2007 Regular Season: August 2007 Archives

The Arizona Diamondbacks don't play the Colorado Rockies every week; it just seems that way. This home stand starts with a three game series against the Rockies. Like the Arizona Diamondbacks the Rockies are made up of a core of really good young position players who have had a good run in the second half of the season. Tonight's game marks the 13th regular season game these two teams will play this year. They will have two more at Chase Field after tonight and then the Diamondbacks will travel to Denver the last weekend of the regular season to end the year the way they began with a three game series at Coors Field. Besides the 13 meetings they have had during the regular season the two teams also met for 4 games in Spring Training meaning that they are very familiar with each other. So after this many contests, is there anything that they haven't seen before?

It's funny that the more you love someone the more you seem to take them for granted. At least that is the overwhelming sentiment that Trina explains to me on what seems like a nightly basis. To be honest I had no idea really what she was talking about (again no surprises there if you ask Trina). But this week has given me an opportunity to do a lot of soul searching and re-evaluate my life and my priorities. Our time here on this earth is brief and we never know when that time might get cut short. I would hate to look back and have regrets that I might not have shown the proper amount of appreciation for the ones I love. This epiphany has been a very humbling experience for me and made me realize that Trina was right; I am guilty of overlooking all the wonderful things that are done for me. I woke up this morning and vowed to myself that I would change.

This time of year is always busy around Major League Baseball. The play-off picture begins to come into focus and the dog days of summer begin to fade into the drive to the post season. And while the Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled as of late they still find themselves clinging to the lead in the National League Western Division or at the very least the lead in the National League Wild Card race. Not all of the buzz around baseball revolves around the players on the current 25-man roster.

With the team now on their way to San Diego for a brief 4 game road trip against the second-place Padres it is now time for the latest installment of my State of the Home Stand Address. For those of you who are new or who have short-term memory loss this is an entry where I discuss my thoughts on the state of the team, the stadium, baseball, or in most cases random thoughts from the just completed home stand. I attempt to identify new things that occurred at the game and give you an idea of things you might look for the next time you are at the ballpark. It is kind of a fan's perspective of what is going on around Chase Field with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This episode discusses the home stand that ran from August 20 through August 26 which included a three game series with the Milwaukee Brewers and a three game series with the Chicago Cubs.

As I have discussed in previous blog entries, I am a big pin collector. I've especially been impressed with the types of pins that the Arizona Diamondbacks have produced this season. Each week-end the pin trading board is set up outside the team shop on the main concourse and each week-end I am there to see what people have traded to the board and what new pins they have available. Normally there is a poster sized board next to the pin trading station showing any new pins that are planned to be released. The Diamondbacks have implemented a pin of the month where they have a limited edition pin commemorating a player or event from the 2007 season. All year long I have been waiting for the August pin and finally it was here.

Earlier this week I lamented about the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks giveaway to today's game was only for children ages 12 and younger. I am not sure what I expected going to Chase Field today. Naively I thought maybe my sad puppy dog eyes would result in an usher having mercy on me and handing me a second lunch box since it was obvious that my son Dakota did not get the hint at how much I wanted one of these. As I walked through the turnstile I walked extra slowly and looked even more pathetic than I normally did. Unfortunately that look didn't work any better at the ballpark than it did at home with Trina. The usher held his ground and reiterated that these lunch boxes were for kids only. I now had a full understanding and empathy for the Trix Rabbit when the kids refused to share their breakfast cereal and callously announced, "Trix are for kids." For a brief moment I considered grabbing a lunch box and making a run for it just like the rabbit. But I have seen enough Trix commercials to know what the outcome of that course of action would be. Besides, I was entering the stadium not leaving it. Where exactly did I think I would go once I took off running? Sooner or later they would look in Section 132 Row 15 Seat 14 and men and the lunch box would be pinched. No, I had to come to grips with the thoughts that I was once again going to be denied the opportunity to carry my lunch wrapped in the goodness of a metal lunch box.

