MILWAUKEE – When the topic of his candidacy for the National League Manager of the Year award was broached by a reporter in September, Kirk Gibson bristled and got angry, perhaps the first time in sports history that an interview subject was upset by a positive question.

---

Profile: Kirk Gibson

---

Gibson might have to grudgingly accept some praise Wednesday.

The Baseball Writers Association of America will announce its Managers of the Year at noon (Arizona time) Wednesday, and it is widely expected that Gibson will take home some hardware. Already last month he was named the Sporting News Manager of the Year.

Gibson, attempting to keep the focus on the team and on winning, was reluctant to endorse any of his players for national awards and took the same approach when anyone suggested he were a candidate.

But now that the season is over – a season in which the Diamondbacks won 94 games, captured a division title and reached the playoffs for the first time in four years – perhaps Gibson will be a little more willing to reflect on what most consider a job well done.

“He was very important for us,” right-hander Ian Kennedy said. “His tenacity and fire for the game – the entire coaching staff had the same makeup. . . . I think that’s why we won so many games late in games.

“That never-give-in type of attitude. When your manager is harping on it all the time and he’s just as fiery late in games, it kind of rubs off on you as a player.”

In most years, the award goes to a manager whose club vastly exceeded expectations. The 2011 Diamondbacks fit those criteria. Almost no one picked them to win the division, and even some Diamondbacks players admitted to skepticism early in the season.

Gibson, meanwhile, remains “Steady Eddie,” in the words of Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers.

“He kind of stayed the course,” Towers said. “He kept us on line, kept us focused and when we were winning he kept us humble. When we were losing some games, he kept us from panicking. To me, your great leaders kind of emerge during difficult times. That’s when they really need to lead. I thought he was at his best when we were at our worst, at times.”

Towers thought Gibson, who was in his first full season as a manager, looked the part of someone who had been preparing for this opportunity for years and who had learned from managers he had during his playing days, naming Jim Leyland and Sparky Anderson as influences.

Gibson was rewarded by ownership with a contract extension that runs through 2014 and includes a club option for two additional years.

His veteran coaching staff, which Gibson constantly credited for helping to implement and execute his vision, also received extensions; they are under contract through 2013.

“You know how I feel about them,” Gibson said last month. “Those guys show great leadership and direction. They didn’t waver the whole year. They’re baseball rats, and I think the guys look up to them.”

(Sports Network) – After back-to-back seasons with over 90 losses there
weren’t many people who were picking the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the
National League West this season.

But that’s exactly what happened, as Arizona returns to the postseason for the
first time since 2007 and opens the best-of-five National League Division
Series on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Arizona lost 97 games last season and was an afterthought heading into this
year. However, the team took on the identity of manager Kirk Gibson, got
terrific seasons from an emerging ace in Ian Kennedy and a burgeoning
superstar in Justin Upton and easily claimed the fifth division title in team
history, finishing a comfortable eight games in front of the defending world
champion San Francisco Giants.

“We finished a great regular season,” Gibson said. “The team came together
well, we’re healthy, and now we’ve got some decisions to make to see how we’re
going to attack the Brewers.”

Gibson’s crew battled the Brewers for the second seed in the National League
up until the season’s final day before Milwaukee finally emerged.

While securing home-field for the first round was an important goal for both
Milwaukee and Arizona, it was even more important for the Brewers, who set a
franchise record by going 57-24 at Miller Park this season.

“It’s special, said Ryan Braun. “We recognize that we’re a really tough team
to beat here. It’s a huge advantage for us to know that we have home-field
advantage, at least for the first round. It was definitely a goal of ours from
the beginning of the year.”

The Brewers were a trendy pick in NL Central entering the year thanks to the
acquisitions of Shaun Marcum and Zach Greinke, After a rough start to the year
Milwaukee began to separate itself from the pack and claimed its first
division title since winning the American League East in 1982, the same year
of the team’s last and only trip to the World Series.

Milwaukee is back in the postseason for the first time since 2007 and only the
fourth time in team history.

Arizona won four of its seven meetings with the Diamondbacks this past season.

LINEUP

The Brewers are led by a pair of NL MVP candidates in outfielder Ryan Braun
and first baseman and pending free agent Prince Fielder.

Braun has become one of the best right-handed sluggers in the game and
finished the year second in batting at .332. He also hit 33 home runs with 111
RBI, 109 runs scored and stole 30 bases.

Fielder caught some heat late in the year for alluding to the fact that this
is probably his last year with the Brewers, but he produced yet another great
season, playing in every game and hitting at least 35 home runs with 120 RBI
for a sixth straight season.

