2006 Regular Season: August 2006 Archives

On Sunday August 27 Comair Flight 5191 was due to take off at Blue Grass airport in Lexington Kentucky. The flight was scheduled to go to Atlanta but never made it. The crash is still under investigation but initial reports state that the plane took an incorrect taxi route leaving it on the wrong runway and causing the plane to run out of space. The crash took the lives of 49 passengers and crew members. It was the worst plane disaster in the United States since 2001. Before the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday the teams requested a moment of silence prior to the singing of the national anthem. It was a tragic accident but we wondered, what did this have to do with baseball? It was very soon that we had an answer to that question

The Diamondbacks ended their brief 6 game home stand today with an afternoon game against the San Diego Padres. The game was scheduled to being at 3:40 PM local Arizona time. There are not too many afternoon games in a season especially during the week so they are all kind of special. An afternoon game is not without its troubles. First there is the fact that you have to leave work early to get there. This wasn’t too bad today as I began work very early today so that I was finished before three o’clock. Second, you have to deal with traffic approaching rush hour. This too wasn’t too much of a hassle since I have mapped our route out to a science so I utilized my back street traffic patterns to get to the ballpark going the back way. Finally it is hard to find someone to go with me. Most of the kids are still in school when the game was ready to start. Dakota though was home for early release so he was the leading candidate.

As part of the 2000 season the Arizona Diamondbacks introduced something they called the Golden Gloves. A Golden Glove is an elderly person dressed in a full Diamondbacks uniform whose responsibility it is to retrieve foul balls along the first base and third base line. Before I get a bunch of email complaining about my use of the word elderly let me explain that to me, if you are in your later sixties or older then to me you are elderly. In fact, if you can remember when gasoline was less than a dollar and you were driving at the time you are probably elderly. Anyway, these Golden Glove participants are introduced before each game and tip their hats to the cheering fans. Cheering fans in this case are those who are right behind the Golden Glove and are either trying to get on the JumboTron during the introduction or are trying to suck up to the Golden Glove in hopes that they will throw you a ball. You see the Golden Glove is allowed to give the foul ball to a fan in the stands once he has retrieved it. It therefore becomes a fight to see who can garner the attention of the Golden Glove and get a game ball.

Starting in 1999, the Arizona Diamondbacks began a fan loyalty program. Originally the Diamondbackers program would reward fans for game attendance. It was a great program. Every time you went to a game you would scan your membership card and points would be accumulated. Along the way you would win prizes for your attendance. For those who attended over a certain level (usually 70 games) there would be a special prize. The first year was an autographed bat by a player. Trina won a Greg Colbrun bat while I received a Luis Gonzalez autograph. The problem was that there were members who took advantage of the program. I would see a single member with a stack of membership cards that they would scan at each game. The Diamondbackers program evolved where you soon had to swipe your membership card and your game ticket. At least now there would have to be a one-to-one relationship of cards to tickets. Still there were people who found a way around the system. This year the Diamondbacks are trying a new program called the MVP Rewards program.

Each team that comes into Chase Field is a different fan dynamic. Most of the opposing teams fans are pretty well behaved and good natured. The St. Louis Cardinals fans are always well informed and just enjoy a good clean game. The Cubs fans are diehards but they are so accustomed to losing that they are just glad when their team shows up for the game. The Mets fans are pretty obnoxious and opinionated and I’ve yet to go to a game when New York was playing that there was not at least one fight in the stands. The Dodger fans are quickly becoming similarly painful to bear. It is one thing to come to the game with your face painted Dodger blue wearing a blue and white afro wig and a Steve Garvey jersey but when you start booing the home team player introductions you start to cross the line. I’m all for fans expressing their thoughts but that’s kind of low class. The Diamondbacks fans put up with this for two games, and then on Sunday we released a weapon that I don’t think any of us even realized we had. We brought in the screamer.

