November 2000 Archives

I have been off work nearly all week suffering from pneumonia. Given that I have to take breathing treatments numerous times per day, I have been working from home. With all of the medication, I find myself drifting in and out of consciousness. My sleep patterns have been disrupted to the point that I have difficulty setting my biological clock to coincide with day and night. All of this has been bizarre enough but I have found my thought processes have also been disrupted. For example, for the past several days, I have found myself drawn to Mister Rogers Neighborhood as I followed the happenings in the neighborhood of make believe. From the moment that the red trolley makes its journey into the kingdom I have followed along. It seems King Friday has decided the Neighborhood of Make-Believe is in need of a swimming pool. The kingdom residents are very excited at the idea of having a pool so close to home. Problems have arose though after a site inspection found the ground to be a hard dig and excavation would be much more expensive than originally planned. The residents thought they would be able to dig the pool on their own thereby reducing the cost of the project but there was infighting among the commoners which led to the project nearly being scratched. Finally today, a resident from an adjacent kingdom offered to help by placing the pool between the two kingdoms, the other kingdom would cover the cost of excavation while the Kingdom of Make-Believe would cover the remaining construction costs. I was relieved that this problem had been worked out so that everyone could enjoy the pool. Trina happened to come in as I was watching and gave me a puzzled look. I explained what had happened and she had one comment, "You really need to get back to work." Maybe she's right. It didn't really seem like such a beautiful day in the neighborhood anyway.

Word coming out of the Diamondbacks organization was that they would not be very involved this off-season with free agent signings. The team would like to reduce payroll while maintaining the core of their team intact. That is why the Mark Grace deal makes so little sense. With the Diamondbacks already having an abundance of first basemen on the roster, adding a 36 year old veteran seems questionable.

It has been quite a day around our house, especially for Tiffany. A few weeks ago Tiffany was involved in an accident at gymnastics where several of her teeth were knocked out. This has led to multiple dental appointments with several different dentists and specialists. Today was another day in that saga. Tiffany had to go in to be fitted for braces and a spacer. I had not anticipated having her in braces this young but the doctor felt it necessary if we are to move the teeth around that were dislodged in the accident. At first, Tiffany was less than thrilled with the thought of having braces on her teeth. After much coaxing by her sisters she has at least come to grips with the idea. It is interesting how braces have changed since I was a child. I remember seeing other children getting braces when I was a kid. Their mouth looked like some sort of metal recycling center as they had all sorts of silver metallic surfaces throughout their mouth. You definitely did not want to introduce a magnet anywhere near their vacinity for fear of what would happen. Today's braces tend to be clear or in many cases different colors. The kids are allowed to change the colors regularly at scheduled intervals. This morning before her appointment, she was busy going through the color charts trying to decide which color of braces she should get. Trina suggested green and red to celebrate the Christmas season. Dakota suggested black and blue to match his cool bruise he had on his leg. Whitney wanted her to get pink since she was a girl. I of course suggested she get purple and teal. After all, what would be better than to show team spirit through your teeth? In the end, she decided for yellow and orange in honor of Ashley being a senior at Corona del Sol. I was disappointed that she took family over the Diamondbacks but she assured me that she would get teal and purple to celebrate opening day in April. Now I have two things to look forward to when the season begins.

After the fiasco that has been going on in Florida for the past three weeks, it is hard to get excited about democracy or voting. But today's news of another upcoming election was welcomed. During the dark months of winter, there is little for the baseball fan to get excited about unless it is the endless dollars being thrown at free agents by the big market teams. That is, until this week. Around the country, ballots are being sent out to baseball writers to vote for inductees to the baseball Hall of Fame. It always interesting to see how the writers vote. Of course there will be the yearly controversy over whether Pete Rose should be included in the Hall of Fame despite his lifetime ban. There will also be those players who have been perennially on the ballot that will be overlooked again despite their accomplishments. Personally, I will again be looking to see if Dale Murphy gets any closer to induction. Murphy holds a special place in my heart. He was a gentleman who played the game as a fierce competitor. His back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards were unheard of at the time and he lacked only 1 home run of finishing his career with an even 500. Still, Murphy and his boy-next-door looks will probably again be overlooked and passed over. With all of the press that is garnered for the bad boy attitude that is displayed by the players of today, it would be refreshing to see someone rewarded for being a positive role model not only to the fans but also to his peers. I have never heard anyone, press nor teammate, express an unkind word about Murphy and the way he conducted himself. Instead, we will most likely hear about Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly and Kerby Puckett in their first year of eligibility and their accomplishments. Well, they may be deserving of praise but I for one will be rooting for Dale Murphy and all those like him who were a positive influence to me while I was growing up and in need of someone to look up to.

