Are the Arizona Diamondbacks becoming the ‘bad guys’?
Jun 6, 2011, 11:28 PM | Updated: Jun 7, 2011, 12:34 am
After a highly contested series with the Washington Nationals that saw more players get hit than an NFL game, it’s no surprise people are starting to wonder about the Arizona Diamondbacks reputation.
“Are the Arizona Diamondbacks becoming ‘that team’? Do they have ‘that’ reputation? Last year was horrible,” Dave Burns said on Sports 620 KTAR’s Sports Interactive Monday. “They were vanilla. They were boring. There was no retaliation ever. At any point and time in any series they never did it. This year, are they the bad guys?”
The answer probably isn’t exactly as black and white as Burns makes it sound. The D-backs certainly have shown more edge this season than last. They’ve fought hard in games and their pitching staff has been fearless when it comes to pitching inside on guys. Does having a never say die attitude and a willingness to send a message with pitches make them the ‘bad guys’? It probably depends on who you ask.
If you were to ask the Washington Nationals they’d probably say yes. Overall though, one would have to imagine that most around the Majors would view the D-backs as gritty and taking on the persona of their manager Kirk Gibson.
If you look at Gibson’s post season success as a player, we don’t care if they’re considered ‘bad guys’ as long as they continue to emulate him.