Second baseman Rickie Weeks suffered what could have been a season-ending
ankle injury in late July before returning in September. Although he had just
one extra-base hit after returning, but is still a dangerous hitter.

Cory Hart didn’t quite match his breakout 2010 campaign, but still swatted
26 home runs. Fellow outfielder Nyjer Morgan may be a bit eccentric, but often
supplies a much needed spark on the basepaths.

While not as impressive as Braun and Fielder’s MVP cases, people in Arizona
will tell you that Justin Upton is every bit as good as his counterparts. The
right-fielder set a career-high in games played (159) and hit .289, while
setting personal-highs with 31 home runs, 88 RBI and 105 runs scored.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit 30 homers in 366 at-bats at Double-A Mobile
before jumping to the big leagues, and hit a homer off Tim Lincecum in his
first game up at the beginning of August. He ended the year with eight homers
and 26 RBI.

Miguel Montero continued to emerge as one of the best catchers in baseball
this season. He hits .282 with 18 home runs and 86 RBI, but it was his work
behind the plate this season that bought rave reviews.

Center fielder Chris Young also became the first Diamondbacks player with
three 20-20 seasons, finishing with 20 homers and 22 steals.

EDGE: BREWERS

STARTING PITCHING

Milwaukee will open the series with right-hander Yovani Gallardo, who led
the team in wins (17) and strikeouts (207) while working 207 1/3 innings, and
pitched the team’s only complete game.

Over his final three regular-season starts Gallardo pitched to a 1.77 ERA and
struck out 36 batters over 20 1/3 frames.

“I’m going to just focus on the game,” said Gallardo, who did not allow an
earned run in seven innings in the 2008 postseason. “That’s the goal.
Obviously, it’s going to be exciting for all of us, but I just need to do what
I’ve been doing all year.”

Who starts the second game is still up in the air. Roenicke had wanted to go
with righty Zack Greinke on short rest in Game 2 since he was 11-0 with a 3.13
ERA in 15 Miller Park starts this season.

Gallardo and Greinke combined for 31 Miller Park starts with the Brewers
winning 28 of those games, 15 of them being Greinke assignments,

However he threw 74 pitches on short rest on Wednesday and will instead go in
Game 3 on Tuesday. Instead it will likely be righty Shaun Marcum in Game 2.
He was 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 16 road starts, compared to a 5-4, 4.81 ERA at
home.

Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, who led the team with 212 1/3 innings pitched,
will probably start a Game 4 if needed.

Like the Brewers, the Diamondbacks have no concerns on who starts Game 1, as
that will fall on the right arm of NL Cy Young Award candidate Ian Kennedy.
The 26-year-old hurler enjoyed a breakout campaign that saw him go 21-4 with a
2.88 ERA. He ended the year strong winning 13 of his final 14 decisions,
including his last six.

Righty Daniel Hudson should get the ball in Game 2. Hudson was 16-12 on the
year, but lost his last three starts.

Veteran Joe Saunders will likely get the call in Game 3 with rookie Josh
Collmenter taking the hill in Game 4 if needed.

EDGE: BREWERS

BULLPEN

THe Brewers bolstered their bullpen in a big way over the All-Star break,
acquiring Francisco Rodriguez to be the eighth-inning guy for closer John
Axford.

After tutoring under Trevor Hoffman until taking over the job last year,
Axford set a Brewers franchise saves record with 46 this season and hasn’t
blown one since April,

K-Rod is not happy in his role, but he gets the job done and hasn’t allowed a
run in his last 15 appearances. He along with veterans like righty LaTroy
Hawkins and lefty Takashi Saito give the Brewers a bullpen full of former
closers.

Righties Kameron Loe appeared in 72 games, and Marco Estrada, as well as left-
hander Chris Narveson could also be called upon.

J.J. Putz re-established himself as one of the best closers in baseball this
season, as he amassed a career high with 45 saves, while converting his last
23 successfully. His biggest contribution may have been in the clubhouse,
though, for a very young Diamondbacks team.

Right-hander David Hernandez, acquired from Baltimore in the Mark Reynolds
deal, has been the primary bridge to Putz and even went 9-for-9 in save
chances when he was hurt. Side-arming righty Brad Ziegler was a non-waiver
trade deadline pickup and has been solid. Gibson will use Joe Paterson and
Alberto Castillo to get lefties out.

EDGE: BREWERS

BENCH

Jerry Hairston Jr. can play almost everywhere on the field and was an
invaluable addition when Weeks went down. Carlos Gomez will see some time in
the outfield and could be used as a late inning pinch running option.

