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53-545: The Altoona Curve franchise began when Arizona and Tampa Bay were both awarded Major League Baseball franchises beginning in the 1998 season. The addition of these two teams had a domino effect through baseball with the expansion of not only the major leagues, but throughout Minor League Baseball as well. With this expansion, AA baseball received two new teams to begin play in the 1999 season. The Erie SeaWolves were already an established minor-league team with outstanding short-season attendance, and were quickly awarded one of

106-617: A standing-room-only crowd of 9,308. On December 2, 2008, Chuck Greenberg sold the Altoona Curve back to original owner and Altoona native Bob Lozinak. On May 23, 2009, the Altoona Curve and Pittsburgh Pirates renewed their development agreement, which now runs through the 2014 season. On September 18, 2010, the Curve defeated the Trenton Thunder to clinch the franchise's first ever Eastern League Championship. The Curve won

159-735: A 9–1 record and 3.99 ERA in a career high 162.1 innings pitched. He spent 2017 with the Indianapolis Indians , posting an 8–9 record with a 4.89 ERA. Eppler returned to the Indians in 2018, going 13–6 with a 3.59 ERA in 28 games (25 starts). On January 15, 2019, the Orix Buffaloes purchased Eppler's contract from the Pirates. In 24 games for Orix, he recorded a 4–4 record and 4.02 ERA with 25 strikeouts across 31 + 1 ⁄ 3 innings pitched. On December 2, Eppler became

212-572: A black base: the primary "A" cap, the teal-trimmed "snake" cap (paired exclusively on the teal alternates), and the sand-trimmed "snake" cap with red brim (paired exclusively on the Sedona Red alternates). The Nike swoosh logo is also placed on the right chest near the shoulder. In 2022, the Diamondbacks introduced a red "A" cap with black brim. In 2021, the Diamondbacks were one of seven teams to wear Nike "City Connect" uniforms. The design

265-466: A doubleheader. That first game was a 6–2 loss, but the Curve scored their first-ever victory in the second game, beating Reading 6–4. A few days later, on April 15, the Curve christened Blair County Ballpark by defeating the Bowie Baysox 6–1 in front of a crowd of 6,171. On April 2, 2002, Lozinak and DeWeese sold the franchise to a collective headed by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg . Among

318-707: A free agent. On January 9, 2020, Eppler signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals . Eppler did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic . In 2021, Eppler appeared in 19 games for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings , posting a 7.75 ERA with 48 strikeouts. On August 24, 2021, Eppler was released by the Nationals. On December 17, 2021, Eppler signed

371-577: A member club of the National League (NL) West Division . The franchise was established on March 9, 1995, and began play in 1998 as an expansion team . The team plays its home games at Chase Field . Along with the Tampa Bay Rays , the Diamondbacks are one of the newest teams in the MLB and are the youngest team to win a World Series . After a fifth-place finish in their inaugural season,

424-455: A motion to decline its contract with the Diamondbacks as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy . As a result, Major League Baseball assumed production of the Diamondbacks' regional telecasts (maintaining staff such as commentators), and distributed them via local television providers and MLB.tv . As of 2024, these games are branded as DBacks.TV . Games air on the following cable providers and networks: The primary television play-by-play voice for

477-773: A one-year, $ 400,000 deal with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League . He became a free agent after the 2022 season. On January 5, 2023, Eppler signed with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League . Eppler made 9 starts for Fubon, posting a 3–1 record and 2.89 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 56.0 innings pitched. On June 21, he was released by the Guardians. The release was made after Eppler decided to terminate

530-525: A snake's head. The team also kept the "D" logo, which was slightly altered and put on an all-red cap to be used as their game cap. They kept the "A" logo with the new colors applied to it, with a solid black cap used as the alternate cap. Arizona's updated color scheme bore a striking resemblance to the Houston Astros ' color scheme (brick red, sand and black) that the Astros used until 2012, as well as

