Shortly after the All-Star break, most people had given up the Diamondbacks for dead. Just before the midsummer classic Arizona was riding high leading the NL West and while the Los Angeles Dodgers were nipping at their heels there was confidence on the field and in the stands that perhaps this was the year that the Dbacks would finally dethrone the Dodgers and win the division.

But then the wheels started falling off the bus. There was being swept in Toronto coming off the break that made everyone nervous. Things were better in Atlanta where Arizona took two of three from the Braves. But then the slide began.

A trip to Cincinnati saw Arizona drop three straight. The one bright spot was a home run by Corbin Carroll, but little could anyone imagine that would be his last home run in nearly a month; a drought that seemed impossible from the kid who seemed to be about to do anything.

Arizona would come home to face the struggling St. Louis Cardinals only to lose two of three of those games. Seattle would come to town and took two of three which began their hot streak towards the post season.

Things really started looking bad when the calendar changed to August. Suddenly a team who had not seen a protracted losing streak went on one of epic proportions losing the first nine games of the month. People were jumping off the Diamondbacks bandwagon faster than rats bailing on the Titanic. Even some of the diehard fans appeared to be wavering.

There were visions of 2018 with a massive collapse followed by years of mediocrity. If we really stopped to think about it, we should not have expected the good fortune we were seeing. With the age and experience of the roster this should be a year of growth with expectations that 2024 or 2025 would be when Arizona should hit their pace and be a play-off team.

This felt a little like 1999. After being an expansion team the year prior and losing 99 games, then owner Jerry Colangelo tore the cover off the checkbook and built a team that would win 99 games (still a franchise record). After a brief regression in 2000, the team came back to win the World Series in 2001 and might have won another in 2002 had they not had key injuries those last three weeks of the season.

All the doom and gloom of an August swoon now appear to be premature. After finally winning the first game of August on the 12th, Arizona has come storming back. They have now won 10 of the last 12 games and are riding a current five game winning streak.

What is even more impressive is that they have done it while piecing together a pitching staff that gets extremely shaky after Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Even the “opener” games during this span have played well with the bullpen putting together strong inning after strong inning.

Now here we are in the last week of August and the Diamondbacks are sitting in second place in the National League West. Granted they are now 12 games back of Los Angeles who have been on fire this second half.

Arizona is now sitting six games over .500 with 34 games remaining. If they happen to go 17-17 in the remaining games, it will put them at 84 wins which seemed impossible before this season began.

All any fan could have asked is for their team to play meaningful baseball in September. To play the last month where games mattered and there was a chance, even if it was a small chance, of playing in the post season. If the Philadelphia Phillies taught us anything last year it is that once you get to the play-offs, any team can get hot and make it to the World Series.

It has been six years since Diamondbacks fans have been able to feel this way. I only hope this continues. It’s fun going to the ballpark thinking this might be the night that the team will do something extraordinary which will bring playoff baseball back to Chase Field.

To have people talking about the Diamondbacks positively this late in the season has been a joy that I will never take for granted again. It’s exciting to watch the out-of-town scoreboard for a change seeing whether your team’s chances for a playoff spot have gotten better or worse depending on other games being played. This is what we live for.