While the best years were well behind him by the time Matt Williams arrived in Arizona, Matt Williams proved to be very popular among the Diamondbacks fans as one of the original members of the team.

While Gerardo Parra was never known for his power numbers (his season-high is 14) he made history where he became the 100th player in Major League Baseball history to hit a Home Run in his first ever at-bat.  Parra may not have had many more of those for Arizona, but he did have three 130 Hit seasons and an impressive defensive resume.  Parra would win a Gold Glove playing both Leftfield (2011) and Rightfield (2013), the latter of which would see him win the Wilson Overall Defensive Player Award.

Parra batted .274 with 728 Hits with Arizona.

Stephen Drew would accumulate 776 Hits over his six-and-a-half seasons in Arizona though he might be best known for the three bagger.  Drew finished second in Triples in the National League three seasons in a row (2008-10) and was third in 2011.  His best season was in 2008 where he had 21 Home Runs with a .502 Slugging Percentage, both career highs.

Luis Gonzalez was a good baseball player before he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks but it was in the desert where he became an All-Star and the team’s premier offensive threat.

Miguel Batista played for ten teams over his eighteen seasons in the Majors but it was clear that he was at his most productive as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  It was also the place where he had his most opportunities as a Starting Pitcher.

Miguel Montero spent nine years with Arizona Diamondbacks gradually working himself to a full-time starting role with the team.  While he never had a season where he collected more than 140 Hits, he did have back-to-back 139 Hit seasons where he batted over .280 with 15 Home Runs (2011 & 2012).  Montero would also provide solid defense, most notably where in 2011 the Catcher led the National League in Caught Stealing Percentage throwing out 40% of all who dared to steal against him.

With Arizona, Montero had 795 Hits.

While Chris Young was never known for having a great Batting Average, he would bring some good power numbers to the Diamondbacks lineup.  In his rookie season, Young went yard 32 times and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting.  He would have three other seasons where he had 20 or more Home Runs and he would also have three 20 Stolen Base seasons for the D-Backs.

Curt Schilling did not spend a long time in Arizona (three and a half years) but nobody can dispute the impact that he had as a Diamondback.

In his second season in the Majors, Brandon Webb led the National League in Losses and Walks allowed.  That was 2004.  In 2006, Webb transformed himself into the best hurler in the National League.

Going into this process we knew that Randy Johnson was likely going to be ranked number one.  What we didn’t realize is just how wide that chasm was going to be between him and everyone else!

Patrick Corbin played the first six seasons of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The southpaw has had an up and down career, the ups being a pair of 14 Win seasons, the first seeing him go to the All-Star Game (2013).  The lows being Tommy John Surgery taking him out of the entire 2014 Season, the other being the 2016 campaign where he lost his role as a Starter.  Lows are lows and highs are highs and since 2016, Corbin returned to the All-Star Game in 2018 as a Starter and he was third overall in the NL in both Strikeouts and SO/BB while also finishing fourth in WHIP.  Corbin left Arizona as a Free Agent to join the Washington Nationals, where he won a World Series Ring.  With Arizona, Corbin had a 56-54 record with 897 Strikeouts.

David Peralta has played his first six-and-a-half seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks where the Outfielder has displayed a balanced offensive game.  Peralta has had four 10 Home Run seasons (which includes a 30 Home Run season in 2018) and in 2015 he would lead the National League in Triples while also batting .312.  Defensively, Peralta won a Gold Glove in 2019, and was arguably in contention for others.

Justin Upton was the number one draft pick in 2005 and to nobody’s surprise he was able to crack the Diamondbacks roster as a teenager.  Upton would quickly take over as team’s starting Leftfielder and in 2009 he was named a National League All-Star, a feat he would repeat for Arizona in 2011.  That was his best season for the Diamondbacks where he smacked 31 Home Runs with a .529 Slugging Percentage while finishing fourth in MVP voting.  Upton would also have two 20-20 seasons for Arizona, and had 739 Hits, 108 Home Runs before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2013.

Zack Greinke was with the Arizona Diamondbacks for only three and a half years, but in that time frame in Arizona he has showcased some of the skills that helped him win a Cy Young Award as a Kansas City Royal in 2009.

Paul Goldschmidt was undoubtedly the best position player in Arizona Diamondbacks history and served as the face of the franchise for over a decade.

“Goldy” his debut in 2011, and in 2013, he emerged as one of the premier first basemen in the game. That year is arguably the highlight of Goldschmidt’s career, as he led the National League in Home Runs (36), RBIs (135), Slugging Percentage (.952), OPS (.952) and OPS+ (160), earning a runner-up finish for the MVP award. Throughout his career with the Diamondbacks, Goldschmidt achieved three additional seasons with 30 or more home runs, placed second and third in MVP voting, led the NL in Walks in 2016, and earned the Gold Glove award three times along with four Silver Slugger awards.

Unfortunately for Diamondbacks fans, the Goldschmidt era came to an end when he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in December 2018. By the time he left Arizona, Goldschmidt had recorded 209 home runs, over 1,100 Hits, and maintained an impressive slash line of .297/.398/.532.  As it stands, we can confidently say that Goldschmidt is the greatest position player in Arizona Diamondbacks history.

The signing of Steve Finley via free agency proved to be a fruitful one for the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Outfielder would put forth some of his best offensive seasons playing in Arizona.

The first seven seasons of the career of A.J. Pollock were with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he may have displayed flashes of greatness, but was often known for injuries derailing complete seasons.

With a wide variety of pitches, Dan Haren used equal parts skill and craftiness to carve out an effective thirteen-year career in Major League Baseball, the best of which was spent with the Diamondbacks.