583-406: Is all-purple, while the road cap is black with a teal brim. They also wore a cream cap with purple brim, and a teal cap with purple brim. All designs featured the primary "A" logo. In 1999, the road cap became all-black and contained the alternate "D-snake" logo rendered in copper. Also, the teal and cream alternate caps were dropped. The left sleeve of all four uniforms contained the snake logo with

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636-521: Is also the play-by-play radio voice for ASU women's basketball. Mike Ferrin served in the same role for six years before parting ways with the team, and he was replaced by Chris Garagiola in December 2021. The flagship Spanish language radio station is KHOV-FM 105.1 with Oscar Soria, Rodrigo López , and Richard Saenz. Games were televised in Spanish on KPHE-LP —with Oscar Soria and Jerry Romo as

689-755: Is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes , the KBO League for the Kiwoom Heroes , and the CPBL for the Fubon Guardians . Eppler attended Navasota High School in Navasota, Texas , and played college baseball at Texarkana College and Sam Houston State University . The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Eppler in

742-1013: Is finish in Southern Division from 1999 to 2009, Western Division from 2010 to 2020, and Southwest Division from 2021) Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Manager Coaches [REDACTED] 7-day injured list * On Pittsburgh Pirates 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated November 4, 2024 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB  •  Eastern League → Pittsburgh Pirates minor league players Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona . The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as

795-400: Is primarily sand and has "Serpientes" in black script lettering emblazoned in front. The first "S" in "Serpientes" was shaped to resemble a rattlesnake . The right sleeve has the flag of Arizona patch recolored to the Diamondbacks' red, sand and black scheme, and the left sleeve has the "A" logo recolored to black and sand. Numerals are in red. The cap is primarily sand with black brim and has

848-612: The Larry MacPhail Award for the best promotional effort (on and off the field) in all of Minor League Baseball. On April 2, 2006, their fourth anniversary as owners, Greenberg and his group announced an additional four-year extension on the development agreement with the Pirates, keeping the Curve's affiliation intact through at least the 2010 season. The Curve hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game at Blair County Ballpark on July 12, 2006, before

901-568: The NHL 's Phoenix Coyotes , whose adoption of those colors predated the Diamondbacks by four years. The white home uniform featured "D-Backs" in red with sand and black trim. The road gray uniform featured "Arizona" in red with sand and black trim. Player names were red with black trim while numbers were black with red trim. The alternate red uniform contained "D-Backs" in sand with red and black trim, with player names in sand with black trim and numbers in black with sand trim. There were two versions of

954-443: The "A" logo in black and sand; the regular batting helmet is used with the uniform. Initially, the Diamondbacks wore white pants with this uniform, but has since switched to sand pants. Before the 2023 season, the Diamondbacks promoted the alternate white uniform with teal accents to its primary home uniform and retired the previous Sedona Red white uniform. This is due to a new Nike rule that limits teams to four regular uniforms plus

1007-399: The "A" logo on the right chest, while letters were purple with white trim and numbers were teal with white and purple trim. A zigzag pattern of teal, copper and purple was featured on the sleeves. In 2001, the uniform was changed to feature "Arizona" in front. The letters became purple with white and copper trim. The Diamondbacks initially wore four different cap versions. The primary home cap

1060-529: The "A" logo, and its all-black counterpart is worn with both the home and black alternate uniform. The road cap is black with Sedona red trim and featured the return of the "D-snake" logo and is worn with both the road and alternate Sedona red uniform. The all-Sedona red alternate cap shared the same features as the road cap and is worn with the Sedona red uniform. On July 18, 2023, a federal bankruptcy court granted Bally Sports' parent company Diamond Sports Group

1113-568: The "City Connect" uniform. Coming off their second World Series appearance in 2023 , the Diamondbacks unveiled refreshed uniform designs starting in 2024. Turquoise returned full-time as an accent color on all uniforms along with Sedona red and black, but sand was removed except on the "City Connect" uniform. The home uniform is now a cream base with black piping, featuring the "A" logo on the left chest. The road grey uniform with black piping featured "Arizona" in Sedona red with teal and black outlines. The alternate black uniform with teal piping shared