This series hasn't really started off too well. First there was the Singles Night phone problem then the Diamondbacks ended up losing the game badly. As I predicted, there were rabid Cubs fans everywhere and they seemed to be even more obnoxious than I had remembered. That statement should be put into perspective and I think my son Dakota summed it up rather well. "Those Chicago fans are nuts! They are not Boston Red Sox nuts but they are at least as crazy as Yankee fans! They really need to go home." The crowd at last night's game was roughly 15,000 fans more than the Diamondbacks have been averaging and ever one of them had on Cubs merchandise. Tonight's game would be even worse. First the Cubs won a game which meant that even the part-time Cubs fans would come out of the woodwork. When you have been following a team with a 99 year draught between World Series wins a one game winning streak is a beacon of optimism. Second, the Diamondbacks marketing department in their infinite wisdom scheduled a bobble head night during a series when the home fans were outnumbered 3-1. For Randy Johnson bobble head night we had to endure Red Sox fans which was bad enough but with Cubs fans in attendance tonight would be Mark Grace bobble head night. Yes the same Mark Grace who was a long time Chicago Cub and who left the city and came to the desert where he struck gold winning a World Series title. Tonight may as we have been "Salt in your wounds" night at the ballpark.

Have you ever had one of those ideas that seem absolutely brilliant when it first comes to you and no matter how hard you try you just cannot find a flaw with the plan? But then inexplicably when you try to implement your idea someone finds a glaring error in your planning and everything comes crashing down like the Hindenburg blimp disaster? I'd like to say that never happens to me but truthfully it happens all too often. I'm an idea guy. I tend to look at the world a little differently than most people (or so I've been told). But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Because I look at things at a slightly different angle I sometimes come up with things that have not occurred to other people. I tend to think that is a good thing but not everyone would agree with me on that. Take tonight's game for example.

Much has been spoken and written in the local media outlets regarding the attendance at Arizona Diamondbacks games. The sports radio talking heads have been calling out fans for months for their lack of commitment that is being shown by the fans at Chase Field. Newspaper columns have likewise complained of the lukewarm reception that the Diamondbacks receive from the local fans. The Arizona Republic has gone as far as to request answers from fans as to why they are not showing up to support their team. The answers given have been enlightening and in many cases comical. The paper armed with these responses have gone back to the Diamondbacks to demand responses to these comments as if the team is somehow driving fans away from the ballpark. For the most part I have remained relatively neutral to the arguments.

It's funny how baseball has a way of reaching through all that is going on in the world and suddenly become the center of our universe. The game captivated the country in 1961 when Yankee teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris chased the most cherished record in all of baseball held by the man who is synonymous with the game. It broke our hearts in 1995 when a work stoppage based upon greed took away a World Series and most probably sealed the fate of the Montreal Expos having to move. It brought us back from the brink of dispair in 1998 with the home run frenzy by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (regardless of whether that chase included performance-enhancing substances). It made a Major League city out of Phoenix Arizona with a World Series Championship won with a pair of aces. That is what is so amazing about baseball, you never quite know when you might be witnessing history when you pass through the turnstiles. Take the last couple of days for example; Diamondbacks players have been a part of some historic events that might never happen again.

The promotional schedule for the Arizona Diamondbacks is the largest in the 10 year team history. It seems like each and every home stand has a great giveaway to those in attendance. My family is a huge fan of the giveaway and my kids actually hold a draft to see who will attend what game to get what giveaway. The giveaway schedule has a method to its madness. For example Saturdays are bobble head day. All six of the bobble head promotions for the 2007 season occur on Saturdays. This Saturday for example is Mark Grace bobble head day which is somewhat appropriate since the Diamondbacks are playing the Chicago Cubs which are the two teams that Grace played for during his career. Sunday games typically have giveaways oriented towards the kids where many of the promotional items are only available to children 12 and younger. Most of those giveaway items I am happy to leave for the children but every once in a while that doesn't necessarily work out. Take this Sunday for example.

As I have mentioned before, the most enjoyable part about this blog is the interesting and fun baseball people that you meet. Some of these are passionate fans who love their teams and what to share their favorite baseball stories. Others may not necessarily agree with my take on a particular subject and want to let me know. One crazy lady reads my site and uses it to beat me around the head and shoulders because I waste time on the Internet instead of working on the honey do list that she prepared before the season started. Throughout these interactions I still come out amazed that there are really people out there who not only have found my blog but actually read entries that I've written. I'm just a guy from section 132 so I have no delusions other than that. I look at this blog more as therapy than anything else. It gives me an opportunity to put down some of my thoughts and ideas so the voices in my head will quit yelling at me. I never really thought that it could lead to anything other than that but then I've been wrong before (I think Trina collects statistics on how often I am wrong and according to her calculations I have the highest recorded batting average in history for being wrong).