A three-time All-Star, Dan Haren played for a lot of teams in MLB (8), but also has the distinction of being one of the few players to have defeated all 30 MLB teams.  When Haren was on, he was known for a dazzling array of pitches and exceptional control.  Haren was a three time league leader in SO/BB and as of this writing is in the top ten all-time in that category.  Haren also had two top ten finishes in Cy Young voting.

Even amidst the constant controversy that surrounds the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is always something magical about Cooperstown, and when they have a former player from the modern era elected it makes the ceremony that much more special.

This year they have four.

On what was a beautiful summer day in front of 40,000 fans and forty-nine Hall of Famers in upstate New York, four baseball legends are now enshrined with a bronze bust that will forever be on display.

Rather than recap the accomplishments of the four (regular visitors know that we have done that often), let’s read the etchings on each of the four new inductees.

CRAIG ALLAN BIGGIO: HOUSTON, N.L. 1988-2007

GRITTY SPARK PLUG WHO IGNITED ASTROS OFFENSE FOR 20 MAJOR LEAGUE SEASONS, BECOMING FIRST PLAYER IN HISTORY WITH AT LEAST 3,000 HITS, 600 DOUBLES, 400 STOLEN BASES AND 250 HOME RUNS.  TRANSITIONED FROM ALL-STAR CATCHER TO GOLD GLOVE SECOND BASEMAN TO EVERYDAY OUTFIELDER, AMASSING 3,060 HITS, INCLUDING 668 DOUBLES – MOST BY A RIGHT-HANDED BATTER – AND A MODERN-DAY RECORD 285 TIMES HIT BY A PITCH.  A SEVEN-TIME ALL-STAR, WON FIVE SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS AND FOUR GOLD GLOVE AWARDS.


JOHN ANDREW SMOLTZ: ATLANTA N.L. 1988-99, 2001-08; BOSTON, A.L. 2009; ST.LOUIS, N.L. 2009

A WORKHOUSE POWER PITCHER, TRADED HIS STARTING DOMINANCE TO DEVELOP INTO PREMIER CLOSER BEFORE RETURNING TO ROTATION.  BECAME THE FIRST PLAYER IN HISTORY WITH 200 WINS AND 150 SAVES.  WITH A DYNAMIC FASTBALL, A DECEPTIVE SLIDER AND A DARTING SPLITTER, FANNED 3,084 BATTERS AND WAS NAMED TO EIGHT ALL-STAR TEAMS, THE 1996 N.L. CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER AND 1992 NLCS MVP.  SET N.L. RECORD WITH 55 SAVES IN 2002.  PITCHED BEST WHEN GAME WAS BIGGEST, RECORDING A 15-4 POST-SEASON RECORD, HELPING BRAVES TO 1995 WORLD SERIES TITLE.

PEDRO JAIME MARTINEZ:  LOS ANGELES, N.L. 1992-93; MONTREAL. N.L. 1994-97; BOSTON, A.L. 1998-2004; NEW YORK, N.L. 2005-08; PHILADELPHIA, N.L. 2009


FEATURING AN ELECTRIC ARSENAL OF PITCHES THAT VANQUISHED BATTERS DURING AN ERA OF HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE, THE FIERY RIGHTY FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OWNED THE INSIDE PART OF THE PLATE WITH AN EXPLODING FASTBALL AND CONFOUNDING CHANGE-UP.  LED LEAGUE IN E.R.A. FIVE TIMES AND STRIKEOUTS THREE TIMES EN ROUTE TO THREE CY YOUNG AWARDS AND EIGHT ALL-STAR SELECTIONS.  FIRST PITCHER TO RETIRE WITH 3,154 STRIKEOUTS IN FEWER THAN 3,000 INNINGS.  WON 219 GAMES WITH AN ASTOUNDING .687 WINNING PERCENTAGE.  POSTED 117-37 RECORD IN BOSTON HELPING TO LEAD RED SOX TO 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP.


RANDALL DAVID JOHNSON:  “RANDY” “THE BIG UNIT”:  MONTREAL, N.L. 1988-89; SEATTLE, A.L. 1989-98; HOUSTON, N.L. 1998; ARIZONA, N.L. 1999-2004, 2007-08; NEW YORK, A.L. 2005-06; SAN FRANCISCO, N.L. 2009

AT 6’10’, A TOWERING AND INTIMIDATING LEFTHANDER WHOSE CRACKLING FASTBALL AND DEVASTATING SLIDER PARALYZED HITTERS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, FIVE-TIMES CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER, INCLUDING FOUR CONSECUTIVE, 1999-2002.  LED LEAGUE IN STRIKEOUTS NINE TIMES AND POSTED SIX 300 STRIKEOUT SEASONS.  TEN-TIME ALL-STAR AND THREE-TIME 20-GAME WINNER, RANKED SECONS ALL-TIME ON STRIKEOUT LIST (4,875) AND FIRST IN STRIKEOUTS PER NINE INNINGS (10.6) UPON RETIREMENT.  WON 303 GAMES AND LED LEAGUE IN E.R.A. FOUR TIMES, WON THREE GAMES IN 2001 WORLD SERIES WITH CHAMPION DIAMONDBACKS EARNING CO-MVP HONORS. 


Capital letters do make it more emphatic doesn’t it?

Do you want to know what makes it even better?

The fact that Randy Johnson was inducted with his mullet is far greater to us than his hat (the first for Arizona) and the hat worn by Craig Biggio (Astros, also a first.

So what do we do now?

What we always do!

We look forward to the next class of Baseball Hall of Famers and debate their merits.

Hopefully, all of you will participate and lend us your opinions as to who you want to see in the next Baseball Hall of Fame class.