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1166-555: The 2013 season. On October 18, 2012, the team announced that Bob Brenly would return as a broadcaster to replace Grace and that he would be joined by then- ESPN personality Steve Berthiaume . The English language flagship radio station is KTAR . Greg Schulte was the regular radio play-by-play voice, a 25-year veteran of sports radio in the Phoenix market, also well known for his previous work on Phoenix Suns , Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State University (ASU) broadcasts. It

1219-661: The Arizona Diamondbacks returned to the World Series for the first time since 2001 – against the Texas Rangers on October 27, 2023. They lost the series 4–1 at home in Arizona on November 1, 2023. The Diamondbacks' original colors were purple, black, teal and copper. Their logo was an italicized block letter "A" with a diamond pattern, with the crossbar represented by a snake's tongue. This period saw

1272-601: The Curve were organized into the Double-A Northeast . In 2022, the Double-A Northeast became known as the Eastern League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. On April 23, 2002, Adrian Burnside , Neal McDade and Chris Spurling combined for the first no-hitter in Altoona Curve history. Burnside pitched the first five innings, McDade pitched

1325-488: The D-backs trail in late innings. Former Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs first baseman Mark Grace and knuckleballer Tom Candiotti were the Diamondbacks primary color analysts for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Former Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Williams also did color commentary on occasion, as did Cardinals and NBC broadcast legend Joe Garagiola , a longtime Phoenix-area resident and father of Joe Garagiola Jr. ,

1378-653: The Diamondbacks have won two Wild Card Series , five NL West division titles, two NL pennants, and the 2001 World Series . They later became the fastest expansion franchise in baseball history to win a World Series. The Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees in Game 7 during the 2001 postseason. After beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4–2 in Game 7 of the 2023 NLCS at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia,

1431-490: The Diamondbacks made several off-season acquisitions, including future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson , who won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in his first four seasons with the team. In 1999 , Arizona won 100 games and their first division championship. In 2001 , they won the World Series over the three-time defending champion New York Yankees, becoming the fastest expansion team in major league history to win

1484-596: The Diamondbacks to call games with his father for the Reds beginning in 2007, signing a four-year deal. On November 1, 2006, the team announced that the TV voice of the Milwaukee Brewers since 2002, Daron Sutton , would be hired as the Diamondbacks primary TV play-by-play voice. Sutton was signed to a five-year contract with a team option for three more years. Sutton's signature chants included "let's get some runs" when

1537-413: The Diamondbacks wear several uniform combinations. At home, the Diamondbacks wore cream uniforms with purple pinstripes. The primary sleeved uniform, worn from 1998 to 2000, featured the full team name ("Diamond" and "Backs" stacked together) in front and chest numbers. The alternate sleeveless version contained the "A" logo on the right chest, and was paired with purple undershirts. Before the 2001 season,

1590-480: The World Series and the first and only men's major professional sports team in the State of Arizona to win a championship. 22 years later , they would return to the World Series , only to lose to the Texas Rangers in five games, thus earning the Diamondbacks their first World Series loss in team history. From 1998 to 2024, the Diamondbacks had an overall record of 2,087–2,185 (.489). On March 9, 1995, Phoenix

1643-684: The alternate black uniform. One design has the alternate "A" logo on the right chest, while the other has "Arizona" written in red with black and sand trim. The latter was introduced in 2013 as a tribute to the victims of the Yarnell Hill Fire . On both uniforms, player names were sand with red trim, and numbers in red with sand trim. Before the 2016 season, the Diamondbacks reincorporated teal into its color scheme while keeping Sedona Red, Sonoran Sand and black. They also unveiled eight different uniform combinations, including two separate home white and away grey uniforms. One major difference between

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1696-547: The announcers, but this arrangement ended prior to the 2009 season due to the team switching fully to Fox Sports Arizona and the lack of carriage of KPHE-LP on the Cox cable system. Roberto Alomar Randy Johnson Alan Trammell Joe Garagiola * signifies active Major League player Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders Tyler Eppler Tyler Austin Eppler (born January 5, 1993)

