Rejoice-ments:
The acquisition of Aaron Hill and John McDonald late in the season last year. Their first full season with the Diamondbacks showed that Kevin Towers made a terrific deal to get these two--whose acrobatic, well-tuned double-play skills were a thing of a beauty--in the trade for Kelly Johnson. At the time, I thought Towers had lost his mind. Now, I'm grateful. Aaron Hill had a career-making season. Two times in a span of 11 days, he hit for the cycle. He had a couple of dramatic, game-ending-in-our-favor walk-off hits. He could always be counted on to deliver when he stepped up the plate. McDonald, the "old man" of the two, stepped in when he was needed at the beginning of the season, and when Willie Bloomquist went down in August with back issues, he played at short regularly, and played admirably. A couple of his defensive plays were breathtaking. If he had played the entire year at short regularly, and if his offense were as good as his defense, we might have had a very different season, indeed.
Miguel Montero is a treasure.
Gerardo Parra handled being demoted to platoon-outfielder status with a huge amount of grace and dignity. And, with injuries and illnesses to Jason Kubel and Chris Young, he played quite a bit, so it wasn't as bad as he (rightly) feared it would be. But we never heard him complain or grouse or grumble, even in Spanish, his native tongue. All he would admit to was that it "was hard." Yes, it must have been, but you did everything exactly right, Mr. Parra. Thank you for being a gentleman.
And speaking of Kubel: Kubel represented another trade that had me doubting Towers' sanity. This had nothing to do with Kubel himself; I just didn't think we needed another outfielder. It turned out better than I feared: Kubel's arm is deadly accurate (and his stats back that up: more assists than any other outfielder this year in the league), and when his bat gets hot, he can really made substantive contributions to the team. He's also a good fit with the team. The camaraderie in the dugout is easy to see. But he had one hot streak at the plate, and never did find that rhythm again.
Wade Miley: Wow. What a phenomenal way to start a career. First he made the team during Spring Training. Then, he did well in the bullpen. Then he replaced a struggling Josh Collmenter, and -boom- new starter for us. Made the All-Star team. Won 16 games--as a rookie. Awesome.
Josh Collmenter: Although he had a rocky start, it turned out way better than anyone could have imagined. He seemed to have a found a place in the bull pen as a long-reliever. He pitches better without any preparation or advance notice. Joe Saunders can't pitch tonight? Let's call Collmenter's number. -Boom- we get a win. His season was not without its low points, but he was always there when Gibby needed him. What more can anyone ask?
Zeigler, King of the Double-Play ball. 'Nuff said.
Disappointments
The number of runners left in scoring position, or even just on base, was worrisome. Being unable to "close the deal" revealed a weakness at the heart of this team: Our bunch of really nice guys just could not find their killer instinct. Or something.
One-run losses. Last year, we lead the league in this is stat. This year: Pfft.
Aaron Hill should have been an All-Star.
Inconsistency from our starting rotation: Which Ian Kennedy would pitch tonight? The one with the devastating, unhittable change-up? Or the one who who leaves the ball out over the plate, only to be promptly hit out of the park? We could never tell which Kennedy would show up on any given night. Trevor Cahill also had an evil twin who would show up on occasion.
I actually was sorry to see these Diamondbacks get traded: Joe Saunders, Stephen Drew and Ryan Roberts. Saunders, when he was "on," was as good as it gets. Unfortunately, he was "off" more than he was "on." It was still sad to see him go. Drew, after suffering such a devastating broken ankle (which gave me flashbacks to my own broken ankle, which looked eerily similar to his), was slow to return to active duty. The longer his rehab took, the more I realized that they would trade him once he was reactivated and proved that he could still play. I've seen it happen to so many players over the years. It's almost a tradition in major league baseball, one that I deplore. It just strikes me as disloyal and capricious. I was really, really sorry to see Roberts go. Not only was he a unique personality (who had a large following here in the Valley), he also brought a lot of fire to the line-up. It seemed like Gibby couldn't decide where to play him, or where to put him in the batting order. It is true that he struggled at the plate, but who didn't this year?
Justin Upton: It took way, way too long for his bat to get hot. The last two weeks of August and all of September is just too late for that offense to do us any good. I also suspect that he wasn't entirely honest with the trainers about the severity of his thumb injury, which obviously impacted his prowess at the plate. I don't know. Maybe he told them that it hurt, but they thought he was faking it. Or something.
Chris Young: Bummer, man. The power of an injury to tear apart a player's season was never more graphically displayed.
Relievers who give up walks or late-in-the-game hits that give away the game. David Hernandez and J.J. Putz, particularly, gave up hits that hurt us, or even that lost the game. Argh. Aside from Zeigler, Hernandez, and Putz, though, the rest of the bullpen was a source of nervous uncertainty. Would Albers give up a hit? Would Zagursky give up a walk? Too many times, the answer to those questions was "Yep."
Injuries: J-Up's and CY's injuries were not the only ones that wreaked havoc. Willie Bloomquist's nagging back injury; Paul Goldschmidt's back injury in the last week; Jason Kubel's various illnesses and injuries; Josh Collmenter's ulcers; Daniel Hudson's season-ending tear in his elbow ligament; once Young's shoulder injury was finally healed, then he had hamstring problems. The list just seems endless.
All in all, it was just one thing after another. The final bright spot: In spite of all these problems, we were still in the race until we were mathematically eliminated at game #158. It's nothing short of a miracle that we could remain in the hunt for so long, considering the lack of offense, the inconsistent pitching, the injuries, and the trades. I believe that that fact is a testament to the managerial skill of the Gibson and his coaches and the desire of the players to win.
Maybe next year. Sigh.
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