Brad Cesmat
If only Paul Sewald didn’t serve up a homerun ball to Corey Seager in Game One.
If only Christian Walker didn’t run through a stop sign(or his third base coach didn’t tackle him) in Game Three
If only the home plate umpire didn’t blow several calls in Game Three
If only Walker didn’t boot the ball in Game Four
If only someone, anyone, came up with a clutch hit in Game Five with ducks on the pond most of the night.
But they didn’t…
Texas did not look like the better team when the first two games were played in Arlington. But the Rangers turned in three clean performances on the Diamondbacks home turf. Texas didn’t lose a road game in the postseason. Simply amazing.
This group of Diamondbacks gave our little slice of heaven plenty to cheer about in 2023. After years of misery, we can now look at the corp and get excited for when the HomeTown Nine opens spring training in mid-February. Baseball season is no longer something to do from the end of the Suns playoffs till the Cardinals open training camp. Like every offseason, there will be big decisions about who stays and who goes. That’s how sports works.
I hope you enjoyed this run. There are no guarantees in sports. I remember after the 2001 World Series, the narrative was that it was the start of an extended run. Well, it wasn’t. By 2004, Bob Brenly was fired as manager. Jerry Colangelo was forced out of ownership, and the team colors turned from purple and teal to Sedona Red in the blink of an eye. So, while I do think that this is the start of a stretch of winning, that doesn’t mean the World Series will be coming back anytime soon.
There will be plenty of talk about the current ballpark and renovation in the coming weeks. But there won’t be much, shouldn’t be much, discussion on how to build a team for big success. That has already happened…
If only…
