On September 19th, the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees will meet again at Chase Field. But before a pitch is thrown, Arizona will return to the night it became a baseball town.
Before the first pitch, members of the 2001 World Series championship team will take the field for a special reunion ceremony marking 25 years since the Diamondbacks defeated New York in one of the most unforgettable finishes in baseball history.
At the center of that history is Jerry Colangelo, the founding owner and chief executive who brought Major League Baseball to Arizona and built the fastest expansion franchise ever to win a World Series.
Few individuals have had a greater impact on the world of sports, business, and real estate than Jerry. From his humble beginnings on the South Side of Chicago to shaping the landscape of professional basketball, baseball, and urban development in Arizona, his journey is one of vision, perseverance, and leadership.
Jerry arrived in Phoenix in 1968 at age 28 to help build the Phoenix Suns from the ground up. He later helped launch the Phoenix Mercury, brought Major League Baseball to the Valley, rebuilt USA Basketball and played a pivotal role in transforming downtown Phoenix into a sports and business hub. His influence on the city is why he is fittingly dubbed the Godfather of Phoenix.
From the beginning, his approach extended beyond winning games.
“This community owes us nothing,” he said during his first Suns press conference. “We have to earn the support and respect of the community by how we conduct ourselves, not only on the court, but in the community.”
That philosophy would eventually become part of the foundation of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Long before the franchise existed, baseball was young Jerry's first dream.
“I thought I was going to be a pitcher in the major leagues, and that was my first love originally. I was a lefty and had opportunities to sign contracts.”
But basketball ultimately changed his course. It brought him to Phoenix, led to nearly four decades with the Suns and prepared him for the opportunity to build another professional franchise in a completely different sport.
The path back to baseball began in 1993, shortly after the Suns lost to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Jerry was in his office at the arena when Joe Garagiola Jr. and county official Jim Bruner came to see him. Their message was direct. Arizona was ready for Major League Baseball, and they believed Jerry was the person to make it happen.
His plate was already full. Initially, he could not imagine taking on something of that magnitude. Then the memories began returning.
He thought about growing up on the South Side of Chicago, falling asleep while listening to baseball games on the radio and believing he might one day pitch in the major leagues himself.
Jerry agreed to explore the possibility. He called baseball owners around the country, including George Steinbrenner and Jerry Reinsdorf, to ask what they thought of Phoenix as a Major League market. Their encouragement pushed him forward.
“I went out and met with more people. I looked at buildings around the country and then came back and said to them, okay, let’s give it a shot. Let’s go for it.”
The response was immediate. Jerry recalls approximately $70 million in potential investment coming forward after the announcement that Phoenix would pursue a team.
For someone who had spent his career in basketball, moving into Major League Baseball did not feel like entering unfamiliar territory.
“People say, well, you know, that’s baseball. That’s different than basketball,” he says. “And I said, the only difference is the size of the ball. The business is still the same.”
The Diamondbacks were awarded to Arizona in 1995 and began playing in 1998. Before the first pitch was ever thrown, the organization sold 36,000 season tickets.
The inaugural season unfolded much like a traditional expansion year. The team struggled, some season ticket holders did not renew and Jerry realized the original plan needed to change.
The Diamondbacks had intended to build patiently through the draft and farm system. Declining ticket revenue forced a reassessment.
Colangelo called his partners together.
“I said, we’re going to have to do something different. Let’s go get some free agents. Let’s win now.”
That decision altered the trajectory of the franchise.
The roster that followed included Jay Bell, Matt Williams, Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. In only their second season, the Diamondbacks won 100 games and the National League West. Two seasons later, they reached the World Series.
Waiting for them were the New York Yankees, the most storied franchise in baseball and the winners of three consecutive championships.
During the first round of interviews with national and international media, Jerry was asked how it felt to reach the World Series faster than any expansion team before them.
“We feel blessed. We feel honored,” he told them. “And it can’t get any more exciting than this. Here we are playing the most storied franchise in the history of baseball, the New York Yankees. And if we’re going to win our first World Series, why not?”
Then came a prediction so specific it is almost difficult to believe 25 years later.
“The series will go seven games,” Jerry said. “We will win it in the seventh game in front of our home crowd. It’ll be the ninth inning, the bases loaded, two outs, and Gonzo at the plate.”
The series did go seven games. Game 7 was played in Arizona. The Diamondbacks entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 2 to 1 before rallying against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. The bases were loaded when Gonzalez stepped to the plate and delivered the walk-off single that made Arizona a world champion.
“It all happened, except there was one out, not two.”
As the ninth inning unfolded, Jerry sat beside the Diamondbacks dugout and watched.
“I said, Lord, you have a funny sense of humor,” he recalls. “I worked my whole life to win an NBA championship, and we couldn’t do it. But we’re about to win a World Series.”
Then Gonzo’s hit dropped into the outfield.
Colangelo cried. Fans celebrated through the night, and he never went to sleep. Early the next morning, President George W. Bush called to congratulate him.
“I said, where the he** were you last night? You’re supposed to call me in a locker room.”
Jerry's Diamondbacks legacy also extends beyond what happened on the field; rather, the field itself.
Colangelo helped create the ballpark originally known as Bank One Ballpark and now Chase Field. Its retractable roof made summer baseball possible in Phoenix, while its downtown location helped reshape the center of the city.
“It was a great time building the buildings downtown, you know, the arena, the ballpark, the theater, and being part of turning downtown into a real downtown."
That larger vision is why his influence remains inseparable from Arizona sports. He did not simply assemble teams. He created institutions around which a growing city could gather.
But there's always been something special about baseball.
“It was a family affair to sit on a porch and listen to a game on the radio because we didn’t have TV at the time. It bonded people together, in my opinion.”
On September 19th, parents who watched the 2001 World Series will bring their children to see Arizona’s first major championship team return to the field where history was made. And once again, the opponent will be the New York Yankees.
The full interview with Jerry Colangelo is now streaming on the Now with Nadine podcast.
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