PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Looking back on the Diamondbacks' top 10 moments of 2023

Episode Date: December 31, 2023

The emergence of Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte returning to form, and Christian Walker hitting dingers. The Arizona Diamondbacks took the MLB by storm in 2023 and made a lot of memories along the way. What stood out to most D-backs fans?An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Schedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See EmpireToday.com/PHNX for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head on over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find out where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. WYNK Seltzer + THC: Go to https://drinkwynk.com/ and use promo code “PHNX” for 50% off. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome in to today's edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast, a special Saturday show here on the PHNXDBax podcast. We're working overtime this week. And here to work overtime with us is the one, the only Mr. Electric, Sean DePaz, making his triumphant return to the podcast. Sean, it's good to see you. We miss you around here. Good to see you too, Jesse. That music, I was going to say is music to my ears, but I literally

was music by yours. It was just nice to hear the music again. So for those who don't know, Sean joined the Dark Side and now is producing a hockey show for All City called What Chaos. I will be fully up front and say that I'm not a huge hockey person. So I couldn't tell you much about what Sean does on an everyday basis. But everything I've heard is very positive. It seems like things are going great. Sean is now stationed out in Boston doing that full time. Sean, what is, what is Boston like? Like, it's cold and miserable this time of year, right?

It's cold and dark. It's 450 as we speak, and it is dark like it is 9 p.m. I don't like that. Yeah, it's definitely different, but I like it. It feels like home. I've eaten about like 23 different chicken parms in the two months that I've lived here. So I'm enjoying it for sure. It's definitely a change of pace from Phoenix, though.

That's for sure. Is that like Boston cuisine, chicken parm? Is that the thing? Yeah, yeah. Just like pizza shops everywhere. Or like you just get subs and pizza and stuff like that. Like there's just pizza shops everywhere and all of them have chicken parms. And I just, I don't know, I love chicken.

I love chicken parms. So I've been eating a bunch of those big bombs. Those go crazy too. There's this one sandwich I got that's like a chicken parm with pursuit. do on it and it's probably the best thing I've eaten since I've gotten to Boston. The food out here is pretty good. It's different than Phoenix food for sure, but it's pretty good. Sounds pretty amazing. I must say I'm a little disappointed. It doesn't really sound like you've picked up any kind of Boston accent at this point, which I was really counting on. I can start going over my

R's if you need me to. The Haba. I left my cockies and my khakis. Is that I mean, that's a that's a real thing, right? I've never been to Boston. I've always wanted to go. But that's like the most appealing part of it to me is just watching. Yeah. Hearing people talk like that. It's crazy. It's not like everybody, right? It's not like you went,

you've gone to like England and everyone has an act. But like you definitely like I go to the grocery store. I just, I did it as like I did the grocery store. Like you go to the grocery store and like I go to get like deli meat and like they just like there'll be like three guys behind the counter talking about Mac Jones and the Patriots and how Bill Belichick isn't getting the job done. It's like you dropped into a different world for sure. It sneaks up on you and you're like, ah, I forgot people talk like that.

Yeah, one of my favorite Super Bowl commercials ever. I don't know if you guys remember this. I know. I already know what you're talking about. The smart pot commercial for like a couple of years ago. I don't, I'm not a huge like Super Bowl commercials guy necessarily, but I was in college at the time and we were like playing that on the screen like over and over again. Some days, like, I would be having a bad day and I'd just like Google the smart pot commercial. It would just make me feel better.

It's, there's something about the Boston accent. It just, I don't know. What is that not surprise me about you, Jesse? I don't know. I'm very strange like that. It was a, it was an amazing commercial with some pretty legendary actors and actresses and big poppy, which is also a course of a fun surprise. Bad Affleck, John Krasinski. Yep.

And I forget the woman's name. That was in the actual car. But yeah. it's uh that's that's an all yeah no people out here definitely definitely talk like that uh like i said it's not everybody so it's it's like it's kind of rare enough that it surprises you every time you hear it and also like let's be real i think there's kind of a stereotype of what people in boston look like and then you see someone who doesn't fit that stereotype and then they just they they have that accent you're like oh my god i was expect you to talk like that well so last time

you were on the PHNXD back show Sean we were trying to figure this out we think it was some sometime during the NLCS uh with diamond backs where they were cruising along they had made the playoffs you of course were a part of our show from some point in the summer some point during the middle of the season uh you me and Derek those are the good old days um and then yeah diamondbacks find their way into the post season uh they certainly made waves once they got there sweeping the the brewers and in what wound up being a two game series sweeping the dodgers and one of the greatest things that's happened in the diamondbacks history as far as I'm concerned we're going to get into that a little bit later um but yeah i mean i i felt really bad for you at the time

because it was like like here we are sean's been a part of this thing throughout most of the year and then the diamond backs are on the brink of the world series and it's like all right yeah sean has to go do something else now um but obviously the diamondbacks did find their way to the world series the results once they got there not great uh you know they they wind up losing the series four games to one, even though they held their own in a lot of those games. The one game that they did win was, you know, in convincing fashion. I think it was a 10-1 final score. So they didn't embarrass themselves by any means, but didn't play as well as I'm sure they were hoping to. I'm just curious for you, like looking back on all this and, you know, the life you used to have

here in Arizona. I'm sure you're still following the Diamondbacks from afar. But how did it kind to sit with you like as the playoffs was happening and watching the world series and all that after you left it was very odd because obviously i was going through like a pretty significant life change at the moment too i was moving across the country and i was i ultimately ended up watching the world series like alone in my hotel room which was obviously a pretty different what i had been doing throughout most of the playoffs um so it was it was like weird because i was distracted so it like didn't hurt that much, but at the same time, like, everything was numb. Like, it was happening and I was just like, uh, uh, uh, yeah, and, and it's over.

Like, it just kind of, it just kind of happened without much fanfare at the end. And it felt like. And so I was just like, damn, that was fun. I really wish I was in Phoenix. Like, it was obviously one of those things where you feel like if I had, like, I hadn't left, maybe things would be different. Not like I had anything to do with it, obviously, but it just felt like I left the energy changed and I was just it was over from that moment even though obviously they won the NLs

CS after I left but like it was uh it was just such a different experience like like and I know you know we talk about like pH and X making it more fun to be a fan and everything like that like when you when you're watching this whole season and everything going on as a part of the pH next community and then you get ripped out of it like it does it has a very different vibe to watching the playoffs watching the Diamondbacks so it obviously it wasn't that fun. It wasn't as much fun as I had been having up until that point. But ultimately, I was able to, you know, kind of sit there and reflect on how awesome the ride was in the end. I mean, it sounds like you're just taking responsibility that, you know, the reason

the diamond, the reason it kind of fell apart was because Sean DePaul's left town. I don't know what other explanation to give, right? If that has how it has to be, I'll take it because ultimately that means I was responsible for their success up to that point. That's a, uh, a, uh, a feather of my app for sure. Well, we're going to, this is a really, a really fun show that we have planned. I've been looking forward to doing this for a long time. We're going to, as the headline reads, we are going to try to look back on this 2023 Diamondback season and construct a list of the top 10 moments of the year.

This was incredibly difficult. Me and Sean kind of worked together to try to piece this together. It felt like the impossible task. Almost all of the top 10 moments are postseason moments. Like there were so many, you know, big moments during the regular season as well. but a lot of those things didn't really make the cut. Once you go to the World Series. You're telling me that Lurdas building a sandcastle was not a top time moment.

