2000 Regular Season: April 2000 Archives

Day Two Disneyland. After what seemed like endless lines and bad food, we were once again up for another day of happy furry animals surrounded by children and foreign tourists toting an average of three cameras per person. The crowds today were much lighter than they were yesterday. This allowed us to spend our time on the rides rather than in line. With Dakota only being three, he was not yet tall enough to ride many of the major rides. This required us to use the old "baby switch". I have to give Disney credit for that one. One parent takes the children on a ride while the other parent waits with the child that cannot ride. Once the ride is completed, the parents switch and the other goes to the front of the line to ride. This allowed both parents to ride and the kids got to go twice. One ride that was very popular with the kids was the bobsled races at the Matterhorn. We had planned to do the baby switch but found that Dakota could actually ride the ride. We all stood in line patiently waiting for our turn. As we approached the front, the kids noticed that the bobsleds all had numbers on them. It was interesting watching them, they did not refer to the bobsleds by their numbers. Instead, they equated these numbers to Diamondbacks jersey numbers. Tiffany of course wanted to ride the Matt Mantei sled (31) while Mallorie was hoping to get the Luis Gonzalez (20). When it got to be our turn, we were placed in the Travis Lee (16) and sent on our way. Over the course of the three days, the kids rode the Matterhorn several times. They rode Randy Johnson, Travis Lee, Matt Mantei (we had to allow the group behind us to go ahead to get that one), and Danny Klassen.

After Mallorie's performance today, she spent the rest of the day at Disneyland. During the evening, there was an awards banquet where her middle school was awarded the third place trophy for their performance. In order to celebrate this moment with her, we had purchased 3-day passes to Disneyland and we would spend the weekend and Monday in the park. As we approached the entry gates, we were greeted by numerous Disney employees and signs inviting us to enter "The Happiest Place on Earth". The kids were obviously excited. Dakota had never been to Disneyland before and Whitney was was only 6 months old when she had been there. It was all new and exciting. The crowds were large, but none of them seemed to mind. Each time we stood in line for an hour to ride a 10 minute ride, I would breath deeply and try to think happy thoughts so as not to go nuts at the number of people most of whom seem to speak little or no English. Each happy thought that went through my mind always came back to the same theme, baseball. I quickly realized that Disneyland wasn't "The Happiest Place on Earth", it was the second happiest. After all, how could this park even compare? There was no retractable roof, no swimming pool in right-center field, no outfield or pitchers mound, no on-deck circle, no Big Unit, no visiting team special at the concession stand, no team shop, and the only Diamondbacks logo I could find was on my shirt and hat. Besides, who among us could listen to 162 renditions of "It's a Small World" without taking some form of medication? Disneyland is a great place to visit, but it is no Bank One Ballpark.

With the Diamondbacks gone on a nine game road trip, I had some time to spend with the family. I had anticipated a relaxing week at home but plans soon changed. Mallorie's middle school band was scheduled to play in a festival in Fullerton California and we decided as a family that we would go over and watch her perform and spend a few days there on vacation. I have come to the conclusion that it is physically impossible for a family of seven to make a spontaneous decision. Taking this family on vacation takes planning very similar to a military invasion. First, Ashley and Dog Dot Com were staying home for track meets, work, and the chewing of lucky hats and other non-food items. Mallorie left last evening with the band and we would meet her there. This left Trina, Tiffany, Whitney, Dakota, and myself. I had thought packing for a subset would be easier, I was mistaken. The first pass had each child with two suitcases for a four day excursion. This was unacceptable and required we start from scratch. Needless to say, it took us four tries before I was able to whittle down the belongings to two suitcases for the family. Once that was done, we packed the car and began our journey. I had hoped to be on the road by 9:00 AM but looking back I realize I was being delusional. At 11:00 AM we pulled out of the driveway to hit the road. Before I even made it to the freeway ramp I heard an all to familiar cry from the back seat, "I have to go potty!" After a 20 minute bathroom break, we were finally on the road. With my calculations I determined that at this rate I should arrive in Anaheim sometime next Thursday. One positive of this delay was that I was able to listen to the Diamondbacks game against the Chicago Cubs for part of the trip. Of course I lost the signal at about the sixth inning so I would not know who won the game until late that evening. After six hours driving, six potty breaks, two meal breaks, and countless cries of "Dakota is touching me!", we finally arrived. What a day!