There is a good chance that Gibson opts to start Lyle Overbay at first in
place of the young Goldschmidt. Either way he has a bat with pretty good pop
at his disposal off the bench. Geoff Blum was slated to be the team’s starting
third baseman but had a knee injury at the outset before breaking his pinkie.
Although he’s only had 49 at-bats, he could be useful here in October. Collin
Cowgill will also likely be on the roster and can play all three outfield
positions.

EDGE: DIAMONDBACKS

PROGNOSIS

This could be the best of the four Division Series matchups as both teams are
so evenly matched. Milwaukee is a little deeper in the starting rotation
department and has a little more pop in its lineup and that should be the
difference. Gallardo, Marcum and Greinke are a pretty solid 1-2-3. Not to
mention in a tight series like this, it’s always wise to go with the team with
home-field advantage. I don’t think it gets to a fifth game, though.

Prediction: BREWERS in FOUR

The Sports Network

Each week The Republic visits with a member of the Diamondbacks for a series of on-the-spot questions.

This week: Pitcher Jarrod Parker.

Question: How exciting is it to be called up from the minors just as the team is narrowing in on winning the division title? The timing was pretty good, huh?

Answer: It’s awesome. To leave a team (Double-A Mobile) that won a championship and come to another team that’s having such a successful season, it’s kind of surreal.

Q: There’s a chance we might get to see you pitch before it’s over. Is that going to happen and do you want it to happen badly?

A: Whatever they decided. I’ll be ready to go whenever they say, so when it happens, I’m ready. I’ll just wait until I get the call down in the bullpen.

Q: You’re a starting pitcher, but you have spent the past couple of games sitting in the bullpen with the relievers. Does it matter to you if that’s how you make your big-league debut, coming out of the pen?

A: Probably right now, it’s best to come out of the bullpen because I’ve thrown a lot of innings this year and am coming off an injury, so yeah, probably the bullpen.

Q: Have you been able to soak up the playoff atmosphere in the short time you’ve been here?

A: It’s been pretty good, especially with the guys in the bullpen. Everybody’s locked in and when the phone rings, everybody gets ready.

Q: Did you expect to be here this year at some point?

A: Yeah, obviously it’s a goal to go to big-league camp . . . so I was definitely shooting for it and that’s what I was working for each day.

Q: You and the Mobile Bay Bears won the Southern League championship. What memories will you take from that experience?

A: Just everything. Staying healthy, competing each day, just learning how to maintain stuff and be back into a full season. It was nice to be healthy again, and I definitely learned a lot about myself and who I became this year.

Q: When I say ‘Tommy John surgery,’ does it seem like a distant memory to you. It’s been two years since you had the operation performed, after all.

A: Yeah, for sure. It’s been a long time since that and it’s nice to move on.

Q: I hear you’re quite the video-game junkie, is that true?

A: (Laughs) That’s true. Very true.

Q: What game are you playing the most these days?

A: Right now, I’m playing the new NHL one. I just got that the other day, so I plugged it right in and have already played a bunch of games.

Q: You play against people online a lot, don’t you?

A: Oh, yeah. All the time.

Q: Do you play against fellow baseball players or teammates?

A: No, but I’ve got buddies that play all the time.

Q: Do you play a lot of video baseball?

A: Uh, I don’t actually have a baseball game.

Q: What? You’re a professional baseball player. How do you not have a video baseball game?

A: (Laughs) I don’t know. That’s a great question.

Q: Are you going to get one then? Do you want to borrow one?

A: No. That’s OK. Maybe one day.

Q: There’s got to be some teammates up here with the Diamondbacks you can play against, right?

A: Yeah, I’ve heard there’s a few. I know ( Bryan) Shaw is really into it. He’s a big gamer.

Q: Have you started to pick anything up from closer J.J. Putz in the way of just knowing how to go about your business up here?

A: Yeah, definitely. He’s been doing it so long and he knows the way and he’s not afraid to give advice. He listens, too, and I’ve already shot some questions at him and the answers have been great.

Q: You’re from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Do you go home much?

A: Yeah, I was home last off-season and I’ll be back and forth this off-season.

Q: But you’re going to live here in Arizona, right?

A: Possibly, yeah.

Q: Do you have a home picked out yet?

A: No, not even close.

Q: Well, you might want to start thinking about it because spring training is going to be here before you know it, right?

A: Yeah. I’ll start thinking about it.

From shut down to called up, Jarrod Parker was in a daze Monday.