1749-559: The contract early for personal reasons. On June 30, 2023, Eppler signed with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League . In 7 starts for Monterrey, Eppler registered a 4–1 record and 4.23 ERA with 27 strikeouts across 38 + 1 ⁄ 3 innings pitched. On February 6, 2024, Eppler signed with the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League . His younger brother, Shelton , plays quarterback for

1802-477: The first GM of the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks announced in July 2007 that for the 2008 season, all regionally broadcast Diamondbacks TV games would be shown exclusively on Fox Sports Arizona (now Bally Sports Arizona ) and a few could possibly be shown on the national MLB on Fox telecasts. Bally Sports Arizona is seen in 2.8 million households in Arizona and New Mexico. The previous flagship station since

1855-531: The first time, and followed that up with two more appearances in 2004 and 2005. Their performance on the field has led to increased numbers in the stands, and the Curve increased attendance for five consecutive years before dipping by just a few thousand in 2005. Following the 2004 season, General Manager Todd Parnell was honored as the Eastern League Executive of the Year, and the franchise won

1908-584: The franchise was formally awarded in April. In June of that year, the "Curve" nickname was selected over several other proposals, including Lake Monsters, Ridge Runners, and the Altoona Fish. The name was inspired by nearby Horseshoe Curve , with many of the logos inspired by the former Pennsylvania Railroad which housed their maintenance facility in Altoona. The next step for the start of the Altoona Curve

1961-509: The full team name until the 2004 season, when it became exclusive to the road black uniform. The franchise unveiled new uniforms and colors of Sedona red, Sonoran sand and black on November 8, 2006. The red shade is named for the sandstone canyon at Red Rock State Park near Sedona , while the beige (sand) shade is named for the Sonoran Desert . A sleeve patch was added featuring a lowercase "d" and "b" configured to look like

2014-426: The inaugural 1998 season was KTVK (Channel 3), a popular over-the-air independent station (and former longtime ABC affiliate) in Phoenix. From 2009 to 2012, Grace and Sutton were tagged as the main broadcasters of the Diamondbacks with pre-game and postgame shows on Fox Sports Arizona, being hosted by Joe Borowski . On June 21, 2012, Sutton was suspended indefinitely amid rumors of insubordination. On August 24,

2067-491: The new franchises. The second spot in the new, larger Eastern League looked to be headed to Springfield, Massachusetts , but city native Bob Lozinak, developer Tate DeWeese, businessman Mark Thomas and a group of Pennsylvania lawmakers rallied to get the final spot, making a formal presentation to league officials on October 5, 1997. The proposal received unanimous support and Altoona won the other franchise. Groundbreaking on Blair County Ballpark took place on March 7, 1998, and

2120-421: The next three and Spurling pitched the ninth inning to complete the no-hitter. On July 25, 2013, Ethan Hollingsworth , Jason Townsend , Jhonathan Ramos and Ryan Beckman combined for the second no-hitter in Altoona Curve history. Hollingsworth pitched the first four innings, Townsend pitched the next three, Ramos pitched the eighth inning and Beckman pitched the ninth to complete the no-hitter. (Place listed

2173-419: The partners in the collective are Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis and NHL star Mario Lemieux . The first season under new ownership was the most successful to date, performance-wise as well as economically. During August of that year, the Pirates signed on for another four-year development agreement through the 2006 season. During the 2003 season, the Curve made the Eastern League playoffs for

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2226-411: The same features as the home uniform. The alternate Sedona red uniform incorporated the full "Diamondbacks" wordmark in black with teal and Sedona red outlines, along with teal numbers trimmed in black on the left chest. All uniforms featured the snake head alternate logo on either sleeve, with the sponsor logo ( Avnet since 2023) on the other sleeve. The home cap is Sedona red with black brim and featured