That was up there. That might be an honorable mention. But yeah, I mean, when you go as deep as you did in the postseason, obviously, those are going to be the biggest moments that people are going to remember for a long time. But before we get into that, Sean, I do want to ask you about this Diamondback's off season so far. It's kind of your perspective from afar on the moves that have been made. a pretty decent amount it's been done so far, at least relative to some other teams that haven't really done much of anything. Like your Boston Red Sox are in an interesting situation.

Alex Verdugo out, Tyler O'Neill in. I'm not sure I really understand what's going on over there. The vibe around the Boston Red Sox in Boston is not a very good one. It is very much that do something stick meme. Like at this point you have people begging for literally anything. other than trading one of the fan favorites to your mortal enemy. Yeah. Not great. Obviously didn't make many, they missed out on all of the potential big moves. Yeah.

So it's not fun. Things definitely look much nicer in Arizona. Yeah, I mean, I guess there's still a window of opportunity here. I mean, there's Blake Snells still out there. Jordan Montgomery is still out there. I mean, the reporting that's been done makes it sound like the Red Sox are not really. interested in spending all that much, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Obviously, being in the ALEs, doesn't. Being in the ALE East, like, I mean, it kind of looks like they're

gunning for last place again. It's just kind of the reality of the situation, even though their roster's not terrible by any means. But yeah, here in Arizona, the diamondbacks go out. They get A. Oh, Hennio Suarez in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, a guy who really didn't cost them much of anything in terms of trade capital, Carlos Vargas, Sebi Zavala, going over to Seattle. essentially a salary dump of sorts for the Mariners, gets the debacks a third basement that they sorely needed. Dbacks shoot a little higher in the starting pitching market than at least I anticipated bringing in Eduardo Rodriguez. Kind of curious what you have to say about him as a guy you're probably familiar with out being a Red Sox fan. And then more recently, the Diamondbacks bring back

Lordus Corail Jr. Yeah, I mean, the Lordus one was nice because I wasn't really expecting it. like for honestly if you had asked me before the postseason what was more likely them signing erod or re-signing lordis like erod always just kind of felt like a diving back to me lordis seemed very much in the air so that's nice to have him back having that continuity as far as erod is concerned like it is it seems very much like a double-edged short he's a guy that's had a very interesting career path and yeah and all that stuff and has had injury problems but also we've seeing that he could be a pretty amazing pitcher if he if everything is going right for him and obviously with the way this team set up right now you're not necessarily asking him to be your one or

two he can be your three depending on how fought is maybe even your four so like it is a very exciting move for baseball reasons and also just like I think the signal it sends that they are clearly they're they're trying to win world series is plural like they they weren't I was looking at a Twitter thread earlier are people calling the Diamondbacks run a fluke. And it's like, you can say that if you want. The roster is a pretty good roster, whether you like it or not. But they are clearly improving it, even swore. It's very nice.

And also the feeling that, like, they're not done. There's hopefully more for them to do. Especially when you're in my situation, when you're sitting in a city like Boston and listening to how people are talking about this team, a big market team and owner with a lot of money, he owns one of the biggest soccer clubs in the entire. world but apparently doesn't have enough money for his baseball team uh like it is it's pretty awesome to look at the downback to be like that's a team that is like if you're a sports fan that's how you want your team to operate you want to have that little bit of success and then then to go for it the owner to

spend money even if it's a quote unquote small market team like it is like this off season is like all the rewarding parts of being a a a fan of a team like this um and so it's it's really encouraging because I think they're undoubtedly a better baseball team, a very good baseball team. The expectation, I think, is going to be obviously higher than what it was last year. I don't necessarily think that it's, I mean, it's World Series or bust? Honestly, no, at this point. And so it's like, it's a fun, exciting time to be Diamondbacks fan. And like I said, hopefully they're not done yet.

Do you really think it's World Series or Bus? Like, we had this conversation a couple weeks ago. I think you have to get back to the postseason. that seems to be a consensus for everyone. But once you get to the playoffs, I mean, 2023 is Exhibit A, anything can happen. Like, if you can get dropped in the first, if you can get swept in the first round with the Dodgers roster, then, you know, with the Diamondbacks roster, who's to say what happens, you know, once you get in?

I mean, it's World Series or Bus in the sense that, like, there's nowhere to go back. Like, there are, there's nowhere to move forward in the sense that you obviously were other than that, yeah, than winning the World Series, right? And like, they're not putting this roster together to make a wild card again and then maybe win a wild card series. Like they're obviously, they're putting this roster together to try to get back and then this time win the World Series. And so obviously, yeah, you get to the playoffs, anything's possible. But like, if you're the brew, if the Diamondbacks this year are the Brewers last year, then I think the season is a failure.

Like they won their division. Or no, they didn't win the division. Yeah, they won. Yeah, I mean, it's not a great division. But they won the division and then they got swept in the wild card. Like that is not a successful season for the Diamondbacks this year. Like if you get if you get back to where you were last year in a situation with the Dodgers and you end up losing to them, like, okay, that's not necessarily. Obviously it's a failure of the season because he didn't win, but it's like this is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This is the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers. The greatest professional sports team never be assembled apparently. Like that is what it is. But I definitely think that, like, in the minds, like, you're not going to hear from this organization what you heard the beginning or in the beginning of last season, the off season last year where it was like, hey, if we win 75 games, it's a good season. Like, that's not going to be the messaging. At least it better not be. I think the messaging is going to be this is a team trying to win a world series. Yeah, yeah, I think that's totally fair.

We're going to, we're going to jump in here into trying to put together this top 10 list, which again, totally impossible. You guys are probably going to hate some of the decisions we made. But no matter what, you're going to be hated in some ways if you do this. I'm convinced after trying to give it a shot. But before we get there, I want to tell everyone about our friends over at illegal Pete's. Sean, of course, can attest to illegal Pete's and the days of having illegal peats in the office and how great those days were.

But chicken parm, Sean, but chicken parm. Okay, chicken parm was great, but you're not getting illegal peats up here. Like, it's, it's, you can get chicken parm anywhere. You can't get illegal peats anywhere. That's a man of business for you. I think they do have illegal Pets in several other states, if I'm not mistaken. I don't think. I'm assuming illegal pizza is not in Massachusetts.

Yeah, it's probably, yeah, that'd be pretty far to go. It is in Colorado. They've got Cains out here randomly, though. Oh. That's lit though. Get a legal pizza out here. Anyways, Pete's needs to be out there just for Sean. Illegal Pete does.

We're going to have to get on that. You know how it would eat on all these college campuses they have out here? Like Berkeley? That's just that. Why not? be UBC getting illegal Pete out here dog yeah there's like you specifically get it out here there's like 800 college campuses in Boston as far as I'm concerned

so yeah I mean it feels like illegal Pete's that would just be an easy win for them but yes whether you are shopping for a marguerita maniac or a caseo connoisseur legal peats is your one-stop shop to spread the cheer grab $100 in a legal pizza gift cards to get an extra $25 gift card for free if you're looking for some fun belated stocking stuffers You can check out their holiday merch sale as well. All of their T-shirts are just $15 through the end of the year. So be sure to take advantage of that.