Over the course of the first 124 games of the 2007 regular season there has been one constant in the universe. Eric Byrnes could be found somewhere in the Arizona Diamondbacks line-up. Byrnes is the only player who has played in every game this season starting all but one (he came in as a defensive replacement in the one game where he did not start). Byrnes, who is sometimes lovingly referred to as "pigpen" has been by far the most consistent of all the Diamondbacks players. During the first half of the season there were long stretches where he carried this team on his shoulders with his acrobatic catches and timely hits. Many believed he was the one legitimate all-star on the Arizona roster which made it all the more difficult to comprehend how he could be left off the roster of the mid-summer classic. Byrnes took the snub in stride and instead used the all-star break as an opportunity to hone his skills as a reporter for Fox Sports. He took those three days off because he had to but still you could tell he would rather be playing. Bob Melvin found out when he attempted to give Byrnes today off that it is not something that the outfielder is accustomed to and it doesn't sit well with him at all.

A day after Brandon Webb put on another pitching clinic where he shut out the potent Atlanta Braves line-up and ran his streak to 42 innings of not allowing a run everyone wondered how rookie right-handed pitcher Micah Owings could possibly compare. While Owings has had glimpses of promise, he found himself in an impossible situation of following a history making performance by the team ace. This was an unenviable position to be in and no one expected much and the only hope was that Micah would somehow keep the Diamondbacks close and allow the hitters an opportunity to possibly steal game 2 and the series. The problem with that theory was that someone forgot to tell Micah.

When Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb takes the mound tonight against the Atlanta Braves he will be carrying with him a streak of not allowing a run in 33-innings. This streak is now a career and franchise best and indeed quite an accomplishment. But it still pales when put into the perspective of the overall Major League record. That record stands at 59 consecutive innings and is held by Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser who set the mark during an amazing 1988 season where he won 23 games while pitching 267 innings including 15 complete games. These are some unbelievable numbers and with Webb in the midst of chasing "the bulldog" and his record I thought it would be fun to extrapolate how these two compare.

The landscape of the annual amateur baseball draft has changed this season as compared to years past. The new collective bargaining agreement that baseball enacted had several updated provisions contained within it that modified the structure behind the draft. Draft choices are still awarded based upon reverse standings from the previous year but little else remained the same. Previously teams had nearly an entire year to negotiate with their draft choices. If the player and the team were unable to reach an agreement the player would re-enter the draft and the team received little value in return. This gave a lot of incentive to the player's representative to stall the signing since most teams would not want to come up with nothing to show for their draft choice especially if that choice was high in the draft order. Agents basically held teams hostage demanding substantial signing bonuses or major league contracts for players who had never played professionally. The escalating costs of signing draft choices along with the prolonged nature of the signing period were points that Commissioner Bud Selig wanted to mitigate. As a result these became negotiating points with the player's union and changes were implemented. The 2007 draft became the first where these rules were in effect.

One of the great things about writing a blog and running a Diamondbacks fan site is that you get to sometimes meet some very interesting people. It is always cool to find others who are as passionate about the Diamondbacks or baseball as I am. Some of these people will leave comments and let me know their thoughts about the team, its players, or the stadium. Some will send me an email and let me know about other cool sites that I might be interested. Some will try to sell me generic versions of Viagra or offer me investment opportunities for helping them get money from corrupt government officials in Africa. One thing is for sure, it is always an adventure when you open up your email client.

Over the course of 162 games there are bound to be a few that you would just as soon forget as a player or a fan. I think tonight’s game against the Florida Marlins in Miami would classify as one we would all just wish never really happened. It started off with a 34 minute rain delay which anyone who owns a Tivo knows is really bad. Not the rain so much but the time delay. Tivo uses the timeframe set by the network to determine when to begin and end recording. Introducing a 34 minute delay meant that the game would probably not be over when Tivo stopped recording. In the case of tonight’s game that might not have been a bad thing. This may have been Tivo’s way of sparing us the pain and misery of a 14-5 clubbing by the fish. The problem is that the most interesting part of this game was the final inning with infielder extraordinaire Augie Ojeda became the third position player in Arizona Diamondbacks history to pitch in a regular season game (can you name the other two?)

