Gibson won’t let D-backs buy into their success

The Diamondbacks will not believe they will win the NL
West simply by showing up this season.

Kirk Gibson won’t let them.

Gibson, who said “successes can be very dangerous” Sunday,
expanded on that thought Tuesday as a guest on Arizona
Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf.

“You read a lot of good articles about yourself and
sometimes it just can work in the opposite way and you can
let your guard down, you can maybe change the routine from
what got you there to one that’s less productive and less
team-oriented,” Gibson said. “You can’t be looking for
credit.”

The Diamondbacks certainly got plenty of that last season,
as they surprised everyone by winning 94 games along with
the NL West.

Gibson, though, knows the D-backs are just one season
removed from being one of the worst in baseball, so they
must not be allowed to feel like they’ve arrived as one of
the league’s best.

“It’s just important to understand that you’ve got to keep
your guard up and we have to keep doing things the right
way,” Gibson said. “When you have success, you’ve earned
certain things but it doesn’t mean you’ve earned the right
to quit working and trying to get better.”

And not to say the Diamondbacks quit trying to improve
after reaching the playoffs in 2007, but their fast start
in 2008 was followed by nearly three years of bad
baseball.

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