Of course, we always would love for you guys to become PHNX die-hardt here at PHNX as well. Lots of exclusive content available. All of the best writing that we produce. You know, a lot of the stuff is out there, but we also keep some behind the paywall. You can get writing from myself from Craig Morgan covering the coyotes, Gerald Borgay with the Sons and so much more. So that's worth it for that. all by itself, but beyond that, you also get a free t-shirt every year from the

PHNX locker. You also get 20% off all events here at PHNX. That includes all of our takeovers that we have planned next year. Sean, I don't know if you heard, but we are planning an outing at the swimming pool at Chase Field next year. You might have to make a trip back for that. I don't know. I might have to. I don't know when exactly it is because my birthday is in the summer. I think it's July 31st. I don't know if you if you know what that is, Jacob. July 15th is my birthday. Sounds like a birthday trip waiting to happen.

I have to make a birthday trip. Yeah, just come up for the whole month of July. I'm expecting you, Jesse, to come out to Boston when the Diamondbacks are here. The D-backs are at Fenway Park. Yeah, when is that? Do you know when that series is? End of August, I believe. I was talking to Damon about it the other day.

Tickets to Red Sox game. surprisingly not that expensive. I guess that's a function of where the team is at right now. Them being bad. I just figured a small stadium like that and it being the Boston Red Sox, like it was always going to be expensive like Celtics games are. You can get day two against the Orioles, $14 tickets. Wow.

Like on game time, obviously. On game time, of course. Of course. Like I, so you might have to come out, maybe enjoy it as a fan. a little Fenway Frank. I've never, I've never been to Fenway Park. I've,

you know, I've certainly knocked some stadiums off over the course of this past season, but Fenway is a place I've never been and have always, always wanted to go. I haven't been to Rigley or Dodger Stadium. I haven't been to Dodger Stadium?

That's like, I never got to Dodger Stadium. Wow. Okay. But like I've been to the New Yankee Stadium, the Yankee Stadium sucks. Like, Fenway Park. So does Dodger Stadium.

I've heard, but Fenway Park is a magical, magical place. Like, it feels like you are, you've gone back in time. It's unbelievable. Well, you come to us in July. We'll come to you in August. We'll find a way. We'll find a way to make this work. But yeah, all that to say, you should become a pH and X diehard because it will save you

money on all sorts of things. And then, who knows, maybe you have a little left over to hop over on the game time app and buy yourself some Fenway Park tickets. you know, take a little summer trip along with the PHNX crew. But yeah, with that, let's go ahead and attempt this impossible task of going through and looking back on this magical 2023 season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think that's pretty much the only way I can come up with to describe what happened this year. It's not like they won 100 games.

They won 84, but it's amazing how far they were able to go given where they started. We're going to start at the very bottom and then kind of work our way up. over the course of the season. We have a couple of honorable mentions here, so we'll start with that. We could have had like 24 honorable mentions, but we kind of went and narrow it down to two. But the first honorable mention that I want to bring up is the All-Star Game.

The Diamondbacks had four representatives this year. It's been quite a while since they were represented so well in the All-Star game. And for me, Sean, like all these guys kind of have cool stories in and of themselves. Haraldo Pardomo, not a guy that I think a lot of people saw making an all-star All-Star team and the fact that he was able to do that at age 23. Corbyn Carroll, obviously, the homecoming narrative, that was like a big story the whole time. I was there and got to see him being flooded with reporters nonstop the entire time that he was in Seattle.

Zach Gallin starting the game, what an honor that was. And then Lordus Gurriel Jr. hitting a foul home run. Well, hitting a home run that was eventually ruled foul upon replay review. That was a fascinating, a fascinating moment in the All-Star game. as well. Yeah, and then proceeding to be like one of the worst baseball players in the league in the months after the all-star game. Like that's also part of why it was crazy is that like, it almost kind of maybe reevaluate all-star games because it was kind of at that moment where I was

like, wait a second, we're giving these people awards that show up on like Hall of Fame plaques for half a season of baseball. Seems a little weird to me, but whatever. But yeah, no, I mean, it was a pretty awesome moment. Like that was, I think that was a moment, for Diamondbacks fans who are like, like, oh, like we're here. Like people are forced to acknowledge the Arizona Diamondbacks. And I think that's the thing just for Arizona fans in general, right, is you often get ignored by the national media and you couldn't really when one of your players was starting the all-star game.

One of your players was the best rookie in baseball getting to play in an all-star game in his rookie year. Yeah, starting too. He was his starting out. Exactly. And then Geraldo Perdomo, who I think his being there just kind of pissed other fans. off because they're like, who the fuck is this kid? And that made me happy.

And then Lordus Gurriel, just showing that Diamondbacks will forever have won. I don't care what the numbers say with defensive replacement. They've won that trade with the Toronto Blue Jays and having him immediately make an All-Star game. Like, that was awesome. It was, yeah, it was just a great moment, I think,

especially halfway through the season for the Diamondbacks to get acknowledged because they weren't one of the better teams in baseball until that point. So it was the first half of the season was like a lot of fun. Obviously not close to the fun we had in the postseason, but it was pretty cool. Yeah, that was kind of like as the wheels were falling off for the debacks. Like they were they were like, things weren't looking great on the field leading up to the All Star break. That was viewed as kind of like the, all right, everyone step away, you know, get some time with your family, come back and hopefully things will look better. They didn't for about three weeks.

It continued to be very rough. But yeah, unbelievable, just those couple days in see. Seattle getting to be there and cover it myself was one of my favorite things that I've ever done in my career here in this field. So tons of memories made there in Seattle for sure. Another honorable mention that I want to bring up is Corbyn Carroll reaching 25 home runs and 50 stolen bases, becoming the first rookie in ALNL history to accomplish that feat. Just, I mean, what can you really say about the rookie season that Corbyn Carroll had? for him to do it in this way, Sean,

in a pretty important game against San Francisco Giants, stealing two bases in this game, getting from, he was at 24 homers and 48 stolen bases going into this game. He ended the game with 25 and 50. He got the two stolen bases, I think in like the first few innings. And one of his later at bats in the game,

he hits a solo home run for that 50th thing. Of all the ways to do it, like of all the ways to make history like that. It was a pretty remarkable way of doing it. Yeah. I mean, like you said when we started this, like it, the fact that this isn't in the top 10. Yeah, it's not in the top 10. Like there's just so much.

And I mean, even just having these conversations, there's so many other like little moments I can think of as being important moments like trading for policy while at the deadline. Kevin Ginkle laughing like a maniac. Like there was a lot of fun things that happened this year that could have ended up in this list if they hadn't gone to the World Series. But, yeah, I mean, Corbyn, he, like, I think this is just kind of a symbolic of him just being the best rookie in baseball, him being a one-of-a-kind generational talent. Like, it is him accomplishing what in and of itself is an amazing feat in such an amazing way, like you mentioned, with the two stolen bases and the home run. It is just, I think, like I said, symbolic of the fact that Corbyn is a pretty special person. like it's pretty special talent and he's an Arizona Diamondback. So this whole season in general,

like he the rookie of the year was an Arizona Diamondback. It was it was awesome to watch Corvin Carroll. Yeah, yeah, that game was just like the, it just brought it all together. Like yes, Corvin Carroll is awesome. And yes, of course, you know, when he's one, one homer and two stolen bases away,

of course he's going to get them all in the same game. I think, I think on one of those stolen bases, Patrick Bailey threw the ball into center field. He wound up getting really an extra base there. So, yeah, and still a very important game for the Diamondbacks. Obviously, this happened toward the end of the season. All of the games they were playing, especially against the Giants who were still in the mix there for a while.

