The Diamondbacks Didn’t Exist. Then They Won the World Series. | Baseball Bits

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The 2001 Diamondbacks are the fastest expansion franchise to ever win the World Series. How did they do it? Let’s take a look back at the 1997 MLB expansion draft first. This was the Devil Rays Diamondbacks expansion draft. Believe it or not, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays outdrafted them that day, but the Arizona Diamondbacks quickly closed the gap.

Some notable names acquired in that Arizona Diamondbacks expansion draft included Omar Daal, Brian Anderson, and Damian Miller. They soon acquired players like Jay Bell, Chuck Finley, and of course, The Big Unit Randy Johnson via free agency. Finally, they rounded out their World Series winning core by trading for players like Luis Gonzalez and Curt Schilling.

Come with me on this journey from the 1997 Expansion Draft to the 2001 World Series in this episode of Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production.

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Kerry Robinson’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@kerrykrobinson0
Zach Buchanan on the Travis Lee signing: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1731393/2020/04/16/travis-lees-1996-draft-saga-and-how-an-amateurs-true-value-was-briefly-exposed/
Randy Johnson photography: https://rj51photos.com/
Curt Schilling on ABC News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5_7uuSne7c

Soundtrack from Maxo:

https://maxo.bandcamp.com/

43 comments

  3. You are brave but incredibly correct about Kingdoms of Amalur being a pretty decent game even though Schilling is a piece of shit and his studio was a fucking mess.

  4. I love video essays, especially on films. But the ones that Foolish makes not only make the game more enjoyable, but they balance humor, facts and entertainment really well.

  14. Fun fact: One of the broadcasters effectively predicted Luis Gonzalez's hit when he noted that the Yankees had pulled the infield in, and that Riviera induced a lot of bloopers into the shallow outfield off lefties.

  19. My dad lived the last 30 years of his life in Tucson and consumed any AZ sports but really loved his D backs. He had season tickets from the start and got to witness all of this. I went to several games with him and am always grateful for those memories.

  37. Throwing slower actually increases your odds to hit the bird as there is a less tight window for it to fly in the path, so I would say the odds are decent!

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