Three years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital, my arm in a brace at a 90 degree angle after my third reconstructive surgery on my pitching arm. I was not in the hospital for me though. Instead, I was there with Trina as she gave birth to my son Dakota. Seeing my son born was one of the greatest experiences of my life even if the doctor did use my arm as a staging area for towels and instruments. Now Dakota, or Bubba as he is known to his friends and siblings is having a birthday. He is pretty jazzed about having all of this attention. As the day was approaching, I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. Without a second of hesitation he exclaimed that he would like an Arizona Diamondbacks jersey. How could a father not give in to such a brilliant child? As he opened his presents, each of them built joy in his face. He would be all decked out for the next home game. First he got a new Diamondbacks hat, a couple of Diamondbacks shirts and shorts, and a skateboard (it was Hot Wheels. I can't believe the Diamondbacks have not licensed their logo to put on a skateboard!) Finally, he opened his jersey. He had to immediately change clothes to put on his new jersey. There he stood with his hat, jersey, shorts, and new shoes atop his skateboard. Bubba was definitely a stylin' dude. There is nothing quite like a father and his son enjoying a special moment like a birthday or a ballgame.

One of the great things about working in the computer industry is that you get to play with new technologies as they arrive. Sometimes you can even justify doing something fun while calling it work. That was the case today. We are working on implementing streaming video throughout the company but of course it needs to be tested before we move it to production. What better way to test this capability than to broadcast the Arizona Diamondbacks games across the Intranet directly to our desktop. To accomplish this, we always send one team member home to set his computer next to his television to encode the telecast. It is then broadcast from his computer across the network to a server which sends it to all of our desktops. In this way, I can continue to work and still keep an eye on the game. This is the ultimate usage of time and bandwidth. I cannot believe someone is not doing this on the Internet for all of the Major League Baseball games. This would open up whole new demographic and give access to those fans who do not have cable television or a satellite dish. Sometimes I think baseball is well behind the curve when it comes to taking advantage of new technology and marketing tools.

After an off-day that seemed to last an eternity, the Diamondbacks are once again playing ball. They are out of town so I am forced to watch the games on television. Before the game started, I got onto the Internet to check line-ups pitching match-ups, and weather forecasts for Philadelphia. I found that the weather was to be cold and windy at the game tonight. In order to get into the spirit of things, I decided to simulate game conditions. I closed all of the windows in the house and cranked the air conditioning down to 55 degrees. I out on my long pants, a turtle neck, a sweatshirt, and a jacket. I placed a circulating fan on top of the television and sat in my replica Bank One Ballpark seat to watch the game. By the second inning I was getting a little cold so I made some hot chocolate and continued to watch the game. Things were going well with the Diamondbacks winning when Trina arrive home from her meeting. As she walked into the house she began screaming, "Who has been messing with the air conditioning!" The kids who were also outside plead ignorance claiming they had been outside ever since she had left since it was to cold to go into the house. I sat there blowing on my hands to warm them up and did what every other man would do in this situation, I blamed the dog. I don't think she bought it.

The Diamondbacks had their first day off of the season today. This is also the first day I have had where I was not at or watching some type of baseball. Trina had banished me from the television deciding I had seen enough baseball that I could last 24 hours without a game. Today marks my father's sixtieth birthday. It is hard to believe that he is reaching retirement age in the next five years. In my eyes, he will always be a young man. I owe my father a lot. He has worked hard all of his life to provide for our family. Most of all though, he is the man that gave me my love of baseball. At a very early age, he bought me my first mitt and taught me how to throw and catch a baseball. He spent countless hours in the front yard helping me hone my baseball skills. Being hopelessly left-handed, I made it difficult for him to teach me. Dad made sure that once I had gathered enough skills that I was able to play tee ball to continue my development. When I became old enough for Little League, he again made sure I tried out. When the league was in danger of not fielding teams due to lack of coaches, my father volunteered his time to teach a bunch of nine year olds how to play the game. The first season we won our league championship and my father stayed in the league for nearly fifteen years coaching first his sons and countless other youth the game. From his teams rose several all-state players who went on to play high school and college ball even to the minor leagues. Those are the memories I have of my father. I am sure he had other things he would much rather have done than play ball with his son but his dedication to his family was the most important thing in his life. On this his birthday, I want to thank him and tell him that I love him for all that he has done for me in my life.

