Bob Brenly has heard the question a hundred times in the past month. How is a team that has won a World Series and back-to-back division titles packing its bags for a fall with no playoffs?
The defense was supposed to be one of the best in the majors. With former Gold Glovers and All-Stars at five positions, Arizona was a preseason World Series favorite.
But all of that hope was lost for good last week when the team was eliminated from the postseason.
After watching much of the season from the dugout, first baseman Mark Grace, who announced his retirement at the conclusion of the season, just kept swinging the way that Cubs and Diamondbacks fans have always known him to do.
"I talked to a few guys out there and told them it was fun to play against them, but by the same token you're still out there trying to get hits - it's still Major League Baseball," Grace said.
During Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Cardinals, Grace went 2-for-3 while contributing his 511th career double in the opening frame. Attempting to start a rally in the sixth, Grace again laced a Sterling Hitchcock fastball into right field for his second hit of the day and the final hit of his 16-year career. The single raised Grace's season average from .194 to .200, but Brenley then pulled him, sending rookie Matt Kata to pinch run.
When Grace came off the field, he was greeted by a loud ovation and a flock of smiling Diamondbacks, spurring the first of two curtain calls on the weekend.
"[The fans' reaction] was very humbling and very flattering," said the 39 year-old veteran. "For some reason, these fans have taken to me, and I can't thank them enough. The three years I've played out here have been fabulous. I've had a lot of fun playing for them."
Brenly applauded Grace's hitting Saturday, saying, "Especially hitting the double. That's kind of been his signature hit throughout his career, and to step up there in the first inning and whack that ball down the right field line, it was very fitting for Gracie to hit a double his first time up."
It was almost poetic justice as Grace spoke to a mob of reporters in front of his locker Saturday. Grace and reporters could see the celebration in Chicago from the Cubs' division championship on the miniature television in Luis Gonzalez's locker. After all, 405 of Grace's doubles came in a Cubs uniform.
Still a competitor, the last thing Grace wanted to do was come out of the game when he did.
"When I saw the runner, I was surprised," Grace said. "I was the tying run, and they probably wanted some speed out there. I told Kata that I would have scored on Alex [Cintron's] hit, probably standing, so he got an earful."
Brenly admitted that his plan was to keep Grace in the entire game, but he said he felt Kata's speed would have given the Diamondbacks a better chance to win.
The decision may have backfired for Brenly. In the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and third and two outs, Grace's spot in the order came back to the plate. Only this time, Lyle Overbay was batting.
Overbay grounded out
"I was watching and told Randy [Johnson] and Curt [Schilling] when we were getting stuff going in the ninth inning, 'You know what, guys? If I'm still in the game, I'm on deck.' Then I would have been up there with guys on first and third.
"For 16 years that's what I've lived for, those situations. I've come through on some of them, and I've certainly failed on some of them, but it would have been nice to have been out there for that one."
Grace left Bank One Ballpark on a high note after a frustrating year in which he lived below .200 for 160 of 162 games.
"To get a couple of hits in your last start makes you feel good. I think I may hold off retirement and play another year," he said jokingly.
What does Grace's future hold? Coaching? Broadcasting? Could he join Tony Gwynn in San Diego State's dugout as a coach?
"I think they've got a pretty good coach there," Grace said. "We'd have some fun, that's for sure, but Tony's in good shape over there."
In the end, Grace left baseball the way he began it 16 years ago at Wrigley Field - smiling and loving every second of it.
Reach the reporter at damien.tippett@asu.edu.
