Gourt > Sports > Baseball > Major League > Teams > Arizona Diamondbacks (3)
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. They are popularly referred in the local press as the D-Backs.
Franchise history
The desire for baseball in the desert
In the fall of 1993, Jerry Colangelo, owner of the Phoenix Suns, the area's wildly popular and successful NBA franchise, announced he was assembling an ownership group to apply for a Major League Baseball expansion team. This was after a great deal of lobbying by the Maricopa County Sports Authority, a local group formed to preserve Cactus League spring training in Arizona and eventually secure a Major League franchise for the state. This group was headed at the time by sports attorney Joe Garagiola, Jr. (Garagiola would go on to become the team's first general manager). Maricopa County superviors Jim Bruner and Mary Rose Wilcox were also key proponents of baseball in Phoenix, aligning themselves with Garagiola's group. A firestorm of local controversy was the result. Many area residents did not want public tax money used for a sports team. However, just as many residents felt that by the early 1990s, Phoenix had finally "arrived" as a major American city and deserved a Major League Baseball team.All this was after a previous attempt was mounted by Martin Stone, owner of the Phoenix Firebirds, the city's Triple-A minor league baseball team and an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. In the late 1980s Stone approached St. Louis (football) Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill about sharing a proposed 70,000 seat domed stadium in Phoenix; Bidwill, with plans already in the works to leave St. Louis, opted instead to sign a long term lease with Arizona State University to use its Sun Devil Stadium as the home of his soon-to-be Arizona based NFL franchise, thus ending Stone's bid.
More on [ Arizona Diamondbacks ]
D-backs pick up 2010 option on Webb
Joe Frisaro Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:07:00 -0400
D-backs pick up 2010 option on Webb
D-backs' Davis files for free agency
Steve Gilbert Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:17:00 -0400
D-backs' Davis files for free agency
D-backs decline Tracy's 2010 option
Steve Gilbert Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:55:00 -0400
D-backs decline Tracy's option
D-backs Dugout: Video features
Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:48:55 -0400
MLBlogs: Steve Gilbert | Daron Sutton
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:39:29 -0400
D-backs lose Petit, Slaten on waivers
Steve Gilbert Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:53:00 -0400
D-backs lose two on waivers
Official Arizona Diamondbacks - Team site includes statistics, news, schedule, forums and history.
About.com - Highlights the first several years of the team's franchise, along with the current home game schedule.
Meta Description: [ Major League Baseball is alive and well in Arizona, with the popular Arizona Diamondbacks team. Learn about their first four years as a franchise, get the current home game schedule and ticket info. ]
404
Arizona Diamondbacks - Presents the club history, notable artifacts in the Hall of Fame collections and related links.
Baseball Reference - Offers team index statistics by position, pitching, batting and managers.
Meta Description: [ statistics for each batter and pitcher, team leaders and All Stars. ]
Dback Fans - Fansite that includes scores, statistics, analysis, commentary, images, news links and a forum.
Now Hitting - Source for news, pictures, Bank One ballpark information, articles and commentary.
Meta Description: [ NowHitting - Baseball for the new millennium ]
Paul Benjamin's Arizona Diamondbacks - Provides roster, standings, box scores, transactions, photographs and news.
Sports Network: Arizona Diamondbacks - Showcases news, statistics, results, roster, schedule and attendance numbers.
Meta Description: [ [The] Sports Network - Real-time coverage of sports, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA football & basketball, int'l soccer, tennis, golf, auto racing, scores, stats, odds, standings, news, previews, match-ups, injuries, weather. ]
| Stabilization Drills - Baseball Hitting Instruction | |
| Next Video | |