All of that, all of that was really important. But all right, now we're going to get to the actual top 10. Those moments, I mean, those barely made the list. Barely even move the needle. Do not downplay those, Jesse. Those are some pretty incredible moments. Number 10, Sean, at least what I have. We kind of work together on this for the most part.

Zach Gallen threw a complete game shutout against the Chicago Cubs. At a time when he was not throwing the ball particularly well at all, Gallen was really struggling toward the end of the season. But he goes into Wrigley Field, a really, really important series for the Diamondbacks at the time. All of their games against the Cubs happened in September. And at the beginning, near the beginning of the month, the Cubs were so far ahead of the Diamondbacks. it didn't really look like reaching them or moving past them was a realistic goal.

But the series that they had in Wrigley Field and then coming back to Arizona and kind of taking it to the Cubs once again, it was huge. And in that game, James and Tyone was outstanding. This was not a game that DeBacks won like 14 to 1. This was Zach Gallen taking matters into his own hands and throwing the first nine inning shut out of his career. Yeah, I mean, that was a moment where like you watched it and you like in the moment, you could have said that this was going to end up in the top 10 moments of the year. Like, and when you,

all the context that you laid out, him not pitching well, him having a track record of not pitching well on the road at all that season. That's true. Obviously going into Wrigley in a, was that a nationally televised game too? If I remember correctly. Like it,

I feel it might have been. I don't, I don't remember. There were eyes. There were more eyes than normal for sure. It was a very big game. Like, all of the different layers of context that,

or around this game and then for him to come in there and pitch a shutout. It was in the moment it was like, oh my God, we needed this and they did it. I felt like, especially in the second half of the season, there were so many moments

where you were looking for the Niambacks to do something and they wouldn't. And you needed something huge from them in this situation. And I don't think anyone was going into that expecting a performance like that, from Zach Gallon and for him to deliver like that was massive obviously yeah it was huge uh yeah this was on september 8th uh so still a few weeks away from the end of the season the debacks were basically already playing playoff games at that point every game had so much importance and the final

score of this game was one to nothing so it was like if ever a starting pitcher can win you a game this was that gallon winning the diamond backs a very pivotal game all by himself one of one of the greatest moments of the season for sure. And just a lot of fun to watch. You obviously don't see complete games all that often at this stage in the majors. And seeing Zach Gallen able to pull that off was really remarkable. All right. But that's still, we got nine moments better than that.

Now on still, that's still borderline irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Number nine, this was, I think a lot of these things could go in any order. But the first inning against Clayton Kershaw in the N. NLDS, had to make the list for me. This was the beginning of the season. This was like the first five or ten minutes of the NLDS. And the Diamondbacks made a statement against, yes, a pitcher who does not have a great postseason reputation, but still a pitcher who is very much favored against the Diamondbacks

in that game pitching for a team very much favored against the Diamondbacks in that series. And they changed the narrative very quickly. Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any Diamondbacks fan that, told you they were going into that, like not a little bit nervous, was lying to you. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers. And this could have just as easily been a game where Clayton Kershaw changed the narrative. But it wasn't.

And it happened so fast that I felt like you kind of, you were just sitting there being like, oh, my, oh, my, oh, my God. Oh, this is happening. Like, it was, it just kind of smacked you in the face being like, oh, we're the arrows in the Diamondbacks. we don't care who you are we're coming or kicking ass we're taking names and like it was it was genuinely one of the more shocking moments of the season in all the right ways like it it caught everyone off guard and i think it was at that moment we were like oh this this might be different like this

might not be a Cinderella run that ends in the n lDS like oh you sweat the brewers cool but now you have to go up against the Dodgers in going to Dodgers stadium like at the narrative I think for a lot of people was playing with house money like it yeah everyone wanted to win but you knew also that if this is where it ended the season was a massive success um but they smacked that right out of everybody and they smacked it out of Clayton Kirshall that's for sure um and it was a lot it was a lot of it was a lot of fun like you could argue that this is the number one moment because of the fact that it was just embarrassing the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that is always fun. But again, there was just so many amazing moments in this postseason that it's all kind of

interchangeable. The look on Kershaw's face was worth about a million pounds. I mean, the photo of him with his hands on his knees. It's just, and getting to text every Dodgers fan, you know, like, and just being like, look at what you're doing. Look at, no, no, look at what we're doing to you and everyone's watching. it's awesome like you spend all and that's why that's why like go sign show hey otani go sign yoshinaubu yamomoto like go do it's terrified go do it you're scared the diamond the arizona diamond back scared you

into spending a billion dollars on a on a dh and a guy who was never pitched in major league baseball like and i and i have tweeted it out like the yoshi signing is i think what scared me the most because that he's pretty good at baseball but like it's uh it's a lot of uncertainty You spent $700 million on a guy who is not going to be able to pitch for at least a year and another guy, like I said, who was never pitched in Major League Baseball, all because of what the Arizona Diamondbacks did to you and the NLDS. It's pretty awesome. It's really fun to know. And they can win all you want.

Go go ahead win now. You're never going to take back what the Diamondbacks did to you in Dodger Stadium. Yeah. And it just, it wasn't that the Diamondbacks won game one. it was that the Diamondbacks really embarrassed the Dodgers in that game, right? And especially in those first few minutes, just looking at the game log of how this inning transpired, it was a Catelle Marte double, which shout out to James Outman.

Clayton Kershaw wasn't the only one to blame. James Outman probably should have made this catch. Corbett Carroll singles him home. I think it was like a ground ball up the middle. Tommy Fam, then singles, first and second, nobody out, one run in. Christian Walker hits a RBI double. That gets the Diamondbacks a couple of runs. And then Gabriel Moreno with one of the biggest bat flips in Diamondbacks history,

his bat flips just seemed to escalate as the postseason went on. He blew the game open and made it five to nothing. And then Evan Longoria gets in on the action later in the inning doubles home a run. The Diamondbacks put a sick spot on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw. And Kershaw did not make it out of the inning. It was two thirds of an inning from Clayton Kershaw. in game one of the NLDS. And that, it very much set the tone for a series in which the Los Angeles Dodgers

did not have a lead the entire way, which still boggles my mind to this day. The Diamondbacks played a three games series against the Dodgers, two of those games in L.A. and the Dodgers never had a lead the entire time. Yeah. And they started like starting the season in L.A. Kind of getting, if I remember correctly, kind of getting their ass kicked in game one. Like that was a very odd series. If I remember correctly, where they split the series.

but the two games that they won were super close and the two games they lost, they got their ass kick, so it was, number's really on it. So to come kind of full circle and be like, ah, fuck you, we're going to be there. Like,

it was, it was really cool. And you mentioned to Evan Longoria, like made me just think of another honorable mention, like him in game one of the NL, or of the wild card against the, yeah, just turning back the clock and just being like,

rookie of the year, Evan Longoria, defensively, too. Like, it was, that was just crazy. And that's another thing about this ranking. Like, I feel like it's just going to bring, remind you of all these other things that happened, like little things that happened in the games too, just like Gabby's bat flips.

