2010 In A Nutshell: A Fan's Perspective

Rewind back to February of 2010...Fan Fest was put on by the Diamondbacks and many of us fans flocked to the ballpark to see Our Boys again. This year, there were new players for fans to meet: Adam LaRoche, Ian Kennedy, Kelly Johnson, and Edwin Jackson, just to name a few of these newbies. There were some very familiar faces there too, as former Diamondbacks Kelly Stinnett, Quinton McCracken, Jay Bell, Mike Fetters, and Luis Gonzalez were on hand to reunite with fans and participate in Q & A sessions, as well as partake in the Picture sessions on the field. Fan Fest was just the start of the buzz for baseball fans. Spring Training came next, along with exhibition games vs. the Chicago Cubs before the season got underway.

April brought us the start of the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks season, with expectations and hopes high for a winning year. First, we didn't have Brandon Webb for the season, due to injury. We lost Miguel Montero for about three months, due to a knee injury early in the season that saw him end up in surgery and rehab. As time went on, however, our season was not meant to be a good one, as The Baseball Gods laughed at our team and seemed to dash our hopes for any postseason bliss. Critical injuries hit Mark Reynolds throughout the season and we lost Justin Upton as well due to injury.

In July, we saw the demise of General Manager Josh Byrnes and Manager A.J. Hinch and they were sent packing. Kirk Gibson became the interim manager and Jerry DiPoto was the interim General Manager until the recent selection of Kevin Towers for the job. We saw trades take Conor Jackson, Edwin Jackson, Chad Qualls, Dan Haren, and Chris Snyder from our team. Chad Tracy was released. Dontrelle Willis joined the team, but left almost as quickly as he came, with only having one decent outing that I can recall and an ERA over 9.00 in his next 5 appearances. The bullpen was a disaster this season, but we did have some highlights from them too. Many SB 1070 protests hit Diamondbacks games here in Arizona and acrossed the country during DBacks road trips.

Some highlights from the season: Outfielder Chris Young was our All-Star. Luis Gonzalez had his #20 jersey retired, becoming the first official Diamondback to achieve this feat. Edwin Jackson pitched a no-hitter game before being traded. Kelly Johnson hit for the cycle. Arizona was officially granted the 2011 All-Star Game. Greg Schulte did his 2,000th broadcast & got his own Bobblehead. These are just a few of the amazing things we saw happen in 2010.

Each fan has their own personal highlights that they have seen/experienced throughout the season. Along with the ones I just mentioned, here is the one I will remember most: Augie Ojeda's sacrifice fly to secure a win on September 3rd was the biggest favourite of mine since Augie is my #1 player and since he didn't see as much playing time this season as in past ones, this was just what the doctor ordered in my case.

Now, I shall leave you with some photographic memories I have from this season...Enjoy!

Rockkstarr12's Memories of 2010: The Season In Pictures