Each season before day of game tickets go on sale the Arizona Diamondbacks release the schedule of games. This is usually a time of great excitement as I scour the calendar to see which team will be coming to Chase Field. I also try to imagine how the season will be unfolding for each series. Will the Diamondbacks be battling for first place in the division? When this opponent comes to town will it be a potential play-off match-up? Which games will be more crowded than others? All of these thoughts race through my mind as I look at how the season will play out. Along with the schedule, the Diamondbacks also release the promotional schedule. This is usually a list of free giveaways that you receive if you are one of the first X number of people to go through the turnstile. My kids approach that with all of the zeal of kids at Christmas. I guess they figure that if they are going to have to put up with dad dragging them to the ballpark for 81 regular season games that they should somehow be rewarded. So the immediately begin looking for which freebies they are going to be able to snag.

After what seems like forever, the Diamondbacks are back in town. The recent road trip was a nightmare as the Diamondbacks saw themselves dropping down the standings like a rock in a river. This home stand doesn’t look to make it any easier. Arizona continues its National League West portion of the schedule as the Los Angeles Dodgers come in for three games then the San Diego Padres come to down for three. Both teams are ahead of the Diamondbacks in the standings so these games become paramount. Tonight’s game has Claudio Vargas pitching for Arizona while the Dodgers counter with future hall-of-fame pitcher Greg Maddux. At first glance this match up would definitely favor the Dodgers but if you look beyond the fact that Maddux has won 318 games you will find that the Diamondbacks are the one team that holds a winning record over him. Maddux is 1-9 lifetime against the snakes with a 5.35 ERA. He is 0-5 at Chase Field so this should have been an interesting match-up.

Major League Baseball began a promotion last month where they are looking for hometown heroes for each franchise. They have identified five players from each franchise which they believe epitomize the best that team has offered in the history of each franchise. This of course has sparked huge amounts of controversy as fans around the country debate each of the players on the ballot. Some nominees make perfect since being on the list such as Babe Ruth for the Yankees or Ted Williams for the Red Sox while others just leave you scratching your head wondering what they were thinking. This is especially the case when you begin to review the lists accumulated for teams who have not been in existence but for a short time. I challenge anyone outside of the Tampa Bay area to name their most valuable player for each of the eight seasons they have been in existence. Looking over the list as a whole you have to wonder how these selections were even made from the hundreds of players who have played for a franchise during their history. According to Major League Baseball, the players were selected based on their contributions to their franchise history including on-field performance, leadership qualities, and character value. Each team was given an opportunity to select the nominees. In some cases the teams deferred to Major League Baseball to make the selections for them. The Arizona Diamondbacks five nominees are: Jay Bell, Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Todd Stottlemyre, and Matt Williams.

It had been rumored for weeks that Shawn Green was on the trading block. His contract for 2007 is to pay him $7.5 million. There is an option that has a $2 million buy-out that would take effect for 2008. That contact made a trade seem unlikely as Green was beginning to show signs of decreasing skills. Shawn still played a serviceable right field and as has been the case for most of his career his hitting got hotter as the temperatures rose. In order to trade Green would take some creativity by the Diamondbacks. Just before yesterday’s game in San Francisco that creativity came to fruition with Shawn Green being traded to the New York Mets in exchange for AAA left handed pitcher Evan MacLane.

The Arizona Diamondbacks started a three game series against the San Francisco Giants last night. Between now and the end of the season the Diamondbacks will play the Giants six times all of them in San Francisco. The match-ups don’t favor Arizona. They are scheduled to face San Francisco’s top three pitchers. Given that the Diamondbacks have not been lighting up the base paths with their hitting during this road trip, I was not too confident that they would be victorious. Livan Hernandez made his third start for the Diamondbacks which meant that the bullpen should have had a short night without much excitement.

Ever since Carlos Quentin arrived in the Diamondbacks clubhouse there has been speculation that Shawn Green could be dealt. I initially thought that Quentin was being brought up to showcase for a potential trade for a starting pitcher. While Quentin is a great player and should have a serviceable career, there are other prospects in the minor league system that have a higher upside than Quentin. His value would not possibly be higher so it made sense. This coupled with the fact that Shawn Green is under contract through 2007 with an option for 2008 made the Quentin scenario even more likely. What wasn’t expected was that Quentin would come up and get on fire hitting over .300 for his brief major league career. When the non-waiver trade deadline came and went it became obvious that perhaps it was not Quentin who was on the trading block but rather Green. The issue is that Green has in his contract a clause that states he can veto any trade to a team other than San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles Angels. That makes the suitors slightly limited especially considering how much Green is scheduled to make in 2007 and the option buy-out in 2008. But the Diamondbacks have shown with Russ Ortiz that they are not afraid to walk away from a contract if it makes the team better. The question is, does the team feel Green is a liability?