As Easter Sunday rolled around, the family did the standard egg hunt where the kids accumulated plastic eggs filled with candy. The Easter Bunny was especially gracious this year and replaced my worn out basket with a new Arizona Diamondbacks baseball hat filled with candy. Dakota likewise got a new hat and we decided these hats must be tested in a game situation so off to the game we went. Before the game, Dakota was once again chosen to be a bullpen buddies and went down into the bullpen where he met Matt Mantei. Tiffany will be so jealous since Mantei is by far her favorite player. After his on field experiences, Dakota and I went up to the third level to look around. While there, we saw the Roof Control Room above Friday's Front Row grill. As an avid fan, I was of course curious what was in this room. As we were standing there, we were invited to come in for a tour. It was amazing. There I stood, six feet away from the big green button that opened the roof. I was like a small child asking hundreds of questions as I gathered data on how the roof operated, how it was monitored, and the decision making process that goes into opening the roof. The weather today was to hot to open the roof but I was given the opportunity to open the panel doors on the side of the stadium. I cannot believe how cool that was. No one is ever going to believe it when I tell them. This experience ranks up there with some of the best I have had at the ballpark. Dakota was extremely impressed.

In a rare occurrence, Trina is actually sitting with me at the game today. I think this marks the first time this season that we have actually sat together. Usually she has the younger kids with her in the upper deck while I have one of the older ones with me. Trina always likes to sample the Visiting Team special at the concession stand. It is interesting what type of food they decide to bring in for each of the teams. Before the game, we were sitting in the seats relaxing and talking when we noticed several of the players coming out to warm up before the game. Tiffany had given her mother instructions to get an autograph for her so Trina felt obligated to try. I explained that the players usually will just sign for the kids so not to get her hopes up. Instead, Trina was able to coax Matt Mantei, Byung-Hung Kim, and Travis Lee to each come over to sign Tiffany's ball. She also had Erubiel Durazo stop by but the crowd pushed her out of the way before she could get his signature. I was amazed that she was able to get the players to come over so easily. It became obvious where Tiffany gets this gift from. Now if she can only get Randy Johnson to come over I would have him sign a ball for Dakota's birthday.

Each season there is the same ritual. The kids go to the Internet and download a listing of the giveaways the Diamondbacks will be having for the upcoming season. Based upon what is being given, each child develops a list of games they want to attend to collect their goodies. There are sometimes fights over who goes to what game but for the most part, these issues get worked out. Once in a while though there are arguments that get a little out of hand. Today happened to be one of those times. The giveaway tonight was USWest CD Holders. Mallorie had called this game the minute the schedule had been released. No one else was interested in this night so it was settled, or so we thought. As today's game approached, it became apparent that this was the day Matt Mantei would rejoin the team. Tiffany had saved her money over the winter and purchased a Mantei baseball card that has become her most prized possession. She wanted to go to the game to see Matt and perhaps have him autograph her card. Here was the dilemma. Mallorie wanted the giveaway and Tiffany wanted the game. To complicate matters, Trina wanted a baby-sitter at home. The negotiations were vicious. I have to believe this is what the Israel / Palestine peace talks must be like. In the end, Tiffany went to the game. She had to promise to get a CD case for Mallorie at the door. Mallorie stayed home and baby-sat for Trina. In exchange, Mallorie was allowed a sleep over with her friends. I got to go to the game. Hey wait, I always get to go to the game. I guess I am not as good a negotiator as I thought I was.

It is always fascinating how different each of the kids deal with going to the game. Tiffany who I brought last night, spent her time before the game hanging out at the field fence calling the players over for autographs. She is very successful at this and usually gets her ball or baseball card signed. It is great that the players take time out of their schedule to stop and sign autographs for the kids. Tiffany has one ball that she is trying to get all of the team to autograph over the course of the year. She is already off to a good start with four players so far. Tonight, I have Mallorie with me. Tiffany has given Mallorie instructions to try and get a Greg Swindell autograph. Mallorie though is not interested at all with having the players sign for her sister. She is much more interested in the social aspects of the game. We had to be at the park early so that she could get the One Card promotional giveaway. Once that task was completed, she was interested in going to the team shop to see if there was something new for her to buy. The remainder of the game was spent networking with her various friends who were also at the game. Somewhere in there, she would watch a couple of innings. Regardless of their reasons, it is great to spend time with each of the kids one-on-one.

