With the Arizona Diamondbacks down 0-3 in this series it would take quite an effort for them to come back especially against a team who has lost only once in the past month. It was even more of a reach considering that the Arizona Diamondbacks would send a rookie to the mound who has not pitched in a game situation for nearly 2 weeks. There was just no telling what would happen. At the end of the evening the story would go one of two ways. Either the headlines would read that the Diamondbacks still had life and had forced a game 5 or we would be reading how the Rockies were a team of destiny heading to their first World Series in franchise history. Diamondbacks fans everywhere were hoping for the former rather than the latter.
The evening started out well enough with the Diamondbacks jumping out to a one run lead. The best part of that storyline was that it was Micah Owings who scored the run after he had gotten an infield hit. That little bit of optimism was all that the Diamondbacks could hope for but that was soon dashed when the wheels fell off the Diamondbacks team bus allowing the Rockies to score 6 runs in the 4th inning to take a 6-1 lead. It looked pretty hopeless for the snakes. You could just sense that televisions everywhere were being switched to a different channel, the outcome of this too painful for the faint of heart. The Diamondbacks though would mount a valiant comeback scoring 3 runs in the eighth inning and have the tying run at the plate. Like many times in this series that runner was stranded as were the dreams of the Diamondbacks. In the ninth inning they again brought the tying run to the plate this time in the form of Eric Byrnes who has been their best hitter all season. Unfortunately the ball continued to bounce against the Diamondbacks when Byrnes with a check swing grounded out to end the game and the Diamondbacks season.
After winning their divisional series against the Chicago Cubs the Diamondbacks came face-to-face with a white hot team that just seemed to get all the calls and all the bounces. They took advantage of each of those and came out victorious. The Colorado Rockies are headed to the World Series and the Arizona Diamondbacks are headed back to Phoenix. After a brief hiatus team officials will regroup and begin planning for 2008.
There were a lot of things that went right this season and while we may be disappointed to see the season end we can’t help but be proud of the job this team has done representing Arizona not only in the post season but all year. Having the youngest team in the major leagues this team overcame a lot of adversity including losing three of their most productive players before the season ended and still somehow found themselves battling for a berth to the World Series. If anyone would have suggested in February that on October 15 we would be watching the Diamondbacks lose the NLCS we would have been thrilled that the team had gotten this far. Unlike last off-season the Diamondbacks have very few holes to fill in their roster and are very close to returning everyone for another run at the Rockies and the National League pennant. With the exception of Livan Hernandez who will be a free agent the remainder of the pitching staff will be returning. Randy Johnson should be available for spring training and hopefully will be healthy for a whole season. Micah Owings seems to have pitched and hit himself into the starting rotation and Edgar Gonzalez appears to be becoming more consistent and could find himself in the rotation as well.
The core group of position players will be returning as well. Justin Upton has now had not only major league experience but post season experience and he had some success. This should bode well for his development going into Spring Training. Mark Reynolds likewise has successfully made the jump to the major league and post season ranks which will help him gain a little more confidence. These two will be very important in 2008 since they will be filling a couple of holes left from players who might not make it back in time for the season to start. Chad Tracy is recovering from micro-fracture knee surgery and might not be available until May depending on rehabilitation. Carlos Quentin struggled all year with an injured shoulder which has been surgically repaired. I’ve gone through that procedure three times and I can safely predict he may not be available until May or June at the earliest. Tony Clark is a free agent after this season and I hope that the Diamondbacks can come to some kind of agreement to bring him back. He was instrumental in helping many of these young players and it would be heart breaking for him to leave and go elsewhere. Orlando Hudson should be at full strength well before Spring Training which means there may be a log-jam at middle infield with Drew, Hudson, Ojeda, Callaspo, and Bonifacio. I would expect to see some of this young talent packaged together for a possible deal for pitching (you can never have too much pitching).
So on a cold autumn Denver evening with forecasts of potential freezing rain and snow the Diamondbacks 2007 magical run came to an end. While it hurt to see them walk off the field in defeat especially at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, I am still filled with optimism that this Diamondbacks team has the talent and the leadership necessary to compete for several years. I’m hoping what we just witnessed was the beginning of a streak where the Diamondbacks become a fixture in the NLCS and beyond into the World Series. And next April when the gates open to Chase Field for Opening Day I’ll be there with my seat cushion and my scorebook waiting for the first pitch.
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