It was not just because the prime pitching prospect was experiencing his first day as with the Diamondbacks. It also was caused by operating on four hours of sleep after learning of his call-up after his Double-A Mobile team won the Southern League championship Sunday night.

The 24-hour turnaround was nearly as stark as his turnaround this year. Parker went from missing 2010 for Tommy John surgery on his right elbow to maintaining his status as the Diamondbacks’ top prospect with a stellar comeback season. Feeling just like the pitcher he was in 2009 but with added strength, Parker went 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 112 strikeouts and 55 walks in 130 2/3 innings this season.

“It’s like the complete opposite of where I was last year,” Parker said.

It took a monotonous summer of workouts and throwing to get back to where he is without losing velocity on his fastball. Parker, 22, said he used his slider only as needed until he regained comfort with it and went to more change-ups and curves. The Diamondbacks’ No. 9 overall 2007 draft pick wound up being able to throw more innings than expected and is now with the parent club for a role that manager Kirk Gibson said might include just occasional work.

“He started out earlier in the year not very good because he hadn’t pitched,” Gibson said. “He just needed to pitch. Then he’s kind of started to learn some things and turned from just being a thrower into more of a pitcher.

“We thought he was deserving to come up here and experience what we’re going through, and understand what it’s all about in preparation for hopefully a bright future.”

Parker did not know he was heading to Phoenix until Mobile manager Turner Ward capped his post-championship locker room speech with the news. It was a long path from when he struggled in his first outing during big-league camp, but he said he stuck to short-term goals to find his way to a long-term goal.

“I never doubted,” Parker said. “I wasn’t going to hold anything back.”

Young gaining

Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young has not always hit like he wanted this season but he has drawn walks consistently.

Perhaps at the ideal time of the year, Young might just being doing both at the plate. In the previous nine games entering Monday, Young had 10 hits and 10 walks in 38 plate appearances (.526 on-base percentage). Young set a career high for walks in a season with his 75th base on balls in Monday night’s fourth inning.

“I feel like I’ve been decent all year as far as that because I’ve been trying to be patient when the time is right,” said Young, who entered Monday batting .232. “I’m just trying to get on base and manufacture runs however possible. I’m not trying to get the big home run all the time.”

Pressure-packed

Gibson on his club’s penchant for pressure: “I don’t know why we’re gluttons for it. In my career, I just loved the feeling. There are probably not many people would not love the feeling of all that pressure. It’s hard to explain, but I think it’s one of the ways that, in the end, you measure yourself of how you reacted and who you were and how you contributed in those situations.”

Republic reporter Jim Gintonio contributed to this article.

Each week The Republic visits with a member of the Diamondbacks for a series of on-the-spot questions. This week: Starting pitcher Josh Collmenter.

Question: There were people I heard on sports talk radio and some fans as well who were ready to give up on you after you ran into a series of tough starts. But you came back and pretty much stuck it to them. How rewarding has that been?

Answer: Well, I think all along the way I’ve had to try and prove people wrong. Everything’s kind of unorthodox with what I do. It’s probably added a little fuel to the fire, though, just to keep me going. But I know if I do what I can do as a pitcher then I can have success and it’s just a matter of consistency and making sure I’m doing that every time out.

Q: A big part of this game is confidence. How much is confidence a big part of what you do?

A: I think it’s big. You have to go out there and think that any time you face any team that you can get those guys out. If you have any doubt in your mind, then you’re already beat a little bit. You just throw every pitch with conviction and trust it’s going to do what it does. I heard one time that the worst pitch you can throw is one without conviction, so I try to make sure every time I go out there I pitch to contact, to the zone where I want, and force those guys to take swings and not wait around and let them get the pitch they want to hit.

Q: Your change-up has been incredibly effective for you this year, but I think it’s the curveball that’s throwing a lot of guys off. Would you agree with that?

A: Yeah, especially because a lot of guys haven’t seen it often. It’s kind of a surprise pitch and when I’m on, I can drop it in to seal a strike or even an out. They see it late coming into the strike zone and just have to throw the bat at it a lot of times. It’s a pitch I definitely want to continue to work on and continue to master.

Q: If you only throw it seven times an outing, it can still be effective, right?

A: Yeah and I think that’s part of why it’s successful and why it works, because it usually comes at a completely unexpected time and usually catches them off balance.

Q: You’re eligible for National League Rookie of the Year consideration. If it wasn’t for Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel, who has 43 saves, (including Thursday’s) do you think you’d have a shot?