Like that alone, Gabby being Gabby is a moment in and of itself. Like the arrival of Gabrielle Moreno. Sure. But like, there's just, it was so fun. It was so much fun. Well, it wasn't, the postseason wasn't just the arrival of Gabriel Moreno. It's also the. rival of Diamondbacks manager, Tori Lavello, as one of the more iconic speech artists,

a clubhouse speech artist in Arizona sports history. This, of course, was not something that happened on the field. We kind of went back and forth on where exactly this should go, but it did feel just how iconic some of the words that he spoke here have become, how much of a rallying cry some of this became throughout the Diamondbacks postseason run. This speech, which we're about to play once again. again from Tori Lavello is number eight on our list. Are you fucking kidding me?

Listen, this is part of the journey. We're not there yet. Let's enjoy it. Let's embrace it. Let's fucking party. And the connected team is a fucking dangerous team. We are fucking dangerous. Let's fucking party.

There is so much about that. Like the fact that he just was like clearly talking before he thought about what he was saying, Like it was just, he's just kind of just like, and also a connected team is a let's party. Like him just screaming, let's party at the end. Like a frat boy was hilarious to me. Like the whole thing was absolutely chaotic in the best way. And like you said, like so much of it. A connected team was a fucking dangerous team.

Like that was a rallying cry. Yeah. It was awesome. I think that moment was another moment where it was just emblematic of a lot of what you saw this season, which was just Tori really being like an emotional leader for this team and just kind of being one of the guys in a way not a lot of managers can be. And it was clearly why this team was so much more successful than they probably should have been, I guess, because of Tori and who he was and the emotion he provided this team. And so just to see that like that in that moment when the emotions of all the fans were running so high too, it was like, it was a spark. and I think it just kind of launched what was the Diamondbacks playoff run into like a whole other

stratosphere. Yeah, it is funny. Like he does kind of pause there. You can tell, I mean, this is a poor Tori Lavello. Like what, I mean, what does this guy bend through like over the last couple games? They were back to back. This is after the wild card series, I should say. Diamondbacks win both of these games and comeback fashion against the Brewers.

You know that Tori's mind, you know, what had happened to Gavis. Gabriel Moreno in game two. His status was still a little uncertain. The Diamondbacks had to turn to Jose Herrera. Tori Lavello had been through it, you know, over the course of the last 24, 48 hours. And then he has to like get up there and give this speech. Yeah, you can tell there's a moment where it's like, what am I saying next? And then the words that came out of his mouth, you know, wound up being a rallying cry for the team.

And also wound up on a t-shirt that you can get over at the PHNX Locker, which a shout out to that. you should you should all hit that up if you haven't already um when i when i sent the list to you originally like my first thought um you you had one criticism which was that brandon fought's postseason experience or postseason performance had to be in there somehow um we have that at number seven that was a very wise suggestion on your part uh brandon fought was very good throughout the entire postseason run we talked on the show a couple weeks ago about his ascension and kind of what it means for the Diamondbacks moving forward. I don't think we have it today, Sean,

but you would probably love it. We made like a postseason version of Fott's baseball savant page. And his chase and whiff rates were both like near the 100th percentile. If you just look at the postseason, you was just getting all kinds of swing and miss in a way that we had never seen from him. Or like in a way that we didn't see from Josh Hater during the regular season, like he was that good at generating swing and miss in the plus. in the playoffs.

And there were a number of good moments for him. But I settled on his performance in game three of the NLCS with the Diamondbacks down two games to none in that series. It was a rough go in Philadelphia. D-backs lose game one. They lose game two in even more dramatic fashion. Brandon Fogg goes out there and delivers not just an outstanding performance, but five and two-thirds innings with no runs,

nine strikeouts in that game. Probably the best game that Brandon Fott has ever pitched in his life and it really could not have come at a better time. Yeah. I mean, not just one of the best games he's pitched. It's one of the best games a rookie has ever pitched in the postseason, full stop. I believe he's the first rookie to ever pitch had to have nine plus strikeouts in a playoff game.

Like it was, it was an incredible performance. And again, this is one of those moments where on its face, it's amazing. But when you add the context of like the whole narrative going in late into the regular season was like, okay, you got Merrill, it got Gallin. and even at parts and then what? The gallon was kind of a question mark and then it was yeah and then it was and there was

times where we were talking about is Zach Davies the best option at number three and he didn't even make it through the entire regular season on the roster like it was a massive massive question mark and then again like you said losing the first two in Philadelphia knowing that not now do you not just have to win

these games but you also are going to if you want to accomplish what you want to accomplish you're going to have to go back to Philadelphia and try and win games there after what had happened in the first two games. Like there was obviously, their backs were against the wall. And Brandon Fott showed up in the biggest way possible. And I don't think you could have expected it. And obviously, you know, there's lots of players, like we talked about Clayton

Kershaw, who it doesn't matter, arguably the greatest pitcher of all time. Can't do it in the postseason. But Brandon Fott did not shrink in the moment. In fact, he showed up in the biggest way possible. And so now going into this next season, it, like that, again, huge for the postseason, but I think it reshapes how you look at this Diamondback's team because like I mentioned earlier with the Erod signing,

like you're now in a situation where Erod is your number three, and if Brandon Fott is pitching like he did in this postseason, and then Erod maybe is your number four, and that's you go from having this time last year a really, a giant question mark for a starting pitching rotation to now having one of the best one through fours in all of baseball. That only happens if Brandon Fott is pitching the way we now know he can pitch because he did it in the biggest stage of his life. My favorite part of this game for Brandon Fott was that Tori Lavello after the fact said that he was booing himself when he went out to remove Brandon Fought.

Brandon Fought managed to go five and two thirds innings while also not facing anyone for the third time, which is very difficult to do. Five and two-thirds innings means you're getting 17 outs, and two times through the lineup is 18 hitters. So Brandon fought one out and retired 17 out of 18 hitters and was still removed from the game, not given the opportunity for the lineup to turn over. This was a close game, and it was a game that Diamondbacks absolutely needed to win.

You can sort of understand why they did this. But yeah, for Brandon fought under those constraints to deliver five and two-thirds and pitch the way he did and really put the Diamondbacks on his back. was really remarkable. Yeah, and it was big, like you mentioned, for Tori. Like, Tori could have kind of fucked everything up there. Like, he had a guy who was one, and he, I think a number of occasions during the postseason

show that he did what was probably not going to be on its face the popular decision, but ultimately ended up being the right one. And it, like, I think this, obviously this game being kind of just a symbol for all of Brandon Foss postseason performance. Like, I think it's the same for Tori. And that obviously he didn't have much of a choice but to turn the ball over to Brandon Fott in that situation. But no one would have questioned him

if he let Brandon Fott continue pitching, but he didn't. He would have taken the full force of, had he made the decision to let him keep pitching and had he given up runs, the people are going to do the same thing. They're going to say, hey, Tori left him in too long. Yeah.

And who knows? Yeah. Yeah, 100%. I do have the page. We do have the baseball savant page. Sean, this took, by the way, entirely too much work to put together. I'd like manually find each of these numbers and then like cross-reference. Find a player to cross-reference with to figure out exactly what percentile they would be in.

