May 13, 2009
Another New Era Begins?
With every passing game the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks season is beginning to look more and more like the dreaded 2004 season where the team lost 111 games. It began with a long list of injuries followed by a freefall in the standings which led to a firing of a manager then a complete dismantling of the roster. This was the year of the “Baby Backs” when the Diamondbacks threw up the white flag and began calling up young players from their farm system to give them playing time and to fill the roster spots vacated when players went on the disabled list. The clubhouse was in disarray as well with a dichotomy of personalities between the veterans and the rookies. The younger players felt empowered to run the team however they felt since it was clear that the veterans were having little success. The veterans were frustrated with their performance and with the lack of respect that the younger players were showing. After that season many of the young players that were brought up that year were traded away or sent back to the minor leagues with very few of them ever having an impact at the major league level. Likewise many of the veterans left the team frustrated with the way they were treated and the lack of direction they felt this organization had. There were many valuable lessons learned during that disastrous season and I think everyone hoped that would never happen again.
