PHOENIX -- In a year that began with playoff talk, the
Arizona Diamondbacks have been awful.
The Diamondbacks are so bad they got manager Bob Brenly fired
before the All-Star break, and may have helped topple their
chairman five weeks later.
Jerry Colangelo, ousted Friday and replaced by high-profile
agent Jeff Moorad in a coup by four partners, said on-field
performance had nothing to do with him agreeing to step down -- that
it hinged on philosophical differences. But the young players on a
mostly young team feel like they let the boss down.
"We don't think about that, but you can't help but think, like,
when Brenly was let go," third baseman Chad Tracy said. "In the
back of your mind, you're saying, 'You know, I had a lot to do with
that.' And it's tough knowing that."
There have been a few highlights.
Ace Randy Johnson pitched a perfect game June 18 in Atlanta and
became the fourth pitcher with 4,000 strikeouts 11 days later.
Right fielder Danny Bautista went on a 21-game hitting streak in
April, and Steve Finley had 23 home runs through July.
But Finley was traded to Los Angeles on July 31, dumping another
big salary, and most of the season has been marked by injuries to
key players -- like first baseman Richie Sexson and left fielder
Luis Gonzalez -- and the struggles of youngsters trying to replace
them.
The Diamondbacks have a major-league high 13 players on the
disabled list -- including Sexson, Gonzalez and closer Matt Mantei
on the 60-day DL. Brenly and successor Al Pedrique have been forced
to dress 17 players with less than three years' experience.
Tracy, left fielder Luis Terrero, second baseman Scott Hairston
and catchers Juan Brito and Koyie Hill are rookies who play
regularly, and that has guaranteed mistakes -- only the New York
Mets have committed more errors than the Diamondbacks' 95.
Brenly, who led the Diamondbacks to baseball's pinnacle with a
World Series title in 2001, got the ax on July 2.
Before that, the team lost 12 consecutive games. Since then, the
Diamondbacks extended the franchise record to 14 straight in a
separate skid under Pedrique and posted the first 0-11 homestand in
major league history. After Sunday's 11-4 loss to Atlanta, Arizona
has lost four in a row, 23 of its last 27, and sits at another
franchise-worst, 43 games under .500.
The Diamondbacks (35-78) are on pace to lose 112 games, and
their tailspin has accelerated to .180 ball (9-41) in the last 50 --
leaving fans to speculate on their chances of reaching the 1962
expansion New York Mets' record of 120 losses.
The Detroit Tigers were 43-119 in 2003, but rebounded to
respectability, and that gives veterans like utilityman Carlos
Baerga reason for optimism.
"It happens to every team that has been successful," Baerga
said. "You cannot go to the playoffs every year, and what happened
this year is everybody got hurt. We got Sexson hurt, myself, Louie
had surgery. We lost Curt Schilling (in a trade). It's not the same
team."
The veterans agree that Arizona can come back, but only if the
parts can be reassembled.
Johnson has a year to go on his contract, and the fact he was
retained past the trade deadline makes him a rallying point.
"It makes the team a lot better, sure," said Sexson, who
becomes a free agent after the season. "He's one of the best
pitchers in the game, so it's nice to have him."
But the slugging first baseman, who will collect $8.6 million
this year after playing in 24 games, wasn't ready to guarantee his
return.
"There are some moves that are going to be made to make this
team better," Sexson said. "You know, I like it here. That's a
good thing. So stuff will work itself out."
Gonzalez said he would go all-out to persuade Sexson to re-sign.
"We showed a lot of promise when he was here," Gonzalez said.
"All of us were starting to play well, and then his injury
happened, and then Mantei and things like that, and then we kind of
went south."