Here's why an Arizona Diamondbacks World Series isn't the same without super fan John McCain

Somewhere, John McCain is smiling.

The Arizona Diamondbacks' return to the World Series after 22 years no doubt would have delighted the late senator and two-time presidential candidate, who for years was the team's most prominent super fan.

McCain, R-Ariz., loved attending Diamondbacks games at Chase Field. He proudly wore Diamondbacks gear. He frequently tweeted news and commentary about the Diamondbacks from his Twitter account. He would take any opportunity to enthusiastically talk up the DBacks to political reporters.

And he took slights and affronts to the team personally.

"No-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats!" McCain fumed on Twitter in 2013 after members of the Los Angeles Dodgers jumped in the Chase Field swimming pool to celebrate their clinching of the National League West division title.

And the love was mutual.

After McCain's death on Aug. 25, 2018, the Diamondbacks saluted him with a Jumbotron tribute and displayed in their dugout a jersey with "McCain" and No. 18.

"John McCain has always been a member of the D-backs’ family and was one of this team’s biggest fans since day one,” said Derrick Hall, Diamondbacks president and CEO. “He was in attendance at the expansion draft, the World Series and countless other games, remaining a fan through thick and thin. I am honored to consider him a friend and we will miss seeing his smiling face in the stands and our heartfelt thoughts go out to his entire family.”

A second DBacks World Series would have meant a lot to McCain, who had a big presence in the 2001 World Series between the Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees.

That World Series was played shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

As a result, the Yankees were the sentimental favorite to win. The storybook narrative was that it would help New York heal. The Diamondbacks didn't go along with it and won the series in dramatic fashion in Game 7.

McCain was on the field for the ceremonial first pitch that game. He was accompanied by two young Diamondbacks fans randomly selected from the stadium crowd. The kids threw the first pitches. McCain's arms were injured when his Navy plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and he endured more than five years as a prisoner of war.

McCain was on hand at series games both in Phoenix and in New York, where he attended with his friend, then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The two would become political opponents in the 2008 GOP presidential primaries, which McCain ultimately won. Giuliani more recently has become known as former President Donald Trump's lawyer and ally indicted in Georgia on charges related to an effort to overturn 2020 election results.

At a Dec. 13, 2001, Capitol Hill reception, McCain told the championship team, "I don't have to tell you for the 10,000th time how proud we are of you for what you did."

McCain led the team on a tour of the U.S. Capitol, giving then-Manager Bob Brenly and 2001 stars such as Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Craig Counsell the opportunity to soak up the history and art of the Capitol Rotunda. In later years, he would take other DBacks teams on the tour, too.

The same day, the Diamondbacks went to the White House for an East Room ceremony hosted by then-President George W. Bush, whose ceremonial first pitch in Friday's Game 1 of the Diamondbacks vs. Texas Rangers series provided another nostalgic tie to 2001 — and to McCain.

Bush and McCain were bitter rivals for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, which Bush won. After Bush became president, McCain often was a thorn in his side in the Senate.

Bush noted at McCain's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral that the two got past that ugly race. “I got to enjoy one of God’s greatest gifts,” Bush said. “A friendship with John McCain, and I’ll miss him.”

In the East Room in 2001, Bush hailed the World Series for helping improve the national mood after 9/11 and for giving "the American people a chance to think about something other than the war."

"The players gave us a fabulous series. I can't think of a better way to end a World Series, particularly in a time of national need, than in the bottom of the ninth, in the seventh game," Bush said. "Everybody watching in the country, people cheering one way or the other. Such joy and jubilation."

Bush was once the managing general partner of the Rangers, who as of 2001 had never been in a World Series.

"I want to welcome the mighty Diamondbacks to the White House," Bush said. "It didn't take you long to get here. I'm developing a severe case of trophy envy. We were lucky to get out of last place with the Rangers, and here you are."

Jerry Colangelo, then the Diamondbacks' managing general partner, Johnson and Schilling gave Bush a DBacks jersey with his name on the back.

McCain and the Diamondbacks had a long and happy association, but there were a couple of errant notes, too.

In 1998, McCain made a gaffe when he told the Wall Street Journal that the Chicago Cubs were his favorite baseball team. Local fans took it as a snub of the fledgling Diamondbacks during their debut season.

McCain's office released a statement to try to quell the minor furor. It clarified that McCain had two favorite teams: the Cubs and the Diamondbacks.

McCain blamed his comment on "a lapse in good judgment and just plain old age."

"While I'm a huge Diamondbacks fan, I will always be grateful to the Cubs for sticking with Arizona when other teams were moving their spring training locations to Florida," McCain said in the statement. "Their loyalty to this state makes them some of our best winter visitors."

The DBacks also came up briefly in what McCain would call "one of the more mortifying experiences of my public career."

During a 2017 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, McCain drew national attention for his garbled and confused line of questioning of former FBI Director James Comey. At one point, he made a reference to "President Comey."

At first, he tried to use the baseball team to make light of the situation.

"Maybe going forward I shouldn’t stay up late watching the Diamondbacks night games," McCain said.

He later gave Esquire a different explanation. He said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had emailed him a question to ask, but he couldn't find it on his smartphone and he foolishly tried to wing it by memory.

In his final memoir, "The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations," McCain suggested that the incident may have been an early sign of the deadly brain cancer that eventually would kill him.

Lawmaker honored: Diamondbacks, Arizona sports teams pay tribute to Sen. John McCain after death

Dan Nowicki is The Arizona Republic's national politics editor. He covered John McCain as a reporter for years and tagged along with him and the 2001 world champion Diamondbacks on their tour of the U.S Capitol. He also covered that team's visit to the White House. Follow him on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, @dannowicki.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DBacks-Rangers World Series isn't the same without Sen. John McCain