am hopeful that after his first year of consistent playing time at the major-league level he will improve on that aspect of his game during the off-season. His combination of speed (27 stolen bases) and power (32 home runs; lead team) has the potential to be something special.

I could go on down the roster, commending the leadership and consistency of Byrnes and Hudson, the advice and wisdom of Kirk Gibson and Tony Clark, and recognizing every player (except Carlos Quentin and wife-beater/utilityman Alberto Callaspo). However, the three players I mentioned deserve special recognition for their contributions to the entire team throughout the season. Jeff Salazar and Miguel Montero deserve honorable mentions for their effort, and Justin Upton would probably have made the list had he played more than a quarter of the season.

The difficulty of paring down a season with so many clutch contributors that it spawned a catchy marketing slogan “Anybody. Anytime” that actually approached truth in advertising. Each player deserves their space, but in the end I decided to select three of our many rookies (which I take to mean any first or second year player with the team, plus any player with their first shot at significant playing time).

This season surpassed my wildest expectations, and has left me so anxious for the start of Spring Training and the next year. My hoes are so high that I can enjoy the Suns' upcoming season and not use it to take away the sting of another disappointing Diamondbacks season.