October 13, 2006
I like to think of myself as an above average intelligent person. I went to college and completed a 4 year degree in 2 years. I maintained a decent grade point average while still having time to keep up with the rigors of playing baseball and soccer. While I don’t put much credence in standardized tests I did extremely well on both the ACT and IQ tests allowing me to be selective in what college I attended. I’m not saying any of this to boast. On the contrary, I am providing this background information to explain just the opposite. That there are times that I am extremely irrational and completely off my rocker and there is no scientific basis by which I can explain neither my thought process nor my behavior.
Continue reading ‘What’s Luck Got to Do with It?’ »
October 12, 2006
Since the season is now over for the Arizona Diamondbacks there are many decisions that need to be made. Each player and coach will be assessed to determine whether they fit within the vision that the franchise has for 2007 and beyond. It will not just be talent that will be evaluated, there are also other factors. Every year we hear about chemistry and how important it is not just on the field but in the clubhouse. When a team works closely together over the course of 162 games it becomes paramount that the players and coaches be on the same page and working towards the same team goals instead of 25 players working on individual goals with hopes that the team will benefit. So when general manager Josh Byrnes and manager Bob Melvin meet they will go over each player and see if they are a piece to the puzzle or if they go in the extras box to be used as trading material to find pieces that better fit. When all of the pieces have been laid out and Byrnes and Melvin have a clear picture of what the puzzle will look like, then the hard part begins. Can we afford to put this puzzle together?
Continue reading ‘Maybe the Tooth Fairy Can Help’ »
October 11, 2006
Word came out of New York today of a tragic airplane accident that took the life of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Lidle had pitched four days earlier in the American League Divisional series against the Detroit Tigers. After being eliminated from the play-offs he had gone to Yankee Stadium to pack up his things before going to California. He would be a free agent and expected several teams to vie for his services. Given the limited depth of starting pitching, Lidle would probably have been able to get a two or three year contract for around $3 million per year. Before the trade deadline several teams had enquired about trading for Lidle and he ended up being dealt with Bobby Abreu from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees where he helped down the stretch pitching his way onto the post season roster. Cory Lidle was piloting the plane through rain and hazy weather. Eye witnesses have said they saw the plane flying erratically as if it was having some type of mechanical trouble. Shortly before impact a distress signal was received from the plane but before a response could be given it struck an apartment building in Manhattan approximately 5 blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. Lidle and a passenger on the plane were both killed. He leaves behind his wife Melanie and their son Christopher.
Continue reading ‘Tragedy in Manhattan’ »
October 10, 2006
After a really long weekend where there was limited baseball due to the fact that everyone clinched their series early, it’s finally time to start the League Championship Series. This is of course what traditionalists and baseball purists call the “real play-offs”. They don’t believe in the wild card and there should only really be 2 teams per league in the play-offs. That’s the way it was in the times of Babe Ruth and what is good for the Great Bambino is good enough for us. So their thinking is that the east champion meets the west champion and the winners of these contests would face off in the World Series. That theory is flawed by the fact that until 1969 there were no east and west divisions, each league had a single champion so you went from the end of the regular season immediately to the World Series.
Continue reading ‘LCS Predictions by Nostradamus’ »
October 9, 2006
It’s Monday, it’s a holiday and I have to work, and there is no baseball. In life this would be what I would call a strikeout. So while the League Championship Series wait to get started tomorrow, I am left to ponder what life may have been like without baseball when Columbus was around. But first, in order to fulfill the requirements to be listed as an educational resource I’ll provide my one historical fact. Columbus Day was initially designed to be a celebration of Italian American heritage and was first recognized in San Francisco in 1869. The first state celebration of Columbus Day was in Colorado in 1905. Today Columbus Day is celebrated in several countries. Canada isn’t one of them. Today in Canada it is Thanksgiving. I guess the Canadians were worried that there may be a shortage of turkey if they waited until November but that’s probably a theory best left unexplored in this entry. Here we wanted to talk about Columbus and I have a few thoughts and theories on that subject.
Continue reading ‘Columbus Day Blues’ »
October 8, 2006
Friday marked the official beginning of fall break for the kids. They would be out of school for an entire week returning to class on Monday October 16. During this brief vacation, Trina and the girls planned to leave town to “girls’ camp”. I have no idea what “girls’ camp” is and quite frankly I don’t what to know. I envision it having activities around hair, nails, and shopping tips though I am sure I am completely wrong about that. I’m pretty sure it is not real camping since I never remember packing a curling iron or dress shoes when I went to Boy Scout camp. I don’t remember taking an extra pair of pants or shorts but I’m sure my mother put some in my backpack when I wasn’t looking. Since the first round of the playoffs had started and I was obviously engulfed in an ESPN and Fox Sports induced sports coma I totally spaced off that it was camp time. Looking back I should have realized something was up with all the luggage in the living room but for all I knew that could have been there since Opening Day in April. So as I watched the Athletics and Twins; Trina kissed me on the cheek saying something about not forgetting that I was taking care of the boy and she left. Wait, what was that? Hello? Trina? Anyone?
Continue reading ‘I’m in Charge of What?’ »
October 7, 2006
The American baseball fan base is divided into two distinct camps. The first are Yankee fans who revel in the team’s 26 World Series championships. These are the fans who point to the storied past of the most prestigious franchises every to play the game. They speak in reverent tones at past heroes such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and the countless dignitaries of the game. They wear the white and blue pinstripe jerseys and dark blue hats with pride knowing that their team has no equal when it comes to success in baseball. The second group of fans remembers a fateful day in January 1973 when a shipping tycoon purchased the Yankees for at the time an unheard of price of $8.8 million. That shipping tycoon was none other than George Steinbrenner. From that moment on, they Yankees would differentiate themselves from other teams with a win at all costs attitude. Steinbrenner could at best be classified as a hands-on owner and at worst a meddling disruption. He demands that his employees and players perform their jobs to perfection. He demands success and has shown a tendency to remove any and all roadblocks from in front of the team to give them no excuses. As a fan from the first camp these are the qualities that you love about the Steinbrenner era. To those fans in the second came these are the traits you despise. There does not appear to be any middle ground when it comes to the Yankees. You either love them or hate them, it’s that simple.
Continue reading ‘Proof There is a Baseball God’ »
October 6, 2006
It usually begins the first part of March. The weather begins to get warmer and the days just a little bit longer. Spring flowers start to come out of hibernation and the grass begins to get green again. Heated seats and defrosters make way to vents and open sun roofs. Tires are checked and cars are washed all in preparation for what lies ahead. For most people, these preparations are a rite of spring and summer vacations. For me it means getting my car ready for the 8 trips it will make to the various Spring Training venues in Arizona followed by the 83 trips it will make to Chase Field for the final two spring training games and the 81 regular season games. You see the pre-season is not just for the players. Fans and cars need to get into shape too if they hope to handle the grind of a 6 month baseball schedule.
Continue reading ‘I Can’t Control My Car’ »
October 5, 2006
This year and the upcoming off-season will see more changes to the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise than any in the team’s nine year existence. Not since 1998 will we see this much of a difference in the team and that is not even counting the changes to player personnel on the field. It’s been well documented that Luis Gonzalez and Craig Counsell will not be back as players in 2007 and there are strong indications that Miguel Batista will also not be back. With the relatively small pool of quality free agent starting pitchers, Batista will likely be priced out of the Diamondbacks budget. So Josh Byrnes will have his work cut out for him to tweak the roster while staying within a similar budget for next season. No matter how many changes Byrnes makes, he will never be able to catch what is being done in the front office and business side.
Continue reading ‘Which Way Does This Door Revolve?’ »