It was Whitney's turn to go to the game. She was so excited to be able to go to the ballpark. For her, the game is more of an experience than just a ballgame. She is interested in seeing the sights than in watching the game. We have a deal that we watch the Diamondbacks take batting practice and then we go to the toy beyond center field for her to play before the game starts. For dinner, she always has to have chicken nuggets and cotton candy. If these needs are met, she is fine. She also refuses to go to the game when Armando Reynoso is pitching because the games take to long. With Brian Anderson on the mound, I felt pretty safe that we would get home at a decent hour. Unfortunately, her idea of decent and mine differ. At about the sixth inning, she began to get tired. She was very good sitting there in the seat next to me. About a batter later, she was sound asleep. She slept through the remainder of the game which happened to be very exciting as the Diamondbacks overcame a Rockies 4 run lead to win the game. The crowd all around us was yelling and screaming as the game went on. None of this seemed to matter to Whitney as she stayed asleep throughout. As the Diamondbacks came back and won the game in the eighth inning with Kim getting the save in the ninth, Whitney woke up just in time to pack up the seat cushions and head back to the car. All the way home, all she could do is talk about how much fun she had. Just think of the enjoyment she would have gotten if she had been awake.

This baseball season is taking on all of the signs of a George Lucas film. Our heroes, the Diamondbacks, soundly defeat the baseball empire winning the National League West in their second season. Now, it seems everyone is gunning for the Diamondbacks in one form or another. First, the emperor Bud Selig is trying to force the Diamondbacks to embrace the dark side and move to the American League. Young Luke Colangelo is fighting to maintain his Jedi presence in the National League. Nothing good can come from a game in which the pitcher does not bat. We do not need nor appreciate the DH (Darth Hitter). The other owners, jealous of the sudden success young Skywalker is having on his desert planet of Arizona are working hard to bring the Diamondbacks under control of the evil empire. All of the senators met together today in hopes of focusing on world domination or in layman's terms, realignment. All that was lacking from the presentation that baseball made to the owners was Peter Magowan owner of the San Francisco Giants stating the classic movie line, "Jerry, I am your father. Come to the dark side and the two of us will overpower the emperor and rule the universe!" The parallels between Star Wars and baseball are uncanny. First, this saga, like the Star Wars universe, is far from over. Second, it is amazing how much an owner's meeting resembles the canteen scene on Tatooine.

With the demise of the lucky hat, I was extremely nervous about tonight's game. I had a very bad feeling and now I know why. We usually bring the hat to every game (at least we did after the no hitter last season). This marked the first time the lucky hat had not been in attendance. I sat there in my seat waiting for the game to begin. I felt much the same way a death row inmate does knowing the electric chair is only 90 feet away. Omar Daal pitched which usually means that it will be a fast and well pitched game. I could not have been more wrong. In the first inning I watched as he allowed 5 runs and faced 10 batters. The second inning did not get much better as he hit Jeff Cirillo in the back which cleared both benches and both bullpens. Luckily no punches were thrown although I think the Diamondback would have had the advantage since Matt Mantei is still on the disabled list but he was in the bullpen giving us a man advantage in the fight. When the smoke finally cleared and the roof began to close the scoreboard told the whole story. We lost 9-1, our worst loss this season. I have go to find another hat before this kills us.

With the demise of the lucky hat, things are not going well at our house. The Diamondbacks were rained out today and it looks as if Matt Mantei will not be activated tomorrow when he is eligible. This is coupled with the fact that several things have suddenly come up this week making it difficult for some of the kids to go to the games. Something must be done and done quickly to resolve the luck problems that the family and the Diamondbacks are having. Given this problem, I have set out on a quest to find a replacement for the lucky hat. I see that I really have two problems that I must deal with. First, I have got to find a hat. Unfortunately, it appears that neon orange Diamondbacks hats are quite rare. I would like to think that everyone has the fashion sense to appreciate a hat of this hue but I am afraid it was some sort of mad scientist experiment that has gone bad. I have not given up hope and will continue on my quest to find a hat. Once I procure the hat, I have another problem. This problem is probably more difficult than finding the hat. The original lucky hat was autographed by Todd Stottlemyre across the top of the brim. I am not quite sure how I am going to pull this one off but given the fortunes that our family and the Diamondbacks have had to endure this past few days, I have got to get this done in a hurry.