I returned to work after time off from the Thanksgiving holiday to find that I had a message waiting on my voice mail. I retrieved the message to find that the Arizona Diamondbacks had called last week about ticket relocation. My heart raced. Would this be the year that I would finally move from section 133 row 16 seat 13-14 to somewhere else? Would my prayers be answered and I would be sitting above the Diamondbacks dugout? The different scenarios raced through my head. I quickly went to the Arizona Diamondbacks web site and retrieved all of the seating maps I could find. I then dialed the number to the Diamondbacks customer service department. The first two call attempts were met with a busy signal. I hung up and frantically dialed again trying to get through. I hadn't felt this much anxiety since I tried to call into the radio station to win some extra Diamondbacks tickets. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got through. William answered the phone and asked how he could help me. I told him I was returning a call and he asked if I happened to know my priority numbers. What a silly question, I know my Diamondbacks priority number better than I know my social security number. After being on hold for a few minutes, William returned to explain that the relocation process had not yet started but they hoped to be done by the week of Christmas. What? How could they build my hopes up then dash them by telling me nothing would happen for a month? For the remainder of the day, I began a countdown on my whiteboard to remind myself of when I would hear from the Diamondbacks. I can see right now, it is going to be a long month.

It is interesting how the Thanksgiving holiday progresses. For weeks before, everyone is excited for Thanksgiving to arrive. Each of the children make requests to their mother to include their favorite food as part of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Trina diligently listens to each of them and tries to incorporate the various requests into a single meal. The week before Thanksgiving is filled with the bustle of food preparation to try and spread the work out over several days rather than have to prepare everything at once. Vegetibles are cut up, pies are cooked, supplies are purchased and assignments are made. On the morning of Thanksgiving, Trina is up at the crack of dawn preparing the massive feast for this growing family of seven. By late afternoon, we all sit down to partake of this bounty and give thanks for all that we have.

I had one of the dumbest ideas I have had in a long time today. After a rather restful morning, I decided we needed a little bit of excitement in our lives. The kids were restless having been around the house for a few days they were looking for a chance to get out. Ashley and Mallorie had plans and headed out the door. Tiffany, Whitney and Dakota of course wanted to do something too leaving Trina and I with a choice. We could either listen to them whine for several hours driving both us and them crazy or we could take them somewhere. This is where the dumb idea came in. I suggested we go to the Fiesta Mall and see Santa Claus. What in the world was I thinking? The first Saturday shopping day of the Christmas season and I just suggested that we take a 10 year-old, a six year-old and a three year-old to a crowded mall to stand in line and see Santa. The look of horror on Trina's face told the whole story. As soon as those words had been uttered, I knew it was to late to take them back. So off to the mall we went. When we got there, it was just us and 22,000 of our closest friends wandering the hallways trying to get near Santa Claus. We were relatively lucky, the line only stretched half way down the mall. I stood there trying to corral my kids and keep them in line. While waiting, I quizzed each of them to determine what they were going to ask Santa for. Without a doubt, they each were asking for toys. I tried to explain to them that there were more important things than just toys and perhaps they should look at the bigger picture and ask Santa for something more meaningful. As we talked, they began to understand. When it was finally their turn, they took their place on Santa's lap and whispered into his ear what they wanted for Christmas. When they were through, Santa looked bewildered but handed them a candy cane and told them that he would do what he could. As we were leaving, I asked each of them what they told Santa. Together they explained that they asked for the Diamondbacks to find a right-fielder who could hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 RBIs. They also asked for a fifth starter that could throw 200 innings a year with an ERA under 4.00. Finally, they asked for the Diamondbacks to stay healthy and bring the team batting average up to .270. I looked at each of them and had to wipe a tear from my eyes. I was so proud of them.

There are times when I wonder why I do the things I do. I guess it is my way of compromising in a marriage. The day after Thanksgiving has become known as the busiest Christmas shopping day of the year. Each year, Trina drags me out of my warm bed well before the sun comes up in order to stand in line with some of the most bizarre collection of human beings ever assembled. This year, we were up before 5:00 AM so that we could be at the stores before 6:00 AM. Trina had mapped out a route with the precision of a field commander. Our first stop was Frys Marketplace for socks and cars. Next we made our way Mervyns for teddy bears and ties. This was to be followed by Target for toys then Best Buy for electronics and music. On paper, the plan looked flawless. Unfortunately, these things never go quite as planned. First, I was late getting out of the house causing a near panic as we missed the opening at Frys. That led to us missing some sock purchases. At that point, I was to head directly to Mervyns but somehow forgot to get gas in the Camaro causing a longer delay. We had to run to the store to make sure we got the bears. I felt like Batman running to see Commissioner Gordon. All of this paled when compared to what happened at Target. When we arrived, the doors were opened and people began to rush in. The best way I can think of to describe the scene would be to picture the running of the bulls in Spain but with shopping carts. It was frightening to see grown people beating each other about the head and shoulders in order to obtain a stereo system or a scooter. I overheard an employee say they had 15 cases of scooters and they were gone within 120 seconds. I do believe that the shelves were laid bare in less time than it takes a school of parana to devour a cow. The sight of this still causes me to shudder. At Best Buy, things did not go much better as I went in to purchase the DVD version of A Charlie Brown Christmas. I had planned on this taking 10 minutes maximum. Instead, I was forced from line to line like cattle to the slaughter. When I finally made it to a check stand and paid for my purchase, I looked at my watch to find that 3 hours had elapsed. I cannot account for the lost time, perhaps this is what really happens to those people who think they have been abducted by a UFO. Instead, they have just been subjected to alien Christmas shopping. By midday, we finally made it home. I was tired and visibly shaken. I am not sure I can deal with much more of this. I think I will do the rest of my shopping through the Internet.

