Diamondbacks announce first players to be in team Hall of Fame
Before Saturday's game, the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrated their 25th anniversary season, and play-by-play broadcaster Greg Schulte announced that the team will be introducing a Hall of Fame during the 2024 season. Their 1998 expansion counterpart, the Tampa Bay Rays, announced their own team Hall of Fame in February.
The initial members of the team Hall of Fame will be Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez, two of the key contributors to the 2001 World Series-winning team. Schulte, who announced that he is retiring after the season after being with the team since 1998, threw out the first pitch to Gonzalez after making the announcement.
"Who better to be the two inaugural inductees during the 2024 season than No. 20 and No. 51," Schulz said during the announcement.
Johnson played in Arizona for eight seasons, winning four-straight Cy Young Awards between 1999–2002, and was the co-MVP of the 2001 World Series. He threw 1,630.1 innings for the team and struck out 2,077. His 50.9 WAR accrued with the team is the most in franchise history, meaning he is the most valuable player to ever play for the franchise.
Gonzalez was the World Series hero, hitting the game-winning single in Game 7 to clinch the title. He has the most WAR for a retired position player in franchise history and is fourth all-time overall with 30.0, behind Paul Goldschmidt (33.9) and Brandon Webb (31.1).
In attendance for the anniversary alongside Johnson and Gonzalez were Curt Schilling, Miquel Batista, Tony Womack, David Dellucci and Matt Williams, who is currently coaching the Diamondbacks opponent for the game, the San Diego Padres.
Arizona won Saturday's game 3-0 to snap its nine-game losing streak.
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