I have faced fire throwing pitchers. I have been run over on the base paths. I have been hit by a pitch where I could count the indention of baseball stitches on my arm for 17 days. I have even survived collisions at the plate that broke my arm and the catcher's leg. All of this adversity pales to the pain I felt as I watched my daughter go out on her first date. As a father, I was there in the delivery room as Trina gave birth to Ashley and I watched as she took her first breath. I fondly remember her learning to walk and teaching her to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". I worked with her as she grew to swing a bat and not throw like a girl. I watched as she got her first hit and I held her as she lost her first game. None of this prepared me for the moment when she was no longer my little girl. She was now a young lady and one which it appears is quite popular with the young men. Ashley is dating a nice kid. He's an athlete (although he is not a ball player, he races mountain bikes). They enjoy each other's company and he is making an effort to understand and appreciate baseball so it could be a lot worse. Even given that, I sit here waiting for her to return home from her date wondering how many more ballgames we will be going to before she outgrows spending time with her father. All of a sudden I am feeling very old. Maybe I can get a job at the ballpark being one of those retired ball boys.

It should have been a great day, one filled with happiness and joy. The weekend had arrived and I had planned to watch the Diamondbacks as they played the San Francisco Giants in the newly christened Pac Bell Park. When I arrived at home, I was greeted by crying children and visibly upset wife. I sat them all down to try and determine what the problem was. I felt like a United Nations interpretor as I tried to decipher their message between sobs. As near as I could make out, someone or something was dead. Worried, I listened closely to determine what had happened. As the family told me the story, my heart sank and I felt sick to my stomach. It seems that Dog Dot Com had gotten into the children's bedroom while they were at school and had found the lucky hat. She immediately used this hat as a chew toy completely destroying it. The kids began to cry harder as they pulled out what used to be the lucky hat. Looking around, I did not see the dog anywhere. I was afraid they had killed the dog as a sacrifice to the Baseball Gods to make up for the loss of the hat. The dog was safe and sound although she had been banished to the backyard for an undisclosed amount of time. I spent the evening trying to patch together the lucky hat but was unsuccessful. As I attempted to rebuild it much like the bionic man with parts from other hats, I soon realized my attempts were futile. The hat was gone. The results of the loss of this hat cannot be known at this time although the Diamondbacks did struggle tonight against the Giants. Tomorrow I will begin my search for another lucky hat, one we can send to Todd Stottlemyre for his autograph. I am afraid it can never be replaced. This dog may have cost us the National League Western Division pennant.

The Diamondbacks played their final game of the series with the San Diego Padres this afternoon. The Padres were celebrating opening day with the military and as such, they wore special jersey's for today's game. Their shirts were camouflaged with greens and browns. They looked like a convention of Ducks Unlimited members. I kept waiting for them to march in formation to and from the dugout. I have never seen anything quite like these uniforms. I thought I had seen it all when the Diamondbacks held their turn-ahead the clock night when the uniforms were inspired by the Jetsons on drugs. I truly believe that Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth probably are rolling over in their graves just thinking about how the game has been taken over by the marketing department. What ever happened to the time when a family could go to a game, get in and get fed and watch baseball. Instead, the ballpark has become some kind of amusement park. The stadiums and the uniforms are in some cases more entertaining than the teams on the field.

During the 1999 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks attempted to reach out to the community and let them get to know some of the players. They did this through promotions with several local businesses. There was ice cream with Mat Williams at Ben and Jerrys. There were auto parts with Tony Womack at Checker Auto. And there were several players at various Nissan dealerships around the valley. For each one of these I would take the kids so they had an opportunity to meet the players and realize that they were the same as any other father when they are off the diamond. It was my hope that they would come to understand that you can appreciate players but you don’t need to idolize them. What I had not anticipated was how this series of appearances would impact our lives and the fortunes of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As the Diamondbacks continue their week long road trip to California, I am left to watch the game from home rather than the ball park. Tonight's game was being shown on 3TV, The Place With More Stuff. I sat down and settled in for what should have been a quick game with Omar Daal on the mound. In his first start, Omar pitched well but did not get much run support. This led to the first extra innings game of the year for the Diamondbacks. In that game, they outlasted the Phillies and ended up winning in eleven innings. This time, the Diamondbacks were playing at San Diego and Omar looked very good pitching his heart out only to see his one run lead be erased in the ninth inning on a home run. This led to another extra innings game. When the Diamondbacks came up in the thirteenth inning, a couple of hours after Whitney's bed time, she turned to me with half-opened eyes and asked, "How come Omar Daal has to play thirteen innings when all the rest of the pitchers only have to play nine? Is he being punished for something?" Watching Ed Sprague hit a game winning home run as the first batter in the bottom of the thirteenth inning, I turned to Whitney and said, "No, I think we are the ones being punished."