Beginning with the last home stand, they began to announce that voting has begun for the Comeback Player of the Year. I typically don’t pay much attention to this award since it normally is given to someone who either had a horrendous year last season then rebounded back to normal stats or some player that is well beyond their prime but caught lightning in a bottle one last time. Neither of these situations warrants an award but I figured I would check out the balloting and see who was included. When I navigated to the site, the first thing I noticed was the sponsor. There plastered across my screen was a graphic of a giant baseball and underneath in baby blue letters it stated, Presented by Viagra. Wow, now there is an award I am sure any player would be thrilled to have his name associated with. I mean think how proud you would be to take this home to your mother so that she too could share in the news that according to Viagra you were the comeback player of the year. Of course they would spend the next several years in therapy as they tried to explain to the doctor how traumatic it was to first bring Viagra up to your mother then how really traumatic it was to have your mom tell you she was well aware of Viagra and how it had helped your father. Yeah I can see no good coming from this.

With the Diamondbacks out of town, I was in the middle of my home stand. Today was one of those honey-do days where your wife meets you at the bedroom door with a sheet of paper that has a list of things to do and from the looks of the list it started about the same time as Opening Day in April. I was pretty sure that I didn’t have a choice so I took this punishment like any other prisoner who had just been sentenced to the chain gang. I grabbed my ball and chain and went to report to the warden.

It hardly comes as a secret that I am a baseball fan. Most of my wardrobe has either an A or a D on it in the shape of the Arizona Diamondbacks logo. I have a tie with baseballs all over it and dress socks that have the Diamondbacks logo on them for when I have to dress up. I have over 35 different Diamondbacks hats so I don’t have to wear the same hat two days in a row for a month. I’ve got season tickets to the Diamondbacks and with the exception of that three game series with the Los Angeles Angels where I had to be in Orlando because Trina refused to spend her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary at Chase Field and that one game where I had to be in San Francisco for a meeting I have not missed a game this year. I’m a fixture in Section 108 and I know most of the ushers at the ballpark by first name. But even with all of this overwhelming data I still get people who ask if I am really a baseball fan.

This series with the Colorado Rockies has been interesting to say the least. But even before this series started there were things going on that should be put into perspective. During a road trip in July just before the all star break the Diamondbacks visited the Rockies. In that series Jose Mesa entered the game in relief. Craig Counsell entered the box to face Mesa and was drilled with a fastball in the ribs. At the time no one thought much about it but shortly after the break Craig Counsell went down in pain. When examined by doctors they found he had a broken rib, the result of the beaning by Jose Mesa. During the first game of this series Mesa entered the game on Monday and again went head hunting this time Luis Gonzalez was his target and he too was hit in the upper body this one squarely in the back. Tensions rose and while walking to first Gonzalez decided he had enough of Mesa’s pitch selection so he detoured to go to the mound to discuss the situation. Just so his message was received he brought 24 of his friends with him. The Rockies too were interested in what Gonzo had to say so all 25 of their players met at the mound to listen to the wisdom of the Diamondbacks elderly statesman.

The Diamondbacks let one get away on Monday when the bullpen was unable to hold a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning. After being down 2-0 after seven innings the Diamondbacks came up big on a three-run home run by Eric Byrnes. It looked like the team was on their ways to a victory before Brandon Medders allowed the Rockies to score in the eighth to tie the game then rookie Tony Pena gave up three singles that let Colorado score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. After a heartbreaking loss coupled with a Dodgers win put the Diamondbacks another game down in the standings, the team could have mailed one in tonight. Instead it may be a turning point in the season and a defining moment for this team.