Thanksgiving is such an interesting holiday. It is a day where we celebrate a bunch of foreigners not starving to death due to the goodness of natives who were rewarded by the foreigners taking their land and instead forcing them to live on relatively worthless parcels of land scattered throughout the country. Perhaps that is the cynical version of the holiday. I have to admit, it is one of my favorite holidays. I remember as a child having a hard time sleeping the night before Thanksgiving. My brother and I could hardly wait to get up and watch the Macy's Day Parade. There is something about huge helium filled balloons taking over the streets of New York City that really fascinate a young boy. We would stay glued to the television as we watched first Bullwinkle then Underdog float gracefully down the street held down by 50-60 very cold people holding onto ropes. Part of me was rooting for a gust of wind to come up and launch Underdog while the rest of me hoped that would not happen. As I got older, the holiday took on other meanings. As a teenager, it meant two National Football League games and a full day of eating. Now as I am a little older, it is a time to gather together and give thanks for all that we have been given in our lives. We have a tradition in our house that before blessing the food, we go around the table and express what we are thankful for. This year was no exception as we began with the standards such as being thankful for family, friends, religion, this food and shelter. Then it became my turn. In an emotion filled dissertation, I expressed what I am most thankful for.

Tiffany and Whitney's elementary school has an interesting tradition for the Thanksgiving holiday. They hold what is called a Turkey Trot the day before the Thanksgiving break. This Turkey Trot is an all morning event where each grade comes out to the playground and runs a course. Parents and families are welcome to attend. Last year, I took off the day before Thanksgiving and attended this event. We had a lot of fun going around the playground and track with Tiffany. This year, Tiffany and Whitney are both involved. We arrived just in time for Tiffany's class to begin the trot. Although it is not designed as a race, many kids try to run the entire way. Tiffany wanted us to run with her. Since Whitney was due out at any time and we had Dakota, I volunteered to stay behind while Trina ran the 1.5 mile course. She ended about the time that Whitney began. Whitney's grade had a much shorter route so Dakota and I went with her. When Whitney saw her mom, she of course wanted her to go along with us. Trina ended up going both times. By the end of the second lap, I was afraid I was going to have to get a wheelchair to get Trina back to the car. She had plans to bake pies and get ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Instead, it was a long bath and a nap. It is funny, the kids didn't seem to mind the distance. Maybe it's true, maybe we are getting old.

This off-season was to be relatively quiet for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Off the heels of a third place finish and rumors of massive losses and flat ticket sales, the team said they would not be active in the free agent activity this winter. It was therefore quite a surprise when rumors of Mark Grace joining the Arizona Diamondbacks began to surface. Don't get me wrong, I like Mark Grace. I have been a fan of his for many years. He is one of the better defensive first basemen in the league and he is consistently among the leaders in hits each year. But I just don't get this deal. Looking at the Diamondbacks roster from last season, they had 3 sometimes 4 first basemen on the roster at any given moment. Erubiel Durazo, the wonder boy from 1999 started the year at first. When he was injured, Travis Lee took over at first against right-handed pitchers while Greg Colbrunn played against left-handed pitching. When Travis didn't produce they brought up Alex Cabrera to play first. The last thing I expected this off-season was for the Diamondbacks to go after a first baseman. To me there were other glaring holes that needed to be filled before we added another infielder. For example, the right field position for the Diamondbacks has been a black hole since the team began play. They have had no fewer than 20 different people play right field in the past 3 years and the position has never averaged greater than a .240 batting average. Then there is the pitching staff. Currently they have Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Brian Anderson that can be counted on to take the ball every 5 days. From there it gets questionable. Todd Stottlemyre when healthy can pitch but it is questionable whether he can last an entire season without getting hurt. Armando Reynoso is a free agent and the Diamondbacks have said they cannot afford to bring him back. So unless Bob Brenley is going to go with a 3 man rotation, they need to get some arms in here. Then there is the bullpen. The Diamondbacks are bringing Mike Morgan back. He did a decent job but he is 41 now and you have to wonder what he has left. Greg Swindell is the only left hander in the bullpen with the departure of Dan Plesac so something needs to happen there. Maybe I am just not seeing the big picture. In a time where the Diamondbacks should be looking to get younger, they are instead getting older. They keep saying pitching wins championships and then they try to sign aging defensive first basemen. So during this Thanksgiving day holiday, the Diamondbacks are making sure their fans remember to say Grace.