With the Diamondbacks on the road for a week, I will not have the opportunity to hang out at Bank One Ballpark. Instead, I have to hurry home after work if I am going to watch a game on television. Now usually I begin to complain that it is just not the same as at the ballpark but Trina has eliminated that phrase from my vocabulary. With my new Bank One Ballpark seats in the living room, I now have the perfect place to watch the game. After work, I ran in, grabbed my seat cushion and headed for my new favorite chair. There I sat and watched as the Diamondbacks played long ball with the San Diego Padres. It was great and I was really feeling pretty good about things. As the game ended, I got out of my chair, collected my seat cushion and turned to leave. There I was met by the steely glare of my wife. Her eyebrows were curled and she had a snarl on her face. Her arms were crossed and she impatiently tapped her foot. "And who do you think is going to clean up all of those peanut shells off of the living room floor?" I must have looked dumbfounded. In 171 games at Bank One Ballpark, I had never been asked this question. I wasn't sure how to answer that question. Looking around the floor I noticed gum wrappers, peanut and sunflower shells, and two empty water battles strewn about my seats. I guess I somehow figured the same cleaning crew at the ballpark would take care of it. I was obviously wrong. I spent the next hour on my hands and knees with the dustbuster trying to clean things up. Life is so much easier during a homestand.

Today was the first Sunday game for the Diamondbacks. It was also the first Bullpen Buddy day. Bullpen Buddies is a program whereby 75 lucky children are able to go down into the Diamondbacks bullpen before the game to meet with two players and get their autographs. The children must be 53 inches or shorter in order to participate. It just so happened that I had Dakota with me and he met these qualifications. Being the brave little kid he was, he went down by himself and met with Greg Colbrunn and Danny Klassen. I stood above the meeting and watched as Dakota shook each of their hands and had them autograph his baseball. After the meeting, he stood in the bullpen first at the pitchers mound scratching the dirt around the rubber and practicing his pitching motion. The players were very amused at him as he did his best major league impression. After a few minutes of that, he made his way to the other end to brush off the plate and take his batting stance. It was evident that he was enjoying his time on the field and felt quite at home there. Once the activity was over, the Diamondbacks gave each child a T-shirt and sent them back to be reunited with their parents. It was a day Dakota will not forget. All during the game and on the way home he recounted the fun he had with the players.

At times the players seem so distant. The everyday fan has little or nothing in common with these multi-millionaires. It is very hard to find common ground between fan and player. Rarely is there an occasion where player and fan connect on a human level of friends. My nine-year-old daughter Tiffany has such a relationship. Tiffany has quickly become the our most ardent supporter of the team. Each game she attends, she goes out of her way to study the game to understand it better. Through this study, she has identified players that she admires. Please note I said admire, not worship. I have been very conscientious about teaching her that these players are merely men like her dad or her teacher. They are not someone above or below any other in society. They merely have a great job. In the past year, Tiffany has watched as the Diamondbacks struggled through the first half of the season before trading for Matt Mantei. She quickly began to understand the role of a closer and the talent that Matt possessed. One day she sought him out to talk with him and have him autograph a ball. As they talked, it was obvious that they would become friends. From that time forward, they would greet each other before games and Mantei would come over to talk to Tiffany. This off-season, Tiffany saved her money and when she had enough, she asked that I would take her to a card shop to purchase a Matt Mantei baseball card. Today, armed with her card, she waited patiently for Mantei to emerge from the dugout. As he made his way out to the field, he was intent in not being disturbed and blocked out the crowd around him. Just as he was about to go into the bullpen, he saw Tiffany. He stopped and came over to see her. They stood there and talked for a couple of minutes. She returned to her seat next to me beaming from ear to ear. After a long off- season, baseball season had started for Tiffany. She was back at the ballpark and her friend was there.

