In honor of the Snakepit’s 20th anniversary, I thought we’d take a minute to reflect on our shared memories of the site.
What is your favorite Snakepit article written by someone else?
Spencer: I don’t have a particular favorite, but almost anything Mak writes intrigues me. And most recently I really enjoyed The Deathball: An Important Pitch to the Dbacks in 2025 That You’ve Likely Never Heard Of by Jeffern51. Between these two authors I can find a reason to be excited about the team even in the darkest of times.
Wesley: I enjoy the majority of Mak’s output on the Snakepit, too. I think the draft coverage I’ve done with James, Spencer, and Michael is by far what I’ve enjoyed the most. I’ve learned a lot from James’ pre draft coverage as well.
ISH95: For me, that has to be the classic recap “Choose Your Own Misadventure” by former writer azreous. The 2011 Diamondbacks were in the middle of a prolonged slump, not entirely unlike one of the ones the 2023 Diamondbacks had on a couple of occasions, and around here we handled adversity… differently, shall we say, back then. It’s really a masterpiece of writing, planning, and more html than I would have cared to use to pull it off. Worth a read even now, somehow thirteen years later.
Justin: Everyone is giving Mak love, and rightfully so I agree, but I was to give a shoutout to DBE and the “Your Random Dback” series. I also liked Fang Foods when that was a thing.
Makakilo: We have a wonderful team of writers. Instead of picking a favorite article, I’ve picked a baker’s dozen by current AZ Snakepit writers.
- An insightful on-target bullpen article. 1AZfan1
- Why Perdomo is awesome, written before the extension. 1AZfan1
- Optimism in explaining why the D-back rotation will be awesome. jeffern51
- Great diagrams explaining the deathball pitch. Jeffern51
- An article about reliable relievers. DBacksEurope
- A look at international players signed by the D-backs in 2021. mcbenseigs
- Why Corbin Carroll should play in right field (which I strongly believe). mcbenseigs
- I liked the humor. Justin27
- A second interview with Taylor Widener. C Wesley Baier
- In-depth insights on Paul Sewald and Justin Martinez. James Attwood
- Player review of Joc Pederson. ImStillHungry95
- I won the ticket lottery and intended to buy tickets in my time slot. It did not happen. Instead, I enjoyed reading about Jim’s experience at the Savannah Bananas game. Jim McLennan
DBacksEurope: Thanks for the shoutout, Justin. Really appreciate it. Those articles cost me a lot of time, hopefully I will find the time again to write them. I just thought for half an hour on an article, but I think everyone on here and past writers all have their own style. I will pick the Roundtable. Those articles are standard food for thought and I like the diversity of opinions.
Jim: Statement of faith: I love all articles written by everyone on the staff. Asking me to pick one is like asking me to pick my favorite child. I will not be going Sophie’s Choice here. 🙂
1AZfan1: I really enjoyed the old Beercaps by Turambar. Those were really fun! I didn’t comment back in those days, but after finding the site, I would come back looking specifically for those.
What is your favorite Snakepit article that you wrote?
Spencer: It wasn’t anything special in the grand scheme of things, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of my review for NLCS Game 7 in 2023. I also greatly enjoyed getting to interview Kyle Lewis and writing about him being brought into the organization. He’s a really awesome man who never quite made that final adjustment. Sad to see but glad I got to “meet” him.
Wesley: If we’re talking about the article i had the most fun with, aside from the aforementioned draft coverage, it’s gotta be the weedcap which had me reviewing nine strains over the course of nine innings. I think doing something like that again is nigh impossible by myself as a result of the pitch clock.
If we’re talking about the articles that I’m most proud of, it’s one of the draft reviews I did a decade and half ago, because I called not just Goldschmidt’s career, but even fringe prospects like Keon Broxton (briefly) making it to the big leagues.
ISH95: I have three that are very hard to choose between. My article arguing Barry Bonds should be in the Hall was fun, because it’s the only article I’ve ever written that got me angry emails from readers. My article where I made the case that effectively nothing would change if there were ties in baseball was the one I’m most impressed by, given the amount of work that went into it. My actual favorite, though, has to be my farewell review of Paul Goldschmidt after the trade. Pausing to reflect on the current player that was leaving and the player who we had grown to love was rather cathartic in the aftermath of that decision.
