Diary of a Diehard

After splitting the first two games of the series with San Diego the Arizona Diamondbacks desperately needed to take this game if they had any chance of climbing back into the play-off picture. It was already bleak as they had been eliminated from the National League Western Division picture but there was still a small glimmer of hope that the wild card race could become so confusing that somehow the Diamondbacks would find their way stumbling into the post season. The team had the perfect opportunity as Brandon Webb would be on the mound for today’s game. This would be his opportunity to show why he should be considered as a front-runner for the National League Cy Young award and give the Diamondbacks a series win over the Padres.

Continue reading ‘Salvaging Some Decency’ »

Tucson has long been associated with minor league baseball. From the modest beginnings in 1915 baseball has been a part of this city. When the Arizona Diamondbacks were formed in 1995 they needed to establish a farm system for each level of play. The organization immediately looked south to Tucson for their AAA affiliate. At the time the Tucson Toros were the affiliate of the Houston Astros but that was about to change as in 1997 the Toros signed a one-year agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers. The stars all converged in 1998 and the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that Tucson would be their new AAA club and the team name would be changed to the Tucson Sidewinders. For the past nine years the Tucson fans have watched as the Diamondbacks best minor league players filled the Sidewinders roster. They had heard about the great farm system that the Diamondbacks had but none of that talent necessarily meant winning. The Sidewinders had not made the play-offs since they established their relationship with the Diamondbacks. The 2006 season would end that drought.

Continue reading ‘Snakes and Chickens’ »

By now it is no secret that the Arizona Diamondbacks are planning to continue their youth movement. The core of the team in 2007 will be substantially younger than they are today. That doesn’t mean that the Diamondbacks have found the fountain of youth but rather that they plan to give their minor league prospects an opportunity to earn a starting position next season. This message was evident when the Diamondbacks front office met with Luis Gonzalez last week to tell the slugger and fan favorite that his work in left field would not be needed next season. The team had opted to use a player 9 years his junior. The message of youth was further driven home later that same day when Craig Counsell was notified that the team would like to have him back but delegated as a back-up coming off the bench. His starting role as shortstop is being given to rookie Stephen Drew making the average age of the Diamondbacks infield being less than 25 years of age. One question the fans are left asking is how far does this youth movement go?

Continue reading ‘Continued Youth Movement’ »

Today marked the last off day the players will have for the remainder of the 2006 season. It’s hard to believe the regular season is nearly over and even harder to believe that the Arizona Diamondbacks are not going to make it to the post season. For some of the players this off day may be welcomed as it gives them an additional day to heal from the small bumps and bruises that occur from a prolonged season. For other players they may be dreading the thoughts of having a day off. During the last off-day both Luis Gonzalez and Craig Counsell met with management only to find that their starting positions with the organization were being given to others basically ending their tenure with the club after this year is over. Given the youth movement that this organization is committing to, any veteran with more than a few years experience could be thinking that they may be next.

Continue reading ‘Dark Monday’ »

Today marked the final game of the series with Colorado Rockies and the last game of this home stand. I am really struggling with the thoughts that there are only four more home games this season. The game today was “family day” and kids 15 years and younger received a coupon for a Tony Clark mini-bat. I still get a little frustrated that the promotions exclude loyal fans such as me from receiving the giveaway. I mean a mini-bat would be awesome and probably much safer in my hands than it would be if you gave it to a four year old child. Of course Trina may argue that point after the Precious Moments Massacre of 2004 where five of her figurines decapitated during a Nerf war in the living room that broke out during the all-star break that season. I don’t think I can be held completely responsible. Granted I was the one who hit said figurines but it wasn’t the Nerf dart that caused them to lose their heads, it was when those little porcelain kids started jumping off the shelves onto the tile floor. And I did try to fix them. It was just unfortunate that their little heads were super glued on backwards. She really should have appreciated it when I suggested that she now owned the only limited edition Precious Moments figures that paid tribute to that girl on the Exorcist movie. But I really digress here as we were talking about mini-bats and today’s game.

Continue reading ‘What is Up with This Music?’ »

It has been quite a week for the Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Eric Byrnes. Byrnes was brought in this season as a stop gap to man centerfield until rookie Chris Young was ready to make the next step from AAA Tucson to the major leagues. Young had been touted as the eighth best prospect in all of the minor leagues and everyone anticipated that within a year he would be ready to move up. In the mean time Byrnes would platoon with Jeff DaVanon in center. Byrnes has been known throughout his career as being a very emotional player who gives his all on the field. After early success in Oakland Byrnes found himself becoming a journeyman as he moved from the Athletics to Colorado to Baltimore before being released last season. He was in desperate need of a fresh start and the opportunity with Arizona seemed the perfect fit. His level of effort and play far exceeded the expectations of the Diamondbacks and Byrnes found himself having a career year in many offensive categories. Along the way Eric has become a fan favorite at Chase Field.

Continue reading ‘Déjà Byrnes’ »

A three game series with the Colorado Rockies ends the current home stand and marks the second to last series at Chase Field for the 2006 season. When the schedules were announced last winter, Diamondbacks fans had to look at this series as a tune-up to a road trip that would determine the winner of the National League Western Division. The Rockies have struggled in past years and you fully expected them to struggle this season too so this would be a great series before heading out to San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. As the defending league champions you should have anticipated that the Padres would be involved in the race for the pennant and even as late as July you expected that the Diamondbacks would be battling right along with them with the division being decided in the final weekend series at Chase Field. But oh what a difference a couple of weeks make. The Diamondbacks still find themselves battling but this battle is with the Colorado Rockies to see who will end up in the cellar of the National League West.

Continue reading ‘Rockies Road’ »

The Arizona Diamondbacks have the day off today before starting a three game series against the Colorado Rockies on Friday. This late in the season especially with the Diamondbacks out of the play-off picture by all but the slimmest of chances, Bob Melvin has given the team a much needed day off. A lot of the players would spend the time with their families or make arrangements for when the season is over. Not all the players had plans for fun today. Luis Gonzalez had a meeting with Arizona Diamondbacks front office personnel to begin talking about his future with the team. Gonzalez has a $10 million team option for next season and there has been speculation most of the season that the team would decline that option making Luis a free agent. Gonzalez has stated that his desire is to continue to play and that he would like to retire as an Arizona Diamondback. The meeting this morning was called to discuss options and alternatives that would allow Luis to return for the 2007 season.

Continue reading ‘Would You Like a Waffle with that Free Agency?’ »

After the first two years where the Diamondbacks changed the game start times from 7:05 PM to 6:40 PM depending on the month, they had finally settled on all week-day games starting at 6:40 PM. This worked and made the games much more family friendly since you could go to a game and still get home at a decent time to put the kids to bed. The other nicety about the standard start time is that you always know when the game is. If a game starts at 6:40 PM then the gates at Chase Field open at 4:40 PM meaning I need to leave the house at 4:00 PM to get there on time. This helps as I know which freeways and roads I should avoid right before rush hour to downtown Phoenix. So when a game doesn’t follow the standard timeline, it really throws a monkey wrench into things.

Continue reading ‘Afternoon Delight’ »