The Arizona Diamondbacks are tied with Tampa for being the youngest franchise in Major League Baseball. Arizona entered the league in 1998, and started off with a bang. The D-Backs made the playoffs three times in the franchise’s first five seasons. But did any of Arizona’s playoff runs lead to a championship? Let’s find out.
Arizona Diamondbacks World Series history
The Arizona Diamondbacks franchise has won one World Series title. That lone title came in 2001.
Arizona made the playoffs for the first time in 1999, a year after the Diamondbacks’ first season in the Majors. After a 97-loss season in 1998, Arizona would win 100 games that year to win the NL West in 1999. The Diamondbacks were a literal unit, led by “The Big Unit” Randy Johnson and a lineup that featured Steve Finley, Matt Williams, and Luis Gonzalez. Despite that regular season success, the Diamondbacks would be bounced in the NLDS by the New York Mets.
Two seasons later, Arizona would return to the MLB Playoffs. The Diamondbacks returned with roughly the same team, along with two new additions in Reggie Sanders and Curt Schilling. Arizona would take out St. Louis in the NLDS, and then beat Atlanta in five games to move on the World Series.
The 2001 World Series pitted the Diamondbacks against the defending champion New York Yankees. The Yankees had won three straight titles prior to 2001, but Arizona proved to be too much for the Yanks. In Game 7 of the World Series, Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez would walk it off against Mariano Rivera to clinch the Diamondbacks’ first and only title to date.
As of 2022, the Diamondbacks have made the MLB Playoffs just four times since 2001. The closest Arizona came to a return trip was in 2007, a year that saw the D-Backs advance to the NLCS before being swept by division rival Colorado.
