The Arizona Diamondbacks are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are in the National League West division.

Founded: 1998 (National League expansion)

Home ballpark: Bank One Ballpark (The "BOB")

Uniform colors: Purple, Teal, and Black

Logo design: an "A" with one leg of the "A" alternating triangles to suggest a diamondback rattlesnake. An alternate logo is a script "D" in the shape of a snake.

Wild Card titles won (0): none

Division titles won (3): 1999, 2001, 2002

National League pennants won (1): 2001

World Series championships won (1): 2001

Franchise history

In their first five seasons of existence, the Diamondbacks won three division titles (1999, 2001, & 2002) and one World Series. In 1999, Arizona won over 100 games in only its second season to win the National League West division. They lost to the New York Mets in the first round of playoffs.

In 2001, Arizona had postseason victories over the St. Louis Cardinals (3-2 in the NLDS), the Atlanta Braves (4-1 in the NLCS), to advance to the World Series where, in one of the most exciting series ever, they beat the reigning champions, the New York Yankees, 4 to 3, to become the youngest expansion franchise to win the championship. See 2001 World Series.

By the 2004 season, however, the Diamondbacks had dropped to a dismal 51-111 record. Manager Bob Brenly was fired partway through the season and was replaced on an interim basis by Al Pedrique. Following the season, the Diamondbacks hired Wally Backman to be the team's manager. Backman was formerly manager of the Class A California League Lancaster JetHawks, one of the Diamondbacks' minor-league affilliates. Backman was then fired after a legal dispute, and Bob Melvin became the new manager after Backman's ten day tenure.

Following the Backman incident, the Diamondbacks spent on free agents in order to build a contender. The club signed 3B Troy Glaus, P Russ Ortiz, SS Royce Clayton , and 2B Craig Counsell, among others. Then, they traded Randy Johnson to the Yankees, while acquiring Javier Vazquez, Brad Halsey and Shawn Green in a three-team trade that included the Dodgers, and sent Shea Hillenbrand to the Blue Jays. Finally, they traded Casey Fossum to the Devil Rays for José Cruz, Jr..

Players of note

Baseball Hall of Famers

• none

Current roster (updated on April 19, 2005)

Not to be forgotten

• Greg Colbrunn
• David Dellucci
• Steve Finley
• Mark Grace
• Randy Johnson
• Curt Schilling
• Matt Williams
• Tony Womack

Retired numbers

• 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball)

External links

• Arizona Diamondbacks official web site
• Unofficial Fan site for the Arizona Diamondbacks