Chad Tracy was the seventh round draft pick for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He was selected after a successful college career at East Carolina University where he hit .339. Tracy quickly found success in the minor leagues. He began as a member of the Yakima Bears and played 10 games there before being promoted to the South Bend Silver Hawks. His bat served him well as he hit .340 over 54 games. In 2002 Tracy played for the El Paso Diablos who were the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate. He hit .344 there and was named to the Futures Game in Chicago. In 2003 Chad was promoted to Triple-A Tucson. As a Sidewinder he hit .400 and was named the eighth best prospect in the Diamondbacks organization. This meteoric rise ended in 2004 when the Arizona Diamondbacks brought Tracy up on April 21. Since that time he has become a bright young star and a tribute to the Diamondbacks farm system. But not everything has been brilliant in his short career.

The Arizona Diamondbacks begin a ten game road trip today with a four game series against their National League Western Division rival the Colorado Rockies. This will be followed by three games in San Diego against the Padres then will end with three games at AT&T Park in San Francisco where they play the Giants. This trip will go a long ways towards determining whether the Diamondbacks will remain in the play-off hunt. For the rest of the season the Diamondbacks play only 13 games against opponents not in the National League West. Of those thirteen six are against the Washington Nationals, three are in Miami against the Florida Marlins and four are against the slumping St. Louis Cardinals. All of these non-divisional games occur in September meaning that the Diamondbacks will be able to define their own destiny through the rest of August. It’s going to be a long two weeks with the Diamondbacks out of town.

Well this has been a pretty interesting series to say the least. After a frustrating loss on Friday night that spoiled Livan’s debut, the Diamondbacks came back and won Saturday’s game scoring six runs in the fourth inning then holding on to win 6-3. Sunday’s game would be the rubber game of the series and given that the Dodgers and Padres are both playing well this was an important game. It’s also been a fun series with the Lucky Jersey Lanyard promotion. At first I thought that was just a one time promotion but the Diamondbacks continued it throughout the weekend. It ended up that I got 25 percent off coupon at the team shop, a hat, a Diamondbacks baseball, a sleeveless t-shirt, and a 40 percent off coupon (which I used for another personalized jersey so I had more than one twenty-first century shirt but don’t tell Trina). Today’s game was the final game of the home stand and for weeks the Diamondbacks had announced that after the game there would be a concert featuring Jo Dee Messina.

Last night was the opening game of the home series with the Florida Marlins. Usually Friday games are a challenge for us as the kids all seem to have something going on that requires a parent act as a taxi service. I usually don’t notice that since I am at the game and Trina becomes the designated taxi parent. I kind of think it works out well but then I am not home to hear about it so what I don’t know usually doesn’t hurt me until I get back from the game. Tonight was no exception. Mallorie was working I think. Tiffany was teaching rock wall climbing. Whitney wanted to spend time at a friend’s house. Dakota should would have been the logical one to go to the game with me but he has been to the last several games and planned to go with my on Sunday so he was getting a little burned out. So it was looking like I might be going to the game solo which doesn’t happen very often. Then at the last moment, Mallorie’s plans changed allowing Trina to go to the game. That usually means that I am going to either listen to her recount what a hassle it is when I am at the game and she is dealing with the kids or I’ll hear about how she just doesn’t understand how I can spend so much time at the ballgame. If she would just stop and think about those two topics, the answer would be crystal clear. When we got to the stadium we made our way to Gate A. I was welcomed as I always am by security (hey they stop everyone not just me) and by the ticket takers. As I slid my ticket into the turnstile I was greeted by a smile and a promotional item. That’s odd, tonight was not a scheduled promotion (by the way I have them all marked and memorized since I never know when someone is going to ask about the give away).