A: He’s having a tremendous rookie season, but I’m not trying to think about stuff like that too much. I just try to take care of my business and do what I can for the team and all the personal stuff comes secondary to that.

Q: People have been trying to give you a nickname based on that straight, over-the-top delivery you have. I’ve heard “The Ferris Wheel” and “The Tomahawk.” What do you think of those?

A: I’ve heard those. A lot of guys have compared me in the past to the old Iron Mike pitching machines, where the arm comes right up over the top. That’s another popular one, I guess.

Q: You actually used to practice throwing tomahawks in the woods back home in Michigan, though, correct?

A: Yeah, that’s a true story. If that’s what led to this arm angle or whether it’s just the way I was made, that’s how I’ve thrown since I first picked up a baseball and so far, it’s carried me this far.

Q: If you had a tomahawk in your hand right now, could you imbed it into one of those lockers across the clubhouse?

A: I’d give it a try. I don’t have the rotation down exactly, but I figure if I got close enough it would do some damage.

Q: So what’s it been like to be involved in a playoff race?

A: Unbelievable. Just to come up and get to experience this was fun. But then a few months after that, to be where we’re at and have a pretty good lead in our division and playing really good baseball down the stretch, it’s what everyone dreams about. A lot of guys spend their entire career without even sniffing the postseason so to be in the middle of it and contributing my first year is even more than I could have dreamed for. It’s just a lot of fun coming in here with these guys every day. The attitude in the dugout and around the locker room is just exceptional. It’s a good environment, a good place to be and it’s what baseball is all about.

Q: You’re from Homer, Mich., and they threw a day in your honor back there when you and the Diamondbacks were in Michigan to play the Tigers. What was that experience like?

A: For what they were able to do in just a couple of days really shows what that small town is all about. Things like that don’t happen every day there. They’re behind you 100 percent and will root for you and cheer for you all the way through. That’s how they are. Everybody knows everybody. I hear from a lot of people back there and they’re all excited and proud and I think you get a sense of ownership that it’s one of their own is doing this so they feel like they’re part of it, too.

Q: I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but how nice would it be for you if the Diamondbacks and Tigers were to meet in the World Series?

A: I’ve been hearing that from a lot of friends back home and they said they’d be torn on who to cheer. Most of them say if I pitched against them they’d be rooting for me but that they’d pull for the Tigers to win the Series. I haven’t convinced them all to be Diamondbacks fans quite yet, but I’m working on it.

At this point in the season, it has been said a countless amount of times — the Arizona Diamondbacks are surprising everyone in baseball. With a five-game lead in the NL West with a month left before the playoffs, it has been quite a ride, especially since the team was not expect to contend this year at all. Some projections had them battling to stay out of the division cellar. 

There is one player that essentially epitomizes the season that the Diamondbacks are having. That player is third baseman Ryan Roberts, who is having quite the year despite how it started back in spring training.

Roberts is on the verge of joining the 20-20 club. After his leadoff HR on Monday, he now has 17 homers and 16 stolen bases. He is batting .259 with a very respectable OPS of .793. He has played a career-high 121 games thus far. All of this comes from a guy who was not supposed to make the big league squad. 

Roberts was caught in a numbers game in the infield. The team had signed veterans Melvin Mora and Geoff Blum to play third base after Mark Reynolds was traded. Roberts was impossible to get out in spring training, but the numbers were against him. He made the major league roster only because Blum got injured. 

Roberts continued hitting when he got opportunities and Mora was ineffective and was eventually released. Blum returned only to get hurt again. As a result, Roberts has kept playing. When the trade deadline came around, many believed that the team would make a move to acquire a third baseman. It never happened. 

At this point, much like the D-Backs have somehow found ways to win and succeed, Roberts has somehow managed to establish himself as the team’s third baseman. 

Is this what he pictured his year to be? “I can’t say no or yes,” he explains. “It started with making the team and then once I made the team it started with just trying to break into the lineup everyday.”

He talks the way his manager Kirk Gibson handles things. Roberts isn’t saying that he doubted his talents at all, but he is recognizing the need to, as they say in baseball, keep grinding as the year goes on. He acknowledges that he has “been fortunate to play a lot” and “blessed to get ABs.”

Does he look at a milestone like reaching 20-20? “I look at it,” he said. “You can’t help but look at it.”

As baseball milestones go, hopefully he can reach it and put that feather in his cap. It would be fitting in a year where a team like the Diamondbacks can, at least the way it is looking for now, make it to the postseason. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 30: Ryan Roberts #14 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on July 30, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The Diamondbacks defeated the Dodgers 6-4. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)