2279-548: The series three games to one. Later that month, it was announced that the Pirates would not be bringing back Altoona manager Matt Walbeck for the following season. In 2016, four Curve players were picked for the Eastern League All-Star Game— Tyler Eppler , Edwin Espinal, Jared Lakind , and Harold Ramírez . In conjunction with Major League Baseball 's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021,

2332-663: The sixth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft . He signed with the Pirates on June 11, 2014, for a signing bonus worth $ 200,000. Eppler made his professional debut with the Jamestown Jammers , pitching in 14 games, posting a 2.49 ERA. He played 2015 with the Bradenton Marauders and Altoona Curve , going 6–2 with a 3.14 ERA in 15 games. After the season he played in the Arizona Fall League . He spent 2016 with Altoona, pitching to

2385-478: The sleeved uniform was changed to feature the "A" logo. In all three uniforms, player names were teal with purple trim, and numbers were purple with white with teal trim. The Diamondbacks' primary road gray uniform also had purple pinstripes. The first version featured "Arizona" in purple with white and teal trim along with black drop shadows, with chest numbers added. Player names were in purple with white trim, and numbers were teal with white and purple trim. In 2001,

2438-416: The teal-trimmed grey uniforms were retired. The team also reverted to a standard grey uniform after wearing a darker shade on the previous set. Two home white uniforms remain in use: the primary Sedona Red and the alternate teal. They would also wear two black uniforms: one with the primary "A" logo on the left chest and the other with "Los D-Backs" trimmed in teal. Three cap designs were also unveiled, all with

2491-450: The team announced that Grace had requested an indefinite leave of absence after being arrested for his second DUI in less than two years. Grace was later indicted on four DUI counts. ) For the remainder of the 2012 season, Sutton was replaced by Greg Schulte (Jeff Munn replaced Schulte on the radio broadcast) and Grace was replaced by Luis Gonzalez. At the end of the 2012 season, the team announced that neither Sutton nor Grace would return for

2544-473: The team's first nine seasons of play was Thom Brennaman , who also broadcast baseball and college football games nationally for Fox Television . Brennaman was the TV announcer for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds (along with his father Marty Brennaman ) before being hired by Diamondbacks founder Jerry Colangelo in 1996, two years before the team would begin play. In October 2006, Brennaman left

2597-446: The two sets is that the non-teal uniforms feature a snakeskin pattern on the shoulders, while the teal-trimmed uniforms include a charcoal/grey snakeskin pattern on the back. Arizona also kept the throwback pinstriped sleeveless uniforms from their 2001 championship season for use during Thursday home games. Starting with the 2020 season, the Diamondbacks made slight redesigns to their uniforms. The snakeskin patterns were removed while

2650-463: The uniform became sleeveless with black undershirts, and the lettering scheme was changed to purple with white, copper and black accents. The alternate home purple uniform featured "Arizona" in teal with white and copper trim and black drop shadows. The letters were rendered in teal with copper and white trim, but were changed to copper with teal and white trim after only one season. This set was worn until 2002. The alternate road black uniform featured

2703-534: Was announced in February 2023 that he would be retiring after the 2023 MLB season. He would call games with analyst Tom Candiotti. Jeff Munn served as a backup radio play-by-play announcer until 2016; he served as the regular public address announcer at Chase Field in the early days of the franchise. He previously served as the public address announcer for the Suns in the 1990s at what became Footprint Center . He

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2756-620: Was awarded an expansion franchise to begin play for the 1998 season. A $ 130 million franchise fee was paid to Major League Baseball and on January 16, 1997, the Diamondbacks were voted into the National League. The Diamondbacks' first major league game was played against the Colorado Rockies on March 31, 1998 , at Bank One Ballpark. The ballpark was renamed Chase Field in 2005, as a result of Bank One Corporation 's merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Since their debut,

2809-482: Was to find a major league affiliate. The Erie SeaWolves had already had several successful seasons in the Pirates' organization, as a short-season single-A affiliate. In the end, however, the Pirates chose Altoona for their AA affiliate. The Altoona Curve began their first season on the road at the Reading Phillies on April 9, 1999. Their first game was suspended by rain and completed the next day as part of

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