This took a little bit of work. But yes, as you can see here, there's some, it's not all red. You know, maybe people would have expected more red. The barrel percentage is all concerned. The barrel percentage is not great. There were barrel rate during, in this small of a sample size, doesn't mean a whole lot. But yeah, the chase and the whiff is really what stands out here. A strikeout rate that was really, really good, a walk rate that was still very good.

He wasn't just like pitching around guys. He was going after them. And he showed that his stuff can really can really play at the highest level. Yeah. I mean, that's just, that's beautiful to look at. All those, those, I mean, barrel number aside, like those big bright red numbers, that's the symbol of a pretty good pitcher. And again, like I said, if he's pitching like this in the regular season,

than the Diamondbacks rotation, assuming the other guys are doing their job, has suddenly become one of the best in all of baseball. And that's not something you would have ever expected, like I said, this time last year. Yeah, we'll see what it looks like. But yeah, I mean, Brandon Fogg clearly one of the biggest X factors for the team, a lot of reasons to be optimistic about him going into 2024. We also want to do, we'll get to number six. We'll take a break and do the top five.

We have one more before we do that. Number six on the list is Ketelmark. R-V-R-B-I single against Craig Kimberl, which is in the same game. This game three of the NLCS, it was a really a must-win game for the Diamondbacks. He can't go down 3-0. Brandon Fott set the table with his pitching performance, and then Ketel-Marte delivers what I believe was the first walk-off in Diamondbacks postseason history since Luis Gonzalez did a certain thing back in 2001.

One of the most memorable moments at the ballpark this season. And it was also beautiful because I guess this could be a top 10 moment. It could be like just getting to drink the tears of Phillies fans and breaking Phillies fans. Like the death of Craig Kimbril in that series ruined Phillies fans. They did not know how to handle it. And it made them question everything. And it was really beautiful. Like for them, I think it was important for them to win in such a bit like emotional way like this.

because like I mentioned, what they were going up against, they're back against the wall, like for them to have, like, that spark. And obviously, I think fans naturally, I mean, the team tweeted it out at the time, like this being their first walk-off since the big one, I think it was like another one of those moments for Diamondbacks fans that was just like, this team is not going to, like,

they're not dead till they're dead. Like, maybe they lost the first two, but like, hey, this team has been, the people have been counting this team out all year. Like, it's not over yet. And so it was, yeah, I think when you couple it with the thought outing, like it was, it was, it was the game that the team needed to have in that moment. And so it was another moment that was just a lot of fun.

And it wasn't Craig Kimbril's only slip up in the NLCS. We're going to, we're going to get to that here in a moment in our top five list. But before we do that, I want to take a quick break to everyone about Desert Financial. Desert Financial for more than 84 years has been Arizona's largest, most trusted local credit union, dedicated to creating exceptional experiences by giving back to the community and providing financial solutions that makes lives better. Look to Desert Financial for checking and savings accounts, mortgages, which is something that Derek took advantage of way back in the day, loans, credit cards, investment options, and more. We've got you covered on all those different fronts. join a credit union that is committed to giving back to the community and sharing success with its members. When you open a free checking account online, get $200 in bonuses.

You can get started by visiting desertfinancial.com slash 200. Sean, it's just $200 free dollars. I mean, what are we doing here? Put that towards the free agency pool, sign another bat. Yeah, there you go. $200 at J.D. Martinez. Like, that'll help, right? It would be the difference.

I mean, if you're JD Martinez, why not take $200 extra dollars and not have to play for the Los Angeles Angels? Makes no sense to me. If I'm JD Martinez, and if JD Martinez signs of the Los Angeles Angels, I'm already not wanting to watch baseball this year because of Los Angeles Dodgers, that would just, that would be another, like what, I just, I just, I feel so bad for Angels fans, man. I just, that's a whole other, that's a whole other story. Yeah, it's, uh, for as bad as being a Red Sox fan might be right now. Being an Angels fan, probably even worse than that. It makes trading away Moogie Betts look like peanuts. You lost the greatest player of all time.

The Red Sox were the only franchise before that could say that they had fucked up having the desk player of all time because they kind of did it twice. And now the angels are right there with them. They did it twice at the same time. Mike Trout, I could go, I can talk about the Angels, bro. I feel it's so bad for those fans. Well, Sean, I know there's not maybe a ton of sunshine in Boston this time of year, but I hope you have your shady rays for when the sun does come out again. The way the sun reflects off snow, it's blinding.

You need sunglasses even in the winter. Don't sleep. There you go. There you go. You heard it here first. Yeah, Shady rays. We love our friends over at Shady Rays. I love my shady rays.

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Now it's, now it's getting real. Number five, where you're going back to the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers for one of the rowdiest moments that I've ever witnessed to Chase Field, at least in my life. Not one, not two, not three, but four home runs. Five, kind of like four and a half. Yeah, four and a half. We'll get into that against. Zoll against Lanslund, of course, his issues with the gopher ball, well, documented during the regular season. But yeah, I mean, even up to O against the Dodgers, this happened in that game three. Everyone still knew that the Dodgers had the ability to come

back. They obviously were an extremely talented roster. You figured the mooky bets and Freddie Freeman were going to figure things out at some point. If you were the debacks, you wanted to just not give the Dodgers a chance to come back in that series. And the debacks in game three, just dramatic fashion the way that they did it. There wasn't a ton of offense in this game for them. But in one of those early, I want to say it was the third inning of this game, just taking it to Lance Lynn. I believe it was Geraldo Perdomo, who started it, Gabby Moreno, of course, he had sort of the most iconic part of this hitting a foul home run. And then, you know, having that ruled foul and then on the very next pitch hitting an actual

home run, Joe Mantonapply later in the postseason said that that was one of the coolest things he's ever seen on a baseball field. I know a lot of people, a lot of people feel that way about that Gabby Moreno moment. Yeah, no, that one, that was magic. I mean, that was one of the cooler things I've ever seen. watching the sport of baseball. Like it was amazing. Again, another one of those moments that is amazing on its face,

but when you add all the context around it, like it being against the Los Angeles Dodgers, being in the game three, and then having the home run get called off and then hitting one immediately, it was awesome. Like it was, and when you have watched the first two games of that series, I think at that moment, you couldn't tell Diamondback fans anything. Like they were,

for the best team in the world as far as the Diamondback fans were coming with them to come out there and punch him in the mouth again like that I think was just like oh I don't care what the Los Angeles Dodgers have done the last decade like we own you now it doesn't matter like you are property of the Arizona Diamondbacks we own you we own Clayton Kirschild we own Lance Lynn like this is the greatest team to ever exist the Dodgers are a joke it was I think it was chicken suit for the Diamondback fans soul they need to do that. They needed it. They needed that series.

They needed those games. And for it to kind of end like this, four straight home runs or four home runs and it was unreal. Yeah, four home runs and not quite four straight home runs. It was it was Perdomo. Catelle Marte hit the next one. And then it was Gabrielle Moreno doing his thing. And then Christian Walker capped it off with the fourth homer of the inning.