Of all the children, Tiffany is by far and away my biggest baseball fan. Last year, she and I attended approximately 35 games. At each one, she would analyze the game and the players. I spent countless innings explaining things such as pitch count, how the batter tells if the pitcher is throwing a fastball or a breaking ball, and the finer art of scorekeeping. For her birthday last year, all she wanted was a Diamondbacks jersey and a scorebook. I of course obliged trying hard to nurture her interest in baseball. Given all the games she has gone to, she has gotten to know a lot about the Diamondbacks. Tonight, she proved herself to those sitting around us. Armando Reynoso was pitching which meant we had a lot of time to talk. His deliberate delivery gave us an opportunity to play a few games. The first game, I would say a uniform number and Tiffany would have to tell me who the Diamondback play was who wore it. She did very well and even surprised me when she told me which player wore that jersey number in previous years. Once that game was over, we reversed it naming names and having to call out uniform numbers. By the third or fourth inning, we had all the people around us playing along. After the seventh inning stretch, Tiffany made the game tougher. Starting with the number one, you had to put all the players in order of the uniform numbers. I have to admit, she stumped half the section with that game. When it comes to baseball information, Tiffany is a sponge.

Mallorie won the ticket lottery tonight. This meant she got to go to the game with me. This irritated Dakota to no end. He seems to think that he should go to every game. I had to promise him I would get him a baseball at the game before he would let me leave the house. I now understand the pressure the mountain man faced knowing he would not be welcomed back at his tent unless he successfully returned from the hunt. Mallorie and I arrived at the game early in order to watch batting practice. I stood along the third base side near the bullpen watching as Mallorie attempted to get players to autograph her baseball. While standing there, Greg Colbrunn hit a shot down the left field line coming right at us. Seeing the velocity on the ball, I felt it would be prudent to not try and catch it with my hand. Instead, I stuck my hat out to catch the ball. The ball hit my hat with such force that it was merely deflected. I continued to watch the ball ricochet from my hat to the right shoulder of a little old man who must have been seventy. He will probably be ok. As the Diamondbacks finished, the Philadelphia Phillies began their batting practice. With Ron Gant at the plate, he hit a bullet down the third base line. I again held out my hat. This time, the ball landed squarely inside nearly ripping it to shreds. When it was done though, I had a ball for Dakota just like I promised.

For most fans, the second game of the season is always a let down. After all the festivities surrounding opening day, there is usually nothing planned for game 2. Around baseball, attendance has been down after opening day and so it was for the Diamondbacks as well. There were empty seats everywhere, except for around me. I was packed in like a sardine. Tonight I had Whitney with me. She usually goes to only a handful of games during the season and now she has not missed a game. Of course it helped when Trina packed sticker books for her to do when the game got boring. My definition of boring and Whitney's definition seem to differ. She had the stickers out during the national anthem. After getting her a Lil' Diamondbacks kids meal, she was satisfied for about half an inning. It was at this time that she took interest in keeping score. I spent the rest of the game sitting beside my six year old and teaching her the finer points of scorekeeping. We had great fun and she worked on her math skills. By the end of the game, she was keeping the score book and I was relegated to playing with the stickers.

Opening day for the Diamondbacks finally arrived. I could hardly wait to get down to the ballpark. I had gotten tickets for the whole family. It is the first time anyone besides Trina and Dakota had been to opening day. Not wanting to be late, we left for the ballpark at 3:30. I am fully aware that it only takes 20 minutes to get to Bank One Ballpark and the gates do not open until 5:00 but I wanted to make sure we got there in plenty of time. It was a good thing we left when we did. The Phoenix Suns have a game at America West Arena at the same time as the Diamondbacks play at BOB. Traffic was a nightmare. We finally made it to the gates with 5 minutes to spare. As the gates opened, we made our way down to our seats and then to the edge of the playing field. As batting practice began, a ball flew into left field and was caught by Tony Womack. He came over and gave the ball to Dakota. Dakota was very impressed and couldn't stop talking about it all night. The kids watched in awe as fireworks were lit in center field and Air Force jets flew overhead during the national anthem. They could hardly contain their excitement and the game had not even started yet. Dakota was a handful while the Diamondbacks were at bat but he would sit perfectly still when Randy Johnson was on the mound. It was a great way to spend an evening as a family. Of course it helped that the Diamondbacks won.