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CNN Live At Daybreak

Arizona Diamondbacks Celebrating World Series Win

Aired November 06, 2001 - 06:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And finally, a last look at the World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks secured their world championship in four years, the fastest ever, but do they have the money and the will to keep it together?

Here's CNN's John Giannone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN GIANNONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four years ago they were a concept. Today their conquest at the baseball universe has been drunk with euphoria, a team with a bold blueprint, plenty of green and now the grand marshal in baseball's golden parade.

JERRY COLANGELO, DIAMONDBACKS OWNER: I thought it might take four or five years to compete a little bit, ala Colorado, because we kind of modeled ourselves. But after that first year, I made a change. There was a new four-year plan instituted. This happens to be the third year of the four-year plan.

JOE GARAGIOLA, JR., DIAMONDBACKS GENERAL MANAGER: In an effort to become more competitive more quickly, we went out into the free agent market and the trade market and brought in what has really become the core of this team.

CRAIG COUNSELL, ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: It means that Jerry's plan and Jerry's vision and his dreams, they paid off. It worked. He did it the right way, and that's a true credit to him.

MARK GRACE, ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: This is why I signed here. I knew this team from playing against them the last couple of years. I knew this team had the -- had a chance to do something special, and I also signed here because I didn't want to face Randy and Curt anymore.

GIANNONE: Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson were these most formidable pieces to a puzzling group of veterans who, except for Counsell, had never tasted championship champagne. But in seven scintillating games against the Yankees, a steely personality was cemented.

CURT SCHILLING, WORLD SERIES CO-MVP: This is a team of incredible character and you can't measure the determination, the heart and the pride that we play the game with. It's a pretty cool attribute to have and it's one that we played with all year long. RANDY JOHNSON, WORLD SERIES CO-MVP: Now I know what it takes to win a World Series and to get to post-season. I mean you've got to push the limits and you've got to have a bunch of battlers on your team like we did all year long.

GIANNONE: That team adopted the attitude of its rookie manager, a man who in spring training trashed predecessor Buck Showalter's all inclusive book of rules and presented his wish list on a cocktail napkin -- be on time, be on the same page and work hard.

COLANGELO: It changed because Bob just has a different personality. I think so often that teams reflect the personality of a manager and there isn't any one way that's right.

TOM VERDUCCI, SI SENIOR BASEBALL WRITER: I think Bob Brenly just allowed them to play. I mean that's the biggest thing. I think he recognized that this was a veteran team that did not need to be told how high to wear their socks or what to do on a baseball field.

GARAGIOLA: It's the way he relates to and trusts the players, and then they, in turn, relate to him. It's been very much of a self- policing clubhouse.

GIANNONE (on camera): Arizona's payroll this year exceeded $85 million, including deferred payments, and features another $20 million outstanding loan from Major League Baseball, and that has some observers wondering if the Diamondbacks will travel the same ugly path taken four years ago by the Florida Marlins, a team that won a championship and then systematically dismantled the roster and forever tarnished the accomplishment.

VERDUCCI: The fact of the matter is the Diamondbacks did mortgage their future, they deferred a ton of money. That bill will come due in two, three, four years down the road. They went to Major League Baseball for assistance and got that. It was a very risky tightrope that they walked but it paid off.

COLANGELO: My word is we are not a Florida Marlins. That was an anomaly, in my opinion. It was not good for Major League Baseball to see something like that happen. Our commitment was to compete for four years and it might be extended, but we are not in any way, shape or form comparable to that franchise.

GARAGIOLA: This is -- this is not a one and out. This team will not be dismantled. If we make moves on and off of this roster they will be -- it'll be baseball moves in the sense of they'll be moves that we think makes the team better.

SCHILLING: I believe this is not our last. I believe we have the makeup and the chemistry and the talent and the personnel to do it again, and maybe it'll go through New York again, who knows.

GIANNONE (voice-over): Arizona and baseball could only be so fortunate.

At the World Series in Phoenix, I'm John Giannone. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: For now the party goes on. The Diamondbacks have their victory parade tomorrow in Phoenix in downtown.

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