PHOENIX -- Few franchises would be hit as hard, emotionally and financially, by a players strike as the Arizona Diamondbacks. Baseball may be floundering elsewhere, but it's flourishing in the desert.

''If you were to take inventory on what's transpired in our brief history, it's nothing short of amazing,'' managing general partner Jerry Colangelo said.

Colangelo's gamble to spend the team deeply into debt to build a contender has paid off, at least for now, but the turnstiles need to keep moving if the franchise is to climb out of the red.

Colangelo won't talk about the ramifications of a strike. In fact, he's hardly said anything at all about the labor dispute.

Even though he was instrumental in the NBA talks that resulted in a groundbreaking agreement with the players, Colangelo has been left out of the baseball talks. There is no doubt he wishes otherwise, but he has been cautious not to say so.

He will say that the strike threat comes at a time of unprecedented success for his baseball team.

''This is the proverbial being-on-a-roll time in our franchise history,'' Colangelo said Monday. ''There's excitement. There's great support, tremendous interest. Our television ratings are off the docks, both cable and over the air, just incredible. This community is tuned in to the Arizona Diamondbacks.''

In the wake of their World Series championship in the franchise's fourth season of existence, the Diamondbacks have drawn nearly 2.6 million fans, second to San Francisco in the National League. Attendance is up 432,070 from last year, by far the biggest increase in the majors. Only eight of the 30 major league teams have any increase at all.

Downtown Phoenix has been revitalized by the construction of Bank One Ballpark, with bars and restaurants doing brisk business in an entertainment section known as Copper Square.

On the field, the team is thriving. With Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson having seasons as good, maybe better, than last year, Arizona has gone 32-11 since the All-Star break.

Going into Monday night's game at Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks had the best record in baseball at 83-47.

The team brought Arizona its first major professional sports championship, and the players have made an emotional connection with the community.

''This town has really rallied around this club,'' Mark Grace said. ''I think the reason for our popularity is not only because we're good, I think we've got a lot of likable guys. We don't have any thugs or guys that get in trouble with the law. None of us are celebrities. We're just good old-fashioned ball players.''

There already have been signs of a rift in that love affair.

Matt Williams and Matt Mantei got into heated arguments with heckling fans last Friday night. A clerk at a convenience store where Mantei regularly goes for a soft drink sarcastically offered him a discount because he knew that baseball players are hurting financially.

''I hear it everywhere,'' Mantei said.

The Diamondbacks say they are firmly behind whatever the players' union decides to do. Two Arizona players -- Rick Helling and Mike Myers -- are on the union's executive council.

But Luis Gonzalez, probably the fans' favorite player, said that he and his teammates care about their image and what a strike might do to it.

''You look at around at this team, and everybody in this room is involved in the community and charities,'' he said. ''We all have kids. This isn't a team of a bunch of spoiled, rotten crybabies. I've played with a lot of guys like that on other teams, but this team is totally different than any team I've ever played with.

''We just don't want the fans to get a bad perception of our ball club.''