Justin: I did a little piece on Randy Johnson’s first few starts with the Montreal Expos, titled “Now pitching for your Montreal Expos #51, Randy Johnson” I enjoyed writing my “get to know a snakepitter” article. I also liked a fan post I during the offseason a few years go where I coin flipped “results” for a 14 team playoff. The main thing I got out of it was that I was surprised at how few under .500 teams would have made the playoffs with 7 teams per league. I think I did it for all the seasons after the wildcard game era. Very unscientific, but I liked looking at the various teams and stats.
Makakilo: My favorite articles that I wrote follow:
- Perhaps because the Diamondbacks are building sustainability, this season they could join six remarkable teams.
- Because of my struggles to become a better pickleball player, I like two tales of two coaches.
- I traveled to Chase Field and Japan.
- Maddonisms are fun! My first and second articles about Maddonisms.
- Some of my series previews included imaginary encounters with the Wizard. One favorite encounter and one early encounter.
- Kim Ng is part of baseball history. She had a sense of urgency. Interview with a SB Nation writer about her.
- Jack Sommers talked with someone (I assumed not a player) on the team. They asked whether this 2019 player review of Lovullo was a joke. He told them that he was writing a review of Hazen. My take: I’m thrilled it was read by someone on the team!
- I love books! Here are my book reviews: Mind Gym, Hit-To-Win, The Life You Imagine, Heads-Up Baseball, Throw Like a Girl, and (not yet posted) 3 Nights in August.
Jim: A two-part interview of GM Josh Byrnes in 2010 (here and here) felt like an incredible coup at the time. But what sticks most in my mind are probably our All-Star Game coverage the following year, including an interview with Chris Pratt (back before he was the superstar he now is – he was genuinely a pleasure to talk to) and batting tips from Cal Ripken. More recently, I enjoyed the Worst Contracts series: digging into history like that was a lot of fun.
DBacksEurope: I just took a look at some Random D-Back articles and I don’t remember half of them. Reading them again is fun, I can really recommend them to all, they will never age. My two articles on Didi Gregorius kicked it all off, I am proud of those, but also love the Omar Daal and Eddy Oropesa ones.
1AZfan1: I enjoyed writing the Pesky Perdomo articles the past couple offseasons.
In the last 20 years, what is your favorite little moment from D’Backs history (I.e. moving beyond the World Series, 2017WC, etc)
ISH95: For me it has to be Josh Collmenter’s imperfect game. 27 up, 27 down. He gave up three hits, but all three were immediately erased on double plays, including one to the center fielder. Collmenter was one of my favorite Dbacks at the time, and to see him reach that pinnacle was a truly cool moment for me.
Spencer: The 2017 Wild Card Game. I was working second shift (1400-2200) in the basement of the Missouri National Guard Headquarters with my friend CJ who was a huge St Louis Cardinals fan. We turned on the BIG screen that was supposed to have…um…other, work related things on it. He was all in with me rooting for Arizona as the Cardinals had missed out on the bracket that year. We whooped and hollered like kids at every turn. The Archie Bradley triple (among all the others) made him a big fan.
Wesley: The Dbacks 2023 playoff run. While everyone else was doubting their chances that summer and predicting their demise, I wasn’t. I really enjoy being able to say “I told you so!” about something positive.
Justin: Yeah, I’m with Wes on this one.
Makakilo: I was at Chase Field. The moment was when Torey Lovullo stepped out of the dugout, looked at the crowd, and raised his hands with joy because the Diamondbacks had locked-in the playoffs. My reaction started as, “What is that about?,” and quickly shifted to joyous happiness!
Jim: Oh, you younglings and your “2023”!. Again, I’m going back further into the mists of time. The game at which Gonzo’s number was retired in 2010. It also coincided with a SnakePitFest – I miss those. Chris Young led off with a home-run and then walked us off with another home-run.
1AZfan1: My favorite ‘little’ moment from the last 20 years as a Snake fan was the last time my family went to Chase Field. My youngest son was so excited by the Diamondbacks winning the close game that he ripped off his shirt and twirled it around in the air. A secondary favorite moment was when I attended a game in Miami in 2013. Gerardo Parra led off the game by homering on the first pitch. In the bottom half of the first, Parra recorded the third out of the inning gunning down the runner at home plate. Good guys won that game 1-0, with Brandon McCarthy pitching a complete game shutout, but that one inning cemented Parra as one of my favorite Diamondbacks of all time.