There are few things that bring a smile to a working man quite like the realization that the work week has been shortened. The normal 5 day work week drags by with everyone going through several stages. First there is Monday where everyone drags themselves back into work after having been off enjoying life on the weekend. No one likes Monday. The main reason for this is it is like standing at the beginning of a long journey that you do not want to start. It is as far away from the weekend as you can get. It is like the stories your father told you about when he went to school, drudging through 10 feet of snow, walking 20 miles to school uphill, each way fighting off grizzly bears with his spiral notebook. That is the essence of Monday. Tuesday is the suburb of Monday. There are still 4 days of work remaining in the work week. It is usually filled with all the stuff that was dumped on to you on Monday but you just couldn't force yourself to do because you were to busy whining about how much you hated Monday. Wednesday is a mini celebration of a day. It is the halfway point of the work week. You have survived the first half and now must buckle down to get something done before the week is over. Thursday can best be summed up as Friday eve. This is by far the longest work day of the week because you know that tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend. Thursdays always seem to drag on forever. It is like an entire week is compressed into Thursday. On one hand, you are trying to get as much accomplished as you can since you don't want to start anything new on Friday while on the other hand, you would really like to start winding this week down to get ready for the weekend. Finally there is Friday. Friday has taken on new meaning in the past few years. Not only does it lead up to the weekend, it has now become casual day in most businesses. It would seem even management has decided that there really isn't much that happens on Fridays, they may as well make it a party day at work where you can lounge around comfortably. This is the typical work week for most americans. So weeks like those leading up to holidays are extremely interesting. You now have 5 days of emotions that you need to condense into 3 days. Monday is now tolerated since you tell yourself it is really Wednesday. Tuesday is really Wednesday since it is the middle of the work week but it is also Thursday since tomorrow is the last day of the week. Wednesday is Friday but to the extreme since you are not just getting two days off, you are getting 4. This is like a concentrated dose of Friday meaning instead of daydreaming about all that you will be doing on the weekend starting at 3 in the afternoon, people begin thinking about weekend plans at noon. I would go so far as to say there are several that lay awake on Friday morning before getting out of bed that are already mentally in the weekend. Given all of this information, I really have no clue what today is. I think I am on a perpetual mental weekend.

I have to admit, I am not a big fan of the wave. I remember the first time I was at a game when the fans did the wave. It was in 1980 in Seattle Washington. I was at a North American Soccer League game watching the Seattle Sounders play. It was the first professional soccer game I had ever seen. I was amazed that so many people would go to a game where there was relatively little scoring. About midway through the first half, the fans began to wave their arms. I looked around at my fellow spectators not really grasping what was going on. This phenomenon continued in other sports as well. I remember seeing the wave rear its ugly head during BYU football games accompanied by the BYU band playing the theme song to The Empire Strikes Back. In baseball, I have seen my share of waves at Bank One Ballpark. I have come to the conclusion that fans just don't get it. I can remember countless times when the fans have attempted to do the wave while the Diamondbacks are up to bat. That is a definite faux pas. You never disrupt the home team with the wave. I learned in my life that there are other times that you do not do the wave. For example, at the dinner table in our house, it is inappropriate to begin the wave after blessing the food. Attempting this will cause bodily injury specifically a sore neck after sleeping on the couch for a few nights. Secondly, during church. Regardless of how this act of enthusiasm may invigorate the speaker, doing the wave in the back of the chapel is looked upon in horror will again result in a few nights sleeping on the couch. Hospital waiting rooms are another area where the wave is not welcome. It seems people with loved ones in surgery are not interested in standing up and waving their arms with complete strangers. Finally, there are funerals. I have yet to find an appropriate time to institute the wave at a funeral. During the eulogy would have seemed the right moment but I could not get anyone involved. Neither would they participate during the viewing of the body before the funeral nor at the dedication of the grave. Perhaps the wave is best left to cremations. I'm not sure, I have never attended one of those. So as you can see, there is a definite etiquette as to when one should participate in the wave. I for one plan to continue to define wave boundaries.

There are certain days in a person's life that are momentous and will be cherished their entire life. I have several of those days that hold a special place in my heart. I can remember the birth of each of my children as if they just happened. The joy I felt as I watched them take their first breath. I remember my wedding day and looking across the alter into Trina's eyes knowing she would be my companion for time and all eternity. I have heard people say they remember the moment they heard John F. Kennedy was shot. My grandparents remind me of the time they heard World War II had ended. I remember November 18, 1997. That was the day that Major League Baseball set aside to hold the expansion draft for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks. I remember going to work that morning but then leaving at about 10:00 AM. George Taylor and I went down to the Phoenix Civic Plaza where they were holding the draft. Across the street was a big party to celebrate the Diamondbacks finally having players on a major league roster. I remember taking all kinds of books and magazines with me so that George and I could keep track of who was being selected and where they came from. We sat in front of a group of Japanese reporters who were there covering the draft for a Tokyo newspaper. It was interesting trying to communicate with them as they asked us question after question about the players selected. I remember sitting next to Corey Lidle not knowing who he was only to hear his name called as the Diamondbacks drafted him in the second round. It was a magical day and one I will never forget. I was at the civic plaza for 14 hours watching every draft pick, analyzing every trade after the draft. Getting to know these names that I would be watching the next season. Just for the record, I had them selecting Brian Anderson with their first pick.