And Dave Roberts just sitting in the Dodgers dug out. As this happened, Lance Lynn, just a rough, rough inning. I believe the Diamondbacks won this game four to two, if I'm not mistaken. So I think this was the only, I want to say this was the only offense they had in the entire game. And there's not really a more dramatic way to score a more dramatic way to score than to hit four solo home runs in the same inning. So, yeah, Chase Field was incredibly loud. It was really a remarkable thing to witness in person in a moment that Diamondbacks fans will cherish for many, many years to. come, no doubt. Number four, now we're moving into the World Series, one of the greatest

performances by a Diamondback ever in the World Series. Merrill Kelly in game two, after a really, really rough game one against the Texas Rangers, the Diamondbacks were in position to win that game. They wind up, you know, the game is tied on a Corey Seeger home run. They lose an extra innings on a home run by Adoles Garcia. I'm feeling maybe a little. little bit down heading into game two. And Merrill Kelly delivered for the Diamondbacks. One of the one of the most impressive World Series starts you'll ever see. Seven innings, only one run allowed and no walks, nine strikeouts in this game.

Looking back at the highlights for this, it's interesting to me how many of the strikeouts were like just painted like four seamers and two seamers that were just like right on the edge. He was really toying with Rangers hitters throughout throughout this game. as we saw, I mean, the Rangers are really, really impressive offense. Doing it the way that the Merrill Kelly did was very impressive. Yeah, I mean, he was

the main save for a reason. He was the guy who were going into the postseason with the way that that Gallen was pitching. You were like, okay, we might only have one guy and it's Merrill Kelly. And obviously, Zach Gallen had his moments, whatever. But like, this was

a moment. And obviously we know how it ends. It ultimately didn't matter. It was the only game game they won. But, like, in the moment, it was very much like, all right, we've kind of seen how these other series have gone. Like, this is the time for someone to step up. And, yeah, Merrill did. And I think it was, again, another moment where Diamondbacks fans are like, oh, like, now we're going to, like, we need to win the World Series. Like, it's like, we've shown that we can beat this team.

We've shown that, like, whatever, like, let's go win a ring now. and again, obviously didn't happen, but it was a very crucial moment. And again, just on its face, an unbelievable pitching performance on the biggest stage of baseball. Yeah, and it was a really, I mean, I know the final score, the Diamondbacks wound up winning this game by a lot. But a lot of those runs were scored in the last few innings. This was really like Jordan Montgomery and Merrill Kelly kind of going toe to toe in a very competitive game up until the sixth or seventh inning. then the Diamondbacks kind of broke away. So Merrill Kelly wasn't pitching garbage innings.

These were high intensity innings the entire way through that he was in the game. And he delivered in a huge way for the Diamondbacks. You said, the only game that they wound up winning in the World Series, but they did win it in convincing fashion. Merrill Kelly, I think, got a lot of the flowers that he deserves, but does not often get pitching on that stage and doing that well. Just really cool for him personally to have that opportunity. Number three, going back to Philadelphia Philly's former closer Craig Kimberl,

who had a bit of a rough moment in the eighth inning of game four of the NLCS. The Diamondbacks found a way to win that game three, as we said earlier, Brandon Fogg, Coutel Marte playing big roles there. They get the series to two to one. And then they were not in position at all to win game four of the NLCS. This was the bullpen game, the game that did not go well for them at all in the World Series, but they found a way to win this one.

And a huge part of it was that when they were down five to three, Alec Thomas, who did not start this game, comes in off the bench and delivers the biggest hit of his life, a two-run home run that tied the game and eventually put the Diamondbacks in position to tie the NLCS at two games apiece. And of course, that eventually led to them, you know, being able to make the World Series in the first place. Yeah, and I think one of the things that, like, I talked about a lot going into the playoffs is that, like, when teams win World Series or when they do stuff in the playoffs, like, it almost feels like it's, it's never stars that win MVP.

Obviously, Catelle ended up winning the NL post as an MVP, but, like, it's always like, you're Stephen Pierce's who show up randomly. You're obviously talking from a Red Suss, you're Jackie Bradley Jr. It's like random guys like that. And Alec, if I remember correctly, had not been, like, in his few opportunities before that had not really done anything and not been very good. And another moment where they needed someone to do something. And Alec Thomas Jen just goes and hits the biggest home run of his professional baseball career, probably his entire baseball career. Like, it was, yeah. And I don't know, that was weird because it also kind of felt like it was always going to happen.

Like, it just felt like Alec had those moments throughout the same. season where even if he wasn't playing well, he was all of a sudden going to just get a hold of one and it was going to look like the sexiest home run of all time. And he's, I mean, Alec is awesome. He's obviously really important for what he does defensively, but like he's also shown at moments that he can be a pretty big offensive player when the team needs them most. And this was the most textbook example of that. Yeah. The backstory here is really, interesting too. Alec Thomas is in the on-deck circle and there was actually a world in which Alec Thomas would have been pulled back and the Diamondbacks would have used Jordan Lawler to come in and

lay down a bunts. And that was sort of contingent on what Evan Longoria, who was at the plate, did in his abat. He ultimately lined out. And so Tori Lavello sticks with Alex Thomas. I think there is even a world in which Alex Thomas would have laid down a bunt. That's something I heard at one point. But yeah, I think it's safe to say you're glad that nobody bunted in this situation. This wound up being a pretty big hit for the Diamondbacks. One of the most memorable moments at Chase Field, of course, with, you know, some of the others that we mentioned, something that people are going to remember for a very, very long time. Moving on number two here, Sean, this one is not necessary.

I mean, I guess it's sort of a specific moment, but we just had to have near the top of the list the word sweep next to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It simply would not have felt right to not recognize that specific accomplishment, the outcome of that series as being one of the greatest moments this season for the Diamondbacks, being able to do it again, not just winning the series, not just beating a team that it has sort of owned the Diamondbacks for a number of seasons, frankly, but doing it in the dramatic fashion that they did. That's number two. Yeah, I mean, if you want a specific moment here, I think it's the party in the pool. I mean, I think this is another moment where it obviously meant a lot, but for fans, it melt a whole other thing. Like, I think that is the one thing that has haunted this franchise, like almost more than anything, is the Dodgers celebrating in the pool at Chase Field. And then so to be able to embarrass them on a stage like this and sweep them and then go get the party in your pool while they're still in the building, like that, I think, again, for fans was huge.

It's something they needed to see. They needed to see them embarrass the Dodgers and get the chance to celebrate in their own pool. And so, yeah, I mean, we know what it is. We hate the Los Angeles Dodgers in Arizona. That's just kind of how this works. They're moral enemy number one. It just is what it is. And there's no team you would rather embarrass the way that the Diamondbacks embarrass the Dodgers than the Dodgers.

And so, yeah, this had to be near the top of the list. Because, I mean, the only, obviously only other one thing that's going to go above it. But embarrassing the Dodgers is going to be like the sweetest moment of the postseason for a lot of people. Yeah, there's just something about the fact that it was the Dodgers just adds so much significance to this, obviously. Last time, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers played in the NLDS. It happened six years ago and it did not go very well for the Diamondbacks. that series looked very different than this one, even though those two teams on paper were a whole lot more evenly matched

than the two teams that met in the NLDS this year. But yeah, what a remarkable accomplishment that was for the Diamondbacks to take it to this team that has owned them for so many years and find a way to do it in such dramatic fashion. Anyone who was there at the ballpark, I mean, whatever you paid, which might have been a lot to get into that stadium, you are not regretting that purchase. That is exactly what you wanted to see.

and that's exactly what you got back in October. And it sent the Diamondbacks to the NLCS. I mean, that's when things were starting to get serious. Like the Diamondbacks are one series win away from the World Series. And that leads us to number one, which is when the Diamondbacks inexplicably, they go into Philly. They were down not only two nothing in the series early, but they were down three to go into Philly. They find a way to eke out a win in game six. Corbyn Carroll has a monstrous game 7 is just all over the place doing all of the things.

