![\"WHGB11\"](\"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/wp-content\/WHGB.png\" "\\"WHGB11\\"")
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Arizona Diamondbacks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 World Series triumph in an epic Fall Classic victory over the New York Yankees.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nThis year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Arizona Diamondbacks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 World Series triumph in an epic Fall Classic victory over the New York Yankees.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Few would have predicted a re-match heading into this season.\u00c2\u00a0 While the Yankees were always going to be a contender, the D-Backs looked like being anything but.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, I predicted they would finish last in the National League West division.<\/p>\n
Not for the first time \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and surely not for the last \u00e2\u20ac\u201c my prediction has turned out to be completely wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 Arizona currently lead the San Francisco Giants in the NL West and an excellent August has set up what could be a successful September.<\/p>\n
My prediction was based on sound evidence.\u00c2\u00a0 The D-Backs had propped up the rest in the West in the previous two seasons and the 2010 campaign was particularly miserable in the desert.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Josh Byrnes both received their marching orders in July as their team\u00c2\u00a0sunk towards a 97-loss season.\u00c2\u00a0 The bullpen was historically terrible and the decision to trade ace starting pitcher Dan Haren to the Los Angeles Angels midway through the year didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly increase levels of optimism that the team would be competing for a playoff place any time soon.<\/p>\n
Kirk Gibson and Kevin Towers filled the Manager and General Manager positions in what appeared to be the start of rebuilding process.\u00c2\u00a0 Veterans Mark Reynolds (traded to the Baltimore Orioles) and Adam LaRoche (departing as a free agent) left the team over the offseason and there were even rumours that their young star Justin Upton was being dangled as potential trade bait.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The decision to keep hold of Upton \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and by all accounts he would have only been dealt if the D-Backs had received a knockout return \u00e2\u20ac\u201c showed that Towers believed this team could contend again quicker than others thought.\u00c2\u00a0 Upton has been Arizona\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best offensive player as they have surprisingly shot to the top of the division and given themselves a great chance of making the postseason.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arizona also gained two keystones to their success in two related trades.<\/p>\n
Ian Kennedy was acquired from the Yankees back in December 2009 in a three-team trade also involving the Detroit Tigers.\u00c2\u00a0 The D-Backs received Edwin Jackson from Detroit as part of the deal and \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after he pitched a no-hitter for the team \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they then flipped him to the White Sox at the 30 July 2010 trade deadline for Daniel Hudson.\u00c2\u00a0 Kennedy and Hudson have pitched brilliantly for Arizona at the top of their rotation and the signs are good that they will give the team two quality starters to build around for several years to come.<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no doubt that the competition in the NL West this year gave the D-Backs an opportunity.\u00c2\u00a0 The Padres have gone into rebuilding mode, the Dodgers and Rockies both have some star players but haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put together strong seasons, while the average offence of the reigning World Series champion Giants has made them vulnerable to an attack.<\/p>\n
Arizona took full advantage in August, going 19-10 and showing a streaky tendency, winning six in a row, then losing six in a row before going on a nine-game winning streak to end the month.\u00c2\u00a0 Although their roster doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look as formidable as the Phillies or Braves on paper, if the D-Backs can hold off the Giants and then go on one of their positive streaks in the postseason, they might just recreate that 2001 World Series classic.<\/p>\n
Seeing-eye singles<\/strong><\/p>\n One additional point on the D-Backs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 season.\u00c2\u00a0 While their performance last year was one of the key reasons for my pessimistic prognosis, perhaps I should have looked more closely at the organization\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s short history.\u00c2\u00a0 The last time the D-Backs lost 97 games was in their debut season of 1998.\u00c2\u00a0 In 1999 they won 100 games.<\/p>\n The Detroit Tigers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 incredible comeback against the White Sox on Saturday \u00e2\u20ac\u201c recovering from a 7-0 deficit and winning the game with two home runs in the ninth inning \u00e2\u20ac\u201c may have dealt the final blow in Chicago\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s challenge.\u00c2\u00a0 As the commentator on Fox put it: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153there are back-breakers and there are back-breakers. This game is a back-breaker\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n Whenever a player hits a home run in their first Major League at-bat, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always a great moment.\u00c2\u00a0 When they do it on the first pitch they see, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even better.\u00c2\u00a0 When the batter in question is actually a pitcher, well that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just ridiculous.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a great attempt by the Nationals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Tom Milone to try and upstage the return of another Washington pitcher.\u00c2\u00a0 However, something tells me even that homer won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t steal Stephen Strasburg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0thunder when he returns from Tommy John surgery on Tuesday.<\/p>\n