The first signs of the baseball off-season are the General Manager meetings that are held soon after the completion of the World Series. Not being a baseball insider, I am not exactly sure what goes on at these meetings. As a fan, I envision the 30 general managers sitting around by the pool talking about how tough their jobs are and oh by the way, do you want to trade some players? I'm sure this is an over-simplified generalization and probably inaccurate but the only thing that seems to come out of these meetings are a few minor trades and a lot of talk about how much money Alex Rodriguez is going to cost to sign. Well, all of this talk about trades and personnel moves made me stop and think. What would I do if I were general manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Major League Baseball owners are an interesting breed of animal. I have never seen such a contrary bunch of men in my life. On one hand, they spend money like drunken sailors throwing millions of dollars at players who are mediocre at best. There is no way you can justify the salaries that these players are making but the owners keep besting themselves with each deal. The players of course love it. They find themselves being rewarded beyond their wildest dreams for putting up numbers that would make the players from yesteryear embarrassed and ashamed. The same owners who would give Jose Mesa a 3 year contract for over $7.2 million dollars will turn around and complain about how much money they are losing and that it just isn't fair. The claim that baseball is not profitable for them and that they need a new stadium or they need to raise ticket prices if they wish to stay competitive. The Arizona Diamondbacks find themselves in just such a situation. First, their payroll is well over $80 million and may of those making the most money are not producing. Second, after good ticket sales the first season, the Diamondbacks have seen their fan base shrink each successive year. Some of this is due to the novelty wearing off, some is due to a lack of marketing or poor marketing. People have only a finite number of entertainment dollars to spend. The Diamondbacks need to find a way to entice more of them to spend them at Bank One Ballpark. Over the past three years, I have seen the same promotions done time and time again. People are looking for something fresh and new, not the same tired ideas re-used over and over. Third, their organization has changed and their skill sets must change as well. At first, they were a new franchise very similar to a start-up company. They needed people and positions associated with building up a company and an organization. Now though, they are an established firm and as such, they need different skills and positions to sustain the organization. So for the Diamondbacks to announce they were laying off workers should not have been unexpected.

Baseball's post season awards show is nearly complete. All that is remaining is each league's Most Valuable Player awards that are announced today for the American League and tomorrow for the National League. Unlike last year when Matt Williams was in contention, this year there are no Diamondbacks players who will be considered for this award. With that out of the way, all baseball fans throughout the country will begin another national pastime. Speculating on which free agents your local team will be trying to sign to make them more competitive next season. The Diamondbacks have already eluded to the fact that they will not be going after any of the big names since they are losing money hand over fist. So Diamondbacks fans will be relegated to looking to the rest of the National League to determine who helped themselves and who did not. Perhaps through it all, a few trades will occur that will help the Diamondbacks in their quest to return to the play-offs.

This is one of those days on the calendar that doesn't really jump out at you. Hallmark doesn't sell a card for today and none of the children have the day off from school. And yet I find myself restless and pacing the floor anxious for this afternoon to get here. It is funny how baseball can do this to a person. The season is over and the Diamondbacks have announced that not only are they not going to be bidding on any of the super-star free-agents, they are also cutting staff from the administrative side. Even with all of this news, I am still pretty upbeat today. I kept close to the computer and I have the radio and television tuned to ESPN so that I can hear when the announcement is made. You see, today is when they announce the Cy Young Award winner for the 2000 season for the National League. Randy Johnson who won the award last year is again in contention. If someone would have asked me in June if Randy would repeat as Cy Young award winner it would have been a no-brainer. He completely dominated the scene and was virtually unhittable. But the second half of the season, Randy struggled as did all of the Diamondbacks players. This means that unlike yesterday's American League winner, today's vote would not be unanimous. No, this would be close. Not as close as a Florida presidential election but close just the same. After lunch, I settled down in front of the computer and patiently waited for word a winner to be announced. Finally, ESPN proclaimed that Randy had indeed been awarded the Cy Young, his third overall and second consecutive. He is deserving of this award and I congratulate him on the outstanding job he did for the Diamondbacks last season.

Nearly a week has passed since quasi election day. We are still no closer to electing a president than we were a week ago. Declaring a winner in this election about as hard as hitting a Randy Johnson fastball. With the political deadlock in Florida, there are other votes that need to be tabulated. This is the time of year when awards are given for performances during the 2000 baseball season. Last week we saw the Rookie of the Year awards handed out for the American and National leagues. This was followed by the Manager of the Year for each league. This week is the more prestigious awards, the Cy Young and the Most Valuable Player. Today is the American League Cy Young while tomorrow is the National League. I waited for word to come out on how the vote went hoping beyond hope that this would not be another case where no clear winner could be determined because old people in Florida could not figure out which hole to punch on a ballot. Lucky for baseball fans everywhere, we had the opposite happen. Pedro Martinez was voted Cy Young winner for the second straight year. The vote was unanimous. That was somewhat surprising to me since I thought David Wells had a very good year and would garner some votes. Instead, he was relegated to third place after Oakland's Tim Hudson. Pedro is indeed a dominating player who is deserving of the award. It will be interesting to see the result of the National League Cy Young race tomorrow. Obviously I am rooting for Randy Johnson but with the struggles he had in the second half of the season, anything is possible. If you don't believe me, just ask someone from Florida.