DBacksEurope: Opening Day game between the Diamondbacks and Giants in 2017 where Bumgarner and Greinke started and Bumgarner hit two homeruns but the Diamondbacks still came on top in the 9th. Being it Opening Day with those special vibes really added something extra to an already remarkable game. It cemented my interest in the team.
How did you find the Snakepit?
Spencer: Via Bleacher Report in college. It was the only outside source for Diamondbacks news beyond MLB that offered me useful analysis and interesting reads. Eventually I started going directly to the blog instead of using B/R and never looked back.
Wesley: If I remember correctly, I found it through the Diamondbacks Bullpen message board, thanks to a recommendation from Jack Sommers.
ISH95: Yahoo! Sports, fifteen years ago now. Back then (and maybe still do, idk) Yahoo’s aggregator would suggest articles to read there. One thing that has never changed about this site is a staff of quality writers and analysis. Came for that and the game recaps specifically, stayed for the community, and eventually Jim said if I was going to be around so much might as well make myself useful, so here I am!
Justin: I think that should be “comment so much,” ISH 😛
(He is not wrong lol – ISH95)
“For me this question should be, “”How did you end up on DiamonbacksBullpen.org?”” DBBP used to be kind of a PHP message board connected to the Snakepit. Both owned by Jim. I had discovered baseball-reference in 2006. BR used to let individual people sponsor players’ pages. TAP (Jim’s deputy on that branch) had sponsored one of the Dbacks players, I actually think it was Brandon Lyon. At the bottom was DBBP’s banner, “the forum that doesn’t suck.” So I joined, lurked, then started posting after the Dan Haren trade.
It was kind of just natural to gravitate to the Snakepit. My original username was Justin1985. I believe it still technically exists. I had left SBN sites for a few years, due to not having a computer and other issues. When I came back I used a different email to start a new account. I was whiney and I wanted to not be associated with it. “
https://www.sbnation.com/e/24005396
Makakilo: Short Answer: by searching the internet. Long Answer: Wish I could remember more details. Before finding the AZ Snake Pit, I found FanGraphs and thought too bad they so rarely write about the Diamondbacks. Also, each new FanGraphs page took about 30 seconds to load on my PC (that changed – now it’s less than a second).
Jim: Probably by making it. 🙂 So I just opened my browser and there it was!
DBacksEurope: Google searching for Diamondbacks sites.
1AZfan1: Same as DBE. Once I found it, I kept coming back looking for the beercaps
I guess we should talk about baseball too. Any thoughts on the last couple weeks of Spring Training?
Wesley: I do have some thoughts, but I’m going to save those for Wednesday. I’m over Spring Training after a week.
ISH95: My main thought is that I’m ready for it to be over. Spring Training goes on far longer than I need it to, and I’m ready for baseball that actually matters now
Makakilo: Two thoughts:
- The Diamondbacks are waiting until late in spring training to make some roster decisions. Must be some difficult decisions.
- After some thought, and after finding information (reliable sources and an unreliable source), I am very much paying attention to Jordan Montgomery’s next few pitching appearances. My view is that he is far from ready to pitch in the Majors. However, I optimistically hope he will be ready soon.
Jim: Montgomery aside, our starting pitching has looked really good. The bullpen is lining up nicely as well. Could this be the year we actually have better than average pitching? We can but hope. Although, the best-laid plans of mice and men…
1AZfan1: I’m very bullish on Corbin Carroll’s season. He looks awesome and I’m thinking it’s very likely he is an MVP finalist. Also, at the risk of sounding like a downer, I’m wondering how long the leash will be for Eugenio Suarez if he goes into one of his patented months-long scuffles. Geno is looking great this Spring, but his past two years have been characterized by having multi-month slumps followed by multi-month white-hot streaks. If he scuffles for, say, 5 or 6 weeks, will the team turn to Lawlar? I’m sure there will be other variables like how is the team doing overall or is Lawlar already filling in for an injury elsewhere, but Lawlar looks good enough this Spring to be on the Opening Day roster to me. There’s just nowhere to place him at the moment.
DBacksEurope: I haven’t watched any Spring Training game nor have I really taken a look at any statistics. I guess “friendlies” in any sport hardly motivate me any more.