Diary of a Diehard

Trina and I have been fortunate to have great kids. All of them have been a joy to have around (we’re paid to say that by the way). While they have all been blessed with many talents (athletic and otherwise), they have each been allowed to become their own person. We’ve not pushed any of them in a specific direction. Most of the kids have followed in their parents footsteps choosing athletics as a form of self expression. All of them, except one.

Continue reading ‘Book Worm versus the Baseball Fanatic’ »

Trina and I started dating when we were sophomores in high school. We met appropriately on the track where we were both running the 400 meter relay. She ran the turn on the third leg while I was the anchor for the men’s team. I soon found out she was an all around athlete who was ranked in the state in the long jump and high jump as well as a basketball and volleyball player. She would receive a scholarship to play college basketball. Besides running the relay, I was a sprinter and ran the hurdles. When I wasn’t on the track I was playing baseball having been in an organized league since I was four years old. I would go on to play after high school in an independent league. I tell you this to give you a background in genetics.

Continue reading ‘The Rules of Dating’ »

Over the course of nine seasons I’ve seen my share of bizarre things occur at the ballpark. There was the time when Jay Bell hit the grand slam in 1999 that won a woman a million dollars from Shamrock Farms (by the way they are no longer a sponsor but I am not sure the two events are related). Then there was the triple play against the St. Louis Cardinals (by the way it was Mark McGwire that started the play by hitting a fly ball to Steve Finley in centerfield. The play was recorded as 8-2-6 if you’re keeping score). And there was even the ball that Matt Williams caught at ground level that went around the horn ending with Matt touching third base to record a third out (I am not even going to go into the scoring for that particular play). Not all the weirdness has been during the game. There has been a fair share of strangeness during pre-game ceremonies.

Continue reading ‘Strange Things are Afoot at Chase Field’ »

“Jeff, you need to do something about the boy.” Trina’s body language and the tone of her voice made it readily apparent that things at home did not go quite as smoothly as anyone expected today. With four daughters and a son, it makes it much easier to figure out who is in trouble when she utters that phrase. Since Dakota and I are the only boys in the house I quickly calculated all of the things on my “honey do” list to decide whether she was talking about me or Dakota. “Is Dakota in trouble?” I asked. I figured I had a 50-50 chance of it being me and that it would be best to not try and be subtle. If I was the one in trouble I might as well take it head on and get it over with.

Continue reading ‘Boy’s Night Out’ »

The Arizona Diamondbacks have been recognized as having a deep farm system and it is beginning to pay dividends. When Russ Ortiz began to falter, the Diamondbacks needed someone to step into the starting rotation. They reached down and brought up Enrique Gonzalez. Gonzalez has proven to be a good addition to the pitching staff but the Diamondbacks got more than another serviceable arm, they got themselves an offensive force to be reckoned with.

Continue reading ‘Babe Gonzalez?’ »

The Arizona Diamondbacks held the fifteenth overall pick in the 2004 amateur draft. Their plan was to pick a college pitcher as is their usual draft strategy. What they found was a gift. Stephen Drew who was regarded as the best overall position player in the draft had plummeted and was available when the Diamondbacks selection came up. Drew’s slide had nothing to do with his baseball skills. Instead, it was fear. Fear of sign ability. Drew had hired Scott Boras as his agent and rumors the week before the draft had frightened many clubs that if they used their pick on Drew they were in for a prolonged negotiation that would cost them some serious money.

Continue reading ‘Who Drew This?’ »

In today’s society it is easy to get caught up in the political correctness that invades our everyday lives. We have come to a point where you are fearful to say or do anything without fearing that you might offend someone. So when you look at the schedule and see that it is Native American Day at the ballpark, you just have to wonder what kind of trouble there may be.

Continue reading ‘Native American Day’ »

While yesterday did count as the first home game after the All-Star break, it didn’t seem like it since I only got to enjoy one inning. Today I was not about to get short changed. I made a note that we were going to be at the ballpark early to soak up some ambiance. Tonight Trina was going with me which she doesn’t do that often. It’s not that she doesn’t like baseball; it is just that she seems to think that the kids should at least have access to one parent during a home stand. I’m not sure I fully understand that philosophy. I mean I have one of the kids with me at all times so they do have access. And they know they are more than welcome to call my cell phone whenever they need anything.

Continue reading ‘Hi Honey I’m Home!’ »

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right? You know, you wake up in the morning thinking how great the day is going to be and then you climb out of bed and step on a thumbtack and spend the rest of the day cleaning blood out of the carpet as you hope around making up new words that you never want your kids to repeat. Well, today was kind of like that for me.

Continue reading ‘Fly Out’ »