For the past week or ten days, a team of Major League Baseball all-stars have been in Japan playing exhibition games against teams from the Japanese leagues. At first I was kind of excited about it. After all, it is baseball and it does feature Major League players. This enthusiasm waned when I found out that the games would not be televised. I can't for the life of me figure out why. I mean ESPN has been showing re-runs of their nine ball pool tournament for the past week. I would much rather see baseball than listen to an announcer attempt to get me excited about two fat guys with sticks smacking a ball around a table with holes at the corners. There is just so much you can get out of watching balls spin around a table as the result of a break. Instead, I found myself surfing the satellite dish looking for Japanese television and the game. There is something to be said about watching baseball being announced in Japanese. Other than the player names, I had no idea what they were saying. It didn't matter though because at least I was watching baseball. Of course I had to change channels as soon as the game was over. Right after baseball was Sumo wrestling. There is just something unnatural about watching two fat guys in thongs trying to give each other wedgies while hundreds of people watch and cheer.

As I got up this morning and made my way downstairs, I noticed that the neighbors all had flags hanging from their houses. Curious, I went to the calendar to try and determine what holiday I had missed. Looking down at today's date, I noticed it was Veterans Day. Wanting to fit in with the neighbors and show my support for Veterans everywhere, I ran to the garage and got out the ladder to hang a flag on my house as well. Within 5 minutes, I had planted my Diamondbacks flag firmly in the flag holder and I was standing in my driveway admiring my work. Soon, I was joined by my neighbor across the street. He came over to see what was going on and noticed my flag. He asked why in the world I was flying a Diamondbacks flag. "Well because it is Veterans Day of course" was my reply. He again looked puzzled and asked me why I was flying a Diamondbacks flag rather than an American flag. Hey, I don't tell him which team to root for do I? I explained that the entire starting line-up of the Diamondbacks were made up of veterans. Not a single rookie was in the line-up unless you counted Alex Cabrera and he only played a few games towards the end of the season. I further went on to explain that I thought it was admirable that there was a holiday that celebrated an athlete with experience. I had pondered why there wasn't a Rookie Day but then settled on to paraphrase the response my parents used to give me when I asked why there wasn't a Children's day to go with Mothers day and Fathers day, "Every day is Rookie Day."

The long dark off-season continues as there is very little going on in baseball that can get a fan excited. Oh sure, the General Managers are meeting in Florida to discuss items of business, but there isn't much going on even there. A couple of minor trades, the latest round of Manny Ramirez wanting to be paid similarly to the Gross National Product for many third world countries, and of course the latest version of where's A-Rod. What's even more frustrating is that teams cannot talk contracts to free agents until midnight tonight. That makes this the longest day of the year for a baseball fan. I had concluded that today would be a hopeless adventure to find any baseball news and soon found how wrong I was. Some time after lunch, I was surfing around the Internet and happened to stop by the Arizona Diamondbacks web site. There I found the schedule for Spring Training 2001 had been posted! I could not believe my eyes. What had started out as a day of frustration was quickly turned around as I began to scour over the dates to determine how many I could attend and where. My calendar at work quickly filled up as I began to map out which days I would be sick and which I would take as vacation. Of course, I had to first see where they would be playing on my birthday. I always attend a game that day. This year, the Diamondbacks play the Rockies in a rare night game in Tucson. I wonder if I will be able to swing that one? Then I spent the rest of the day trying to determine when tickets would go on sale for these games. This turned out to be a pretty good day after all.

The recent elections have tainted my views of democracy. I agree that the people should be allowed to decide who should win an election. I do not agree that if an election does not go according to the way a candidate feels, they should continue to ask for a recount of votes until the outcome matches what the candidate would like. So today, I am again sitting in front of the television watching the news to see what the latest story is out of Florida. I found it amazing that the results of the vote were not even the top story on the news. I would have thought all business would have stopped until a winner is announced. Finally, the announcer came on screen and began the news story. Indeed, the election is now official. A winner has been identified and this time, the press waited until all votes had been counted before they projected who would be victorious. I of course had my own preferences and I knew who I had voted for. Of course, my vote in this election had no bearing on the outcome. That would be decided by the people currently in Florida. Finally, the newscaster came to the actually reading of the name, I sat there on the edge of my seat waiting. "Dusty Baker" he announced "has bee voted National League manager of the year." My heart sank as I heard his name. I had hoped that Tony LaRusa would win. I felt he did a much better job this season than what Baker had. Sure Baker coached well, but Tony had to deal with injuries to Mark McGwire and a less than stellar bullpen. Well, the people have spoken. I will abide by their decision. Congratulations Dusty Baker.

Like countless other American citizens, I sat at home last night thanking my lucky stars for living in this country and what that means. Democracy is a wonderful thing. What other country do you have the freedom to color in a box and select the most powerful leader in the free world? But this freedom brings something more importantly, the right to watch something other than election reports on television. If we lived in a communist state, we would be required to watch as each and every vote was counted. Not in this country! I was able to come home and tune into ESPN and watch sports all evening long without once hearing about how red necks in backwoods Kentucky had passed a referendum to allow cousins to now date. This is a great country!

