The voting for Game of the Year was a good deal closer than the first two awards, but in the end, the 10th-inning resurrection against the Dodgers, which also featured Jarrod Parker's sole start for the Diamondbacks, won out with 32% of the vote. Arizona's clinching of the NL West against the defending World Series champions, four days previously, was second with a respectable 22% of selections.
I get the feeling we're heading back into likely near-landslide territory with the next award though, where we look at the candidates for Arizona Diamondbacks' Rookie of the Year. You'll find the five nominees and the poll to decide the winner after the jump.
Josh Collmenter
154.1 IP, 10-10, 3.38 ERA, 100:28 K:BB
Collmenter began 2010 in A-ball at Visalia, so what a difference a year makes. Fast-forward 12 months, and he's making his debut at Chase - and got the win with two perfect innings of relief. One more month, and he was starting for the Diamondbacks in Dodger Stadium - and blanking them for six innings. He had 15 quality starts in 24 losses, and enjoyed particular success against the Brewers, allowing one run over 21 innings, on eight hits, with a K:BB ratio of 16:3. Defying critics who said his lack of a third pitch made him better suited for the bullpen, Collmenter appears to be looking at a full-time rotation spot for Opening Day 2012.
Highlight: Collmenter strikes out a career high eight Phillies batters, holding their potent line-up in check on the road in Philadelphia.
Paul Goldschmidt
177 PAs, .250/.333/.474, 117 OPS+, 8 HR, 26 RBI
Of Goldschmidt's eight regular season home-runs, five gave Arizona the lead, and a sixth tied the game when we were down to our final out. Oh, and two of those go-ahead home-runs came off double Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, against whom Goldzilla is now 5-for-9 with a double in addition to those two blasts. Other CY winners Zach Greinke and Cliff Lee also got 'schmidted on over the course of the season, the former serving up one of Paul's two post-season homers [see also marcum.gif]] Throw in defense which surpassed most expectations, and we might - just might - have the first-baseman we've been missing over the past few years,
Highlight: The longest home-run of his career, a ninth-inning, two out, two strike, two-run homer, estimated at 450 feet to left, which tied the game against Houston.
Wade Miley
40 IP, 4-2, 4.50 ERA, 25:18 K:BB
Miley will get a chance in this category next season - his innings didn't reach the 50 IP quota, and with the majority of his service in September, he's short of the "45 days before September 1" limit too. After a wobbly first appearance in the majors, Miley settled down admirably, and his remaining six starts, went 4-1 with a 3.34 ERA. He picked up wins on the road in Washington and Colorado, beating the Rockies both there and at Chase Field in consecutive outings. The left-hander didn't turn 25 until last month, and all but skipped Triple-A, pitching in only eight games for the Reno Aces before getting called up.
Highlight: Miley picks up his first career victory against Washington, shutting out the Nationals for six innings, striking out four batters.
Joe Paterson
34 IP, 0-3, 2.91 ERA, 28:15 K:BB
Arizona hadn't had the best of success with Rule 5 picks - anyone remember James Skelton? But Paterson turned that around, making the roster out of spring and posting 19 scoreless appearances to start his major-league career. It was the longest such streak since now-teammate Brad Ziegler went 29 games in 2008. As a LOOGY, Paterson was impeccable, holding left-handed batters to a .574 OPS, and homerless in 91 plate-appearances. That included the likes of Prince Fielder, Todd Helton, Andre Ethier and Carlos Gonzalez, who were a combined 0-for-15 vs. Paterson, including the playoffs.
Highlight: We've seen it before, but it never gets old. Paterson's ownership of Fielder, depicted here with three swinging strikes.
Bryan Shaw
28.1 IP, 1-0, 2.54 ERA, 24:8 K:BB
Almost the youngest pitcher to appear for the Diamondbacks in 2011 [beaten only by Jarrod Parker], Shaw showed improvement almost continually after getting the call in mid-June. Shaw worked his way up from low-leverage situations, to provide a useful occasional alternative to David Hernandez in the eighth. After two bases on balls in his first appearance, Shaw's control improved, and he allowed one walk to the last 50 batters faced in the regular season. Including four hitless playofff appearances, Shaw finished the year with one run in his last 14 games, covering 12 innings, with 11 K's and two walks.
Highlight: In a crucial situation, with his team down one in Game 5 of the NLDS in Milwaukee, Shaw strikes out the side in the seventh inning.