And how fitting was it that the man who catches the final out sending the downback to the World Series kind of going full circle here is your record-breaking rookie, the 25 home runs, 50 stolen bases guy, the guy who more than any other player on this team is responsible for really turning around the direction of this franchise. It wouldn't have felt right if it was anyone else making this catch. Corbyn Carroll squeezes it and the Diamondbacks wind up going to their first World Series in 22 years. Yeah, I mean, you kind of said it all there. Like, the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to the World Series. Like, that's enough said.

You got to hear those words. Really, enough said. Like, the Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series. And again, add the context. They were down to another. They were in the stadium that said that everyone said, you couldn't win in. Yes.

It was the most terrified. And they broke the city of Philadelphia. The Eagles have sucked ever since then. Like they have broken that city. They ended Craig Kimball's career effectively. Obviously, he's still pitching. He's still signed with the Orioles. He's still going to pitch.

Yeah. Why? The Boston Red Sox have made a move. Oh, did they really? Lucas Gialito is a Boston Red Soxar. Oh, really? Oh, hell yeah. Okay.

All right. Anyways, continue. I just, that broke, so I just wanted to get on some good news. We're very much pulling back the curtain here that we are recording this on Friday. So, yeah, I guess the Lucas Related thing's old news. I guess during free agency frenzy, probably are pretty important because if in the next 24 hours, they signed somebody and we were talking about the Boston Red Sox being boring and not doing it. Whatever.

But no one cares about the Boston Red Sox because they didn't even make the playoffs, let alone in the World Series. No, yeah, I mean, the Diamondbacks. they did the improbable. I really appreciated that Catell got to have the recognition of winning the NL postseason MVP. Like I had said for a lot of the season that in my eyes, he was the most important player on this team. He was their MVP. But yeah, I mean, they broke Philadelphia.

Like, Philly fans are the worst. Like, obviously we hate the Dodgers and Dodgers fans suck. But the city of Philadelphia, the fans that they produce are not. They're not cool. I don't like them. They're annoying. They're cry babies. And we got to see them cry a whole lot of tears after that.

And like I said, the Eagles suck. Like, they haven't been good. Like, they ruined the city. They ruined the city. They fractured everything. Like, have you talked to a Philadelphia fan since then? They don't know what to do with themselves. They're like, oh, like, that was the Phillies chance.

Like, if they had won, they would win the World Series. And now it's over. Now the Eagles suck. Who cares about the, the, The Flyers are, oh, the Flyers are kind of good, but they're just going to break my heart in the postseason, too. Philadelphia fans are broken, and the Arizona Diamondbacks did that to them. And so it just makes that so much sweeter because I hate Philly fan. And then we got to watch the Diamondbacks in the World Series where regardless of how it went to see that patch on the jersey, to see the broadcast, to see the Diamondbacks logo next to the World Series trophy, like all of this stuff, to be able to experience that.

at a time when no one expected it. No one thought they were going to the World Series this year. It was a question mark if they'd even make the playoffs. And then they were in the World Series. It was, I mean, it was just incredible. It was incredible. Yeah, and I mean, that game seven was I was there. I could feel the nervous energy at the bank from the first pitch of that game.

The Diamondbacks scored early. The Phillies bounced back and took the lead and seemed like that park was about to go crazy. the Phillies had a chance to break things open early. Brandon fought wasn't quite as good in game seven as he was in game three, but he still managed to work out of some tough situations and put the debacks in good position to win that game. If I had to pick one moment beyond just the Corbyn Carroll catch that sealed the deal and sent the debacks to the World Series,

there was a moment after it happened in the aftermath during the celebration where Alec Thomas had like an NL pennant flag, or maybe it was just a diamond. It might have been a flag with a Diamondbacks logo on it. And he just he just like plants it like right around the infield dirt at Citizens Bank Park, basically declaring the bank. As you said earlier, the ballpark where no, no, you know, visiting team dares come in and win. The greatest home field advantage in all of professional sports or at least in baseball. And Alec Thomas plants this flag and he declares Citizens Bank Park as being as being the part.

I mean, for those two days it was, right? I mean, who's to say what's going to happen the next time the Diamondbacks step in that ballpark? I don't think they're going to be received very well. But to see that happen, that kind of put an exclamation point on everything else. No, and it is nice to be hated. Like, it is nice to take up real estate. Because, again, like I mentioned people, whether Arizona fans like hearing it or not, the reality is that Arizona teams, their fan bases, what they're doing,

often does not register to most people on a national basis, especially on the East Coast. People on the East Coast don't care about what's going on in Arizona, but you made them care. They made them have to recognize the Arizona Diamondbacks. And now every time Phillies fans see what happened in that series, when they see the Diamondbacks logo, they have to think there's a real memory associated with it and there's hatred. The Diamondbacks ruined the days of Phillies fans, and it is beautiful having that kind of power. I just, I'm a very spiteful, hateful person, if you can't know. And so I just love being, I love the energy that that moment created.

Well, speaking of making memory, Sean, some burrows, where else would you possibly want to go to do that if you're in the mood for some good food? And they have a and they have a drive-through, which is also, at least a lot of the locations do, the ones that I've been to do. Some Burroughs is family owned and operated. It was voted Arizona's most loved Mexican restaurant. We love the food over there. Derek was raving about some like breakfast thing that he had the other day and he wouldn't stop talking about it. They have some new locations around the valley as well. Check out their newest locations in Goodyear, Peoria and I-17 and Joe Max, or visit somebrews.com to find one

near you. Let some burrows cater all your holiday fiestas big or small order online or find one near you by visiting some burrows.com. Seasons eatings with some burrows. Well, Sean, this is the last PHNXDBACs podcast of 2023. I feel like we could go on for forever just thinking back to all the things that happened this season. We're at an hour and 10 minutes, so I guess I guess Jacob behind the Mac

doesn't want to sit here until New Year's. So we'll go ahead and wrap this up. I'm also 40 minutes late to a meeting. That's fair. So you want us to go longer you're saying. Yeah, right. Yeah, that gives us all sorts of reasons. Just keep going on. But yeah, thanks again, Sean, for hopping on here.

It's a lot of fun having you come back on and just sort of put a bow on what was really an amazing. I mean, I can't say enough about the 2023 season that the Diamondbacks had. Hopefully we did some justice to some of the top moments in here. But again, many conversations could be had and we'll continue to be had about this baseball team for years and years to come. But in the meantime, be sure to give us a follow on Twitter. you can find me at Jesse and Friedman. Sean, you like at Sean underscore to pause or something? No, at Sean underscore to pause.

Okay, all right, I'm out of practice. I forgot what it was. I thought I forgot what it was. I guess I didn't. Jacob behind the Mac, who were making late to meetings today, he is at Jacob underscore Franklin 4. You can tell him how much you appreciate him.

But of course, you should also follow us at our beat account on Twitter at PHNX underscore D-Backs. In all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports. that's on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Well, thank you all so much for joining us here today in the special Saturday edition of the PH&XD Back show. Happy New Year. This is the last time we'll see you until January 1st of 2024.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday, as always. But again, remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when your baseball team goes to the World Series.