Every four years, American citizens are asked to elect a new president. I will be the first to admit that I am not very interested in politics. It is not that I don't understand the candidates platforms, it is just that I don't care. Oh sure, I know I should be more involved but I just don't have the time. That seems like a cop out but to be quite honest, many of the issues these candidates are promoting mean very little to me. The Republicans want to give a tax break to those citizens who are in the top 2 percent of income. I will never be in this bracket so it doesn't really matter to me whether they get the break or not. The Democrats want to make sure that my rights to have an abortion are maintained. I have never been pregnant nor do I plan on ever having an abortion so that really doesn't matter to me either. I guess I should take more of a big picture view of things and try to choose the candidate that will do the most for the country as a whole, but I can't. If there was just something that was of interest to my demographic slice of America, then I could stand behind one candidate or the other, but there isn't. At first I thought that I just didn't understand the candidates well enough. I don't want to be an ignorant voter so I attempted to determine where each man stood on the important issues. I sent an e-mail to George Bush and Al Gore asking how they stood on things that were important to me. For example, how do they each feel about Astroturf? I have a very opinionated stance on this and would like to vote for a president who shares my abberation of this synthetic grass. Next, I asked how each felt about the proposed realignment of Major League Baseball to more geographical boundaries. This is much more important that those silly questions that were asked during the debates leading up to the election. Finally, I wanted to know how each stood on the designated hitter. How could I possibly vote for someone who was in favor of this abomination? Each candidate was given a couple of weeks to reply before I would decide my vote. As election day loomed, I did not hear from either candidate. In the end, my vote came down to a personal decision. I ended up voting for George Bush. The only reason for this was that he at least owned the Texas Rangers. Al Gore couldn't even throw batting practice to the Detroit Tigers without hitting a batter. You can't have a president that throws like a girl!

As a child, I can remember there were some nights of the year that I found especially difficult to sleep. There was of course Christmas Eve when every kid in the world probably got 3 hours of sleep total while listening for sounds of Santa Claus delivering your presents. Then there is was the Fourth of July. What kid could be expected to sleep with the smell of gunpowder and colorful explosions going off throughout the world. You just gotta be up to see what was blowing up and what kind of damage it did. Finally, there is the night before Opening Day. How could you possibly think about sleeping when you knew full well that within 24 hours there would be baseball and your team would be tied for first. Sometimes that would be the only day of the year when your favorite team would ever be that close to the play-offs. That one day, you could talk about the magic number. Hey, 162 is a magic number. It happens to be a very LARGE magic number, but it's still a magic number. Now I can add the night before seat relocation forms are due as a night when I get very little sleep. It's not that I was overly excited as much as I was nervous about something happening that would cause my forms not to be received on time. Well, my worries were not unfounded. First off, we were out of stamps. Second, I decided that I should probably hand deliver the forms to make sure they arrived safely. Then I had car problems so I couldn't go downtown. I begged Trina to take care of the forms while I was stuck at work only to find that what started as a nice day suddenly clouded up and rain poured down making travel hazardous. Trina did come through by calling down to the Diamondbacks and made arrangements to get the forms to them on time. By the end of the day, I was an emotional mess. So as I left work, I was exhausted but relieved that my forms are now in the hands of the Diamondbacks. All is again right with the world.

The dust had barely settled at Bank One Ballpark after the World Series when Major League Baseball's equivalent to Forest Gump made his way to Washington D.C. to tell the United States Congress about the state of baseball. He ranted and raved about what dire straits America's pastime was in. In the midst of his dissertation he uttered a word unheard of within the context of baseball in over a century, "Contraction".

I can always tell when I have been sick. My mind gets cloudy and I lose all track of time. This occurred today as I lay in bed trying to help my body get over all the sickness it has endured this past few days. Somewhere between sleep and conscientiousness, the date November 6, 2000 flashed through my mind. This date had some significance but I could not for the life of me remember what it was. I laid there in a state of restlessness not knowing what that date meant. I had resolved that it probably wasn't important and was just dozing off to sleep when I sat strait up in bed wide awake. Of course! November 6, 2000 is the deadline for Arizona Diamondbacks seat relocation! It is probably one of the most important dates for the 2001 season. This is the chance when season ticket holders have the opportunity to change their seats for the upcoming season. How could I be so stupid! Sleep had long been forgotten by now. I had to get up and find the forms and review them one last time to make sure that each and every possible seat location had been documented. In this effort, I am very thorough. Last season, I gave the Diamondbacks 18 different alternatives for changing my seats. Unfortunately, none of these choices were available by the time my relocation form was being serviced. This year though, I was pulling out all stops. I quickly dressed to begin the final battle preparations. I was wearing the Diamondbacks jersey that I got for Opening Day 1998. The shorts were from March 9, 1995, the day the Diamondbacks were awarded. On my head was the infamous orange Lucky hat. In my hand was the pen I used to keep score at the game in 1999 where the Diamondbacks clinched the National League Western Division title. I was calling upon all of the mojo that I had to help me have the luck necessary to change seats this season. All I was lacking was a purple and teal rabbits foot from having all of the luck in the universe concentrated in one spot. With that, I went to the table and began to fill out the forms. I scoured over the map of Bank One Ballpark looking at each colored section and envisioning in my mind what the sight lines would look like from there. After several hours of work, I set the pen down to admire my work and proclaim it finished. All that is left to do is deliver the forms and wait for word. This is by far worse than waiting for Trina to deliver a child. I'm not sure I am going to be able to wait. I'll be a nervous wreck by the time it is over.

