The Arizona Diamondbacks of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), founded in 1998, won the World Series (WS, 4 wins in 7 games) for the first and last time in 2001. At the time, Arizona, where Korea’s ‘submarine closing pitcher’ Kim Byung-hyun played along with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, received their first championship ring after a fierce battle with the New York Yankees in Game 7. But after that, Arizona went through a long period of hardship.
Arizona is aiming to create a sensation in the 2023 postseason (PS) and win the WS for the first time in 22 years. Arizona advanced to WS by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in the final 7th game away game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS, 4 wins out of 7) held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on the 25th. Arizona balanced the series by losing Games 1 and 2 and winning Games 3 and 4, but lost again in Game 5 and was on the defensive, winning Games 6 and 7 to become the final winner of the NLCS. Philadelphia missed the opportunity to shake off the disappointment of finishing runner-up to the Houston Astros in last year’s WS.
The Arizona batters, united in earnest, scored the first run against Philadelphia starting pitcher Ranger Suarez in the top of the first inning with Christian Walker’s grounder on 1st and 3rd bases with one out and back-to-back hits by Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno. Then, in the ‘long-hitting team’ Philadelphia, Alec Bohm hit a solo shot to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning, and in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and one on first base, Bryson Stott hit a double to make it 2-1.
Arizona successfully fought back in the top of the 5th inning. With two outs and two on second base, Carroll hit the tying run and stole second base. Gabriel Moreno then brought Carroll home with a timely hit to right, turning the game around. Arizona ran away with two runs in the top of the 7th inning with one out and 2nd and 3rd bases on Carroll’s sacrifice fly, and the game ended like this. Carroll, who entered the big league stage for the first time last year, played a key role in the victory in Game 7 with 3 hits in 4 at-bats, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored.
Arizona’s fall baseball season, which successfully advanced to the WS, was truly a twisted drama. ‘6th seed’ Arizona, which had the fewest wins among PS advance teams with 84 wins and 78 losses in this season’s regular league, started an upset by beating the Central Division champion Milwaukee (92 wins, 70 losses) with two wins in the wild card series. Afterwards, in the Division Series, they overwhelmed the Los Angeles Dodgers (100 wins, 62 losses), second in winning percentage in the National League, with three consecutive wins, and then defeated Philadelphia (90 wins, 72 losses), which was armed with superstars such as Bryce Harper, in the NLCS.
Arizona’s opponent, looking to win its second WS championship since its founding, is the Texas Rangers, who have conquered the American League (AL). Texas advanced to the WS by defeating last year’s WS champion Houston 11-4 in Game 7 of the ALCS held the previous day. While Arizona waited 22 years for a WS championship ring, Texas waited over 60 years. Texas, founded in 1960, has yet to wear a WS championship ring. Texas advanced to the WS for two consecutive years in 2010-2011, but has painful memories of being defeated by the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in succession. The first game of the WS between Arizona and Texas will be held at Texas’ home on the 28th.안전놀이터