Since the Diamondbacks pulled the trigger on Monday that sent minor league pitchers Garrett Mock and Matt Chico to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Livan Hernandez, there have been high expectations of the Diamondbacks and of Hernandez. It was pretty clear that Livan was being counted on as the savior of this team. Those expectations may be a little too high as the 2006 Diamondbacks have more issues than one pitcher would be able to overcome. Besides Brandon Webb, none of the other four in the rotation have been models of consistency. At times Miguel Batista has looked brilliant such as his start in Oakland just before the all-star break but then there are times where it didn’t look like he even knew where the plate was (see his start against the Astros on August 4). Beyond that, the pitching staff has been a patchwork quilt for the season. Granted having Livan join the staff will help as he will eat innings and give the bullpen some needed rest but there are still huge question marks on how the other three starters will react and if they will be able to step-up and gain some consistency.

If you go to enough games during a season, you will see pretty much everything imaginable and some things you would just rather never imagine. Whenever you get 25,000 to 30,000 people in one place you are bound to have situations arise that you never thought possible. These could range from being an inadvertent participant in a domestic argument between fans who sit near you to the uncomfortable situation where someone has what Janet Jackson referred to as a “costume malfunction”. Most of these situations are humorous in nature though that may not be the case when they are actually happening but afterwards make you laugh to yourself or just shake your head. Notice I said most and not all. There are some things that occur that you just don’t ever what to think about and really wish you had never seen in the first place. Wednesday’s game had just that kind of situation.

Poor Barry Bonds, it seems wherever he goes he gets booed. No one seems to give any love to the guy who is now in second place for the all-time home runs in Major League Baseball. It’s incredible the polarization that Bonds brings out in people. There are those who think he can do no wrong and is a victim of some kind of conspiracy that is stopping him from getting the recognition that he deserves for all of his baseball accomplishments. Then there is the other side where people blame Bonds for everything from the decline of the fan’s interest in baseball to global warming. Over the past two nights at Chase Field you could immediately tell when Barry would come to the plate. You didn’t need a scorecard and you didn’t have to wait for the public address announcer to call out his name. As soon as he walked out of the on-deck circle towards the plate the fans would begin to boo and would not stop until his at-bat was over. If he somehow reached base they would boo as he meandered towards first. If he got out the fans would cheer until he reached the dugout. If he recorded an out as a strikeout they would whoop and holler. If it was a strikeout looking, the pitcher received a standing ovation. Barry could not have garnered a more passionate response if his picture was in the post office on the FBI’s ten most wanted list. It’s gotten to the point that I did something I never thought I would; I actually started feeling sorry for Barry Bonds.

Major League Baseball announced yesterday that Orlando Hudson of the Arizona Diamondbacks had won the National League Player of the Week award for last week. This was a well deserved honor as Hudson had nearly single-handedly kept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Western Divisional race. Fans at Chase Field have become accustomed to seeing Orlando flash his gold glove style of play making spectacular defensive moves but lately it has not just been his defense but also his offense.

Barely had the ink dried on my post Help Wanted when the Arizona Diamondbacks made a trade. “How could they make a trade after the trade deadline?” you may ask. Please don’t get me started on the whole waiver versus non-waiver trading rules. Basically, if a team wants to trade a player prior to July 31 they may do so. After the trade deadline you can still trade a player but that player must clear waivers. A team may put any player on waivers but any other team may claim that player. If a team claims a player, the team requesting waivers on said player has the opportunity to take the player off waivers retaining the player’s services. If no team makes a claim on a player then they would “clear waivers” making them eligible to be traded. See, I told you not to get me started. This rule ranks right up there with the infield fly rule, rule 5 draft, and origination of the seventh inning stretch as confusing rules and traditions in baseball.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have been trying to hang on with the leaders in the National League Western Division. This series with the Houston Astros has shown that they just don’t have the depth to make a strong play-off run this season. That’s not to say that this team doesn’t have heart or talent. It just means that they don’t quite have what it takes to make it to the next level. The hitting and fielding are dramatically improved over last year and you get the impression that they can keep the team in any game. While the errors have risen slightly as the season has gone on, this team still ranks fairly high in fielding percentage and has committed a total of 64 errors ranking them sixth in the NL. Team batting average places them second behind the Dodgers. All of this factors into why the team is a game out of the wild card race and two games out of first in the NL West. So the question becomes, what will it take to make the next step to becoming a play-off contender? The answer is starting pitching.