I am finally felling well enough to sit up. I must say, the world looks much different vertically than it does horizonally. I sit at the computer trying to compose my still foggy thoughts to write another episode of Diary of a Diehard. As I look at the calendar, I suddenly came to the realization that it is now November. It's hard to believe that the year is nearly over. It seems like on yesterday that it was Opening Day. The first part of November is always the hardest for me. The World Series is over so there is no baseball left to be played at the Major League level. Free agents are unable to negotiate with new clubs so there is little player movement between teams. The teams themselves are burrowed in their offices trying to determine what moves they will make this off-season to make their clubs more competitive. The fans are all working on their endless to-do lists that their wives have waiting for them since baseball season is now over. It is times like this that I think the gregorian calendar which we currently use is outdated. How else can you explain the longest night of the year is in the middle of December rather than the day after baseball season ends. So for now, I have nothing to do but chores while thoughts of baseball rotate through my mind. I can tell right now it is going to be a long 149 days 7 hours and 36 minutes until Opening Day.

It's funny, no matter how well you plan things something always comes up. Sometimes, that happens quite literally. Last evening, Trina and I went to do a little shopping and found ourselves out during dinner. Rather than go home and fix something, we just stopped at Boston Market and had a turkey dinner. I used to eat at Boston Market on a regular basis as I really like their stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. Tonight, it looked especially inviting and I quickly snarfed up the order so we could continue our shopping. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary while eating my dinner and felt fine for most of the evening. By the time I got ready for bed, my head was spinning one direction while my stomach was twirling the other. Somewhere around my mouth, the centrifugal force of these two rotating orbs collided and I got sick. I cannot imagine being much sicker than I was last night. I couldn't have felt worse if Bud Selig himself came to my door to tell me the Diamondbacks were moving to the American League. As I lay on the bathroom floor, hugging the porcelain, visions of the designated hitter danced in my head making me even more ill. By morning, I was more exhausted than watching a 4 hour American League game. Through this experience I learned a valuable lesson, Boston Market and thoughts of the American League are a recipe for trouble. Important safety tip, friends don't let friends designated hit.

As a dedicated fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks, I feel it is my duty to keep in touch with the organization whenever possible. For this reason, I try to write to Diamondbacks president Rich Dozer periodically to let him know how things are going out in Section 133. Now I understand that he is a busy man and has many things on his plate such as hiring coaches, overseeing the operations of the team and balancing his schedule. I try not to burden him with to much trivia but I feel it is imperative that he know what the common fan is thinking. My relationship with Mr. Dozer goes back to the inaugural season when Trina chased him down the hallway at Bank One Ballpark to suggest that I throw out the first pitch at the last game of the season. From that point, he has been very gracious to me and my family in making sure we enjoy ourselves at the ballpark. In exchange, I try to lighten up his day by telling him what is going on in the stands and in our lives. Today was one such day when I decided I hadn't talked with him for a while. So I sat down and began to compose a few thoughts about how the season went as well as a few questions concerning the Diamondbacks. What had been envisioned as a couple of short paragraphs ended up being 2 full pages. In there, I talked about ticket prices (which I happen to agree with the increase and the way it was presented), seat relocation (which I am trying hard to do if for no other reason than to get a different perspective of the game), and ending with a few questions regarding the Arizona Diamondbacks web presence. I never expect to receive a response to these notes as I understand that a company the size of the Diamondbacks have better things to do that to respond to every crack pot fan request. But in each and every case, I have received personalized reply to my questions. It never ceases to amaze me how well the Diamondbacks do at customer service. I am not used to being treated so well in a business dealing. Usually, customer service is a foreign trait that businesses seem to have forgotten. It is this type of service as much as the team that keeps me coming back to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thanks Rich, you're the best!

Dear Mr. Brenly,

As a loyal fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks, let me congratulate you on being named the second manager in franchise history. Having been a Diamondbacks broadcaster for the past three years, I am sure you understand as well as anyone how fickle the fans can be when a team begins to play less than up to their potential. I'm sure you are also well aware of the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people so that you may be successful in your job as manager. I am therefore going to suggest a rather revolutionary approach when it comes to selecting your coaches. Why not select a fan to be your bench coach? This will give you the unique perspective of knowing what the fans are thinking at a moment's notice. For years now, we have heard that baseball is a business and to justify the high salaries given to players we have been told that baseball is in the entertainment business. Well, if that is really the case, I would believe that the Diamondbacks would welcome the knowledge a fan could give them from the bench. Think of it, you would have immediate access to the all important data and feedback that only a fan could give.