When Bank One Ballpark opened on March 29, 1998 for the first exhibition game, I was there soaking up everything that the ballpark had to offer. The weather was very unsettled so the roof was closed and I would have to wait another few days for Opening Day to see the skies open as the retractable roof panels slid to allow the stars to shine bright. The JumboTron was at the time the largest one every used in a stadium and gave everyone interactive information about each player. Above the bullpens were boards that displayed what pitcher is warming up in the bullpen. There was also a display that showed the speed of each pitch. There was of course the most novel of items, a pool beyond the fence in right field. Fans could rent the pool for each game and watch baseball while soaking away. When a Diamondbacks player would hit a home run, jets of water would shoot in the air. The stadium was perfect except for one thing, the sound system.

After what seems like an eternity, the Diamondbacks are finally back home. The road trip saw them go five and five. Not a bad trip but not as good as it could have been. The two games they lost in Chicago were both blow-outs and the rain-out on Wednesday didn’t help matters at all. Still, they are only a game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League Western Division and they are tied for first with the Cincinnati Reds for the National League Wild Card spot. These facts had everyone excited about this home stand. It is nine games over ten days and all the teams coming in have losing records. First up is the Houston Astros followed by NL West divisional rivals the San Francisco Giants and finally a series with the Florida Marlins. If this team is going to make a run at the play-offs, it is these next three series that they need to do it. Tonight Miguel Batista was on the mound and I had high hopes that this game would set the tone for the series and the home stand.

As a kid, I grew up a Cubs fan. There were no Arizona Diamondbacks and living in the frozen wasteland of Idaho, there were no local teams to give my allegiance to. But every Saturday I would be glued to the television to watch the game of the week. I grew up idolizing Ferguson Jenkins, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, and of course Mr. Cub himself Ernie Banks. I listened as Joe Garagiola gave color analysis and told us what it was like to be a big league ball player. I watched as they showed the crowd just beyond the ivy covered walls at Wrigley Field. I sat in front of the television wearing my Cubs hat, my mitt in my hand and my baseball cards spread out in front of me. To me, day baseball is the purest form of the game and no better way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.

In what can only be termed as another sign that the apocalypse is upon us, a story comes out of the Associated Press that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is teaming up with Avon to produce a new men’s fragrance that will be sold door-to-door by Avon representatives to their 15 million customers. I’ve long maintained that Derek Jeter is one of the most over-rated players ever to play the game. He’s consistently a step slower than he should be and most of his highlight reel plays are a result of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most other shortstops would make these plays look routine but Jeter has the uncanny ability to make the mundane seem incredible just because he misplays his position. So for Avon to use him as a spokesman and set him up as a designer of men’s cologne is just frightening. While there are many Yankee fans throughout the nation, there are even more fans who would classify themselves as haters of the evil empire and they would rank Derek Jeter as the Darth Vader of the Yankees (without the cool sounding voice).

After a disappointing 2005 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks decided it was time to retool the team and make some changes. One of the major acquisitions for 2005 was Troy Glaus who was identified as an important piece that could provide the Diamondbacks with someone capable of tying a game with a single pitch. This long-ball mentality is not anything new for the Diamondbacks; they have always gravitated towards power guys. A prime example of this is when the Diamondbacks traded away ten percent of their 40-man roster in exchange for Richie Sexon. Sexon still holds the record for hardest hit home run in Chase Field history when he broke the JumboTron. Of course he also holds the record for most expensive player per at bat when he went down for the season in the middle of April. Troy Glaus lived up to his billing and provided great power numbers when he was in the line-up. The key was “when he was in the line-up” as that was something of an unknown commodity. Glaus’ arrival also caused a dilemma for the Diamondbacks as it required them to move their young third baseman Chad Tracy to first base and caused a bottleneck by blocking prospect Conor Jackson. This situation worked itself out when during the 2004-2005 off season the Diamondbacks traded Glaus to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for pitcher Miguel Batista and gold-glove second baseman Orlando Hudson. It was a good trade for both clubs. The Diamondbacks got a versatile pitcher capable of being a starter or a long reliever. They got much better defensively at second base but lost a tremendous amount of power; or so we thought.