It’s interesting how our expectations change as life goes on. Early in the season if someone would have suggested that the Diamondbacks go 4-2 during a home stand in August I would have been ecstatic. But here we are a day after the final game of the latest home stand and I am actually a little depressed and frustrated that the team lost 2 games. Given the recent level of play by the Diamondbacks we’ve started to expect that the team will win not just each series but that they will sweep their opponent. The Diamondbacks should have won the game yesterday and had an opportunity to do that on several occasions but were unsuccessful in doing so. Even with two losses the Diamondbacks should be feeling pretty good as they leave town with a 3 game lead over the San Diego Padres in their quest for a National League West division championship. Let’s not get a head of ourselves though. Let’s focus on the last six games as it is time for my regular segment, the State of the Home Stand where I talk about how I thought a home stand went.

As part of their “back to school” promotions; the Arizona Diamondbacks were offering a kid’s backpack as the giveaway at today’s game. The promotion would give a Sedona Red and black backpack to the first 10,000 kids ages 12 and under who entered the stadium. On the surface you would think that this type of giveaway would have very little impact on the fans since it would serve as a constant reminder that school was about to start if it hadn’t already. I know when I was a kid the last thing I wanted to hear was that someone was celebrating the fact that I was about to be imprisoned inside a small school house for the next nine months. This was especially bad in October since most of the play-off games and World Series games were played during the day. In my mind it was just another way for “the man” to hold me down. What kind of cruel punishment is it that baseball was played during school hours before the Tivo was invented? (To be honest it was before the VCR was invented but I didn’t want it to sound like I grew up in Bedrock and rode a dinosaur to school). Kids today have it so easy, but I digress. I was talking about baseball and backpacks. I didn’t anticipate any issue with this particular giveaway. Unfortunately I was sorely mistaken.

For the past several games we have been getting teasers about Saturday’s game. First the time change. Instead of a normal 6:40 PM start time today’s game has been changed to 5:05 PM. It seems the Diamondbacks have gotten a few complaints and comments that 6:40 is not a good time for weekend baseball. By the time the game ends the evening is shot (funny, I thought the game was the evening). Fans with families commented that it does make for a long night for the kids especially with Sunday games scheduled for 1:40 PM. Not much of a turnaround time for many people. As an experiment the Diamondbacks are moving tonight’s game and see if 5:05 PM makes any difference. Personally they could have moved the game 1:00 AM and I would still be there so they are obviously not catering to my schedule. It did make me wonder whether I could make game schedule requests. My parents 50th wedding anniversary is on July 18, 2008 so if the Diamondbacks have any say at all with the scheduling people I would really appreciate it if they could make that an away game preferably on national television. So far my mom has been less than thrilled with my commitment to be at their celebration “as long as there is not a Diamondbacks game that weekend”. She did help raise me so I have to think part of this is her fault.

Riding a modest two game winning streak the Arizona Diamondbacks open an important weekend series against the powerhouse Washington Nationals. I know; I had as much trouble writing “powerhouse Washington Nationals” as you did reading it. This is the same Washington Nationals who many sports writers thought would be battling the 1962 New York Mets for worst team ever. But times they are a changing. The two hottest teams in the National League since the All-Star break are the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals. Diamondbacks fans are well aware of the local team’s success of late; with a record of 19-8 in the second half and winners of 16 of their last 19 games. In the euphoria of being in first place in the National League West we sometimes forget that there are other teams who are also having some success. The Nationals have a record of 17-11 in the second half and come to Chase Field having won 11 of their past 16 games. This Washington series should prove to be much tougher than it would first appear on paper. The optimum word there is “should”.

Last night I took my daughter Mallorie to the second game of a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mallorie has been away at college so this is only her second game this season (the first being Carlos Quentin bobble head day). I’d like to say that Mallorie went to the game because she is a huge baseball fan but that wouldn’t necessarily be accurate. She likes baseball; she just thinks it is best taken in moderation. Given that attitude I had to wonder why she had a sudden interest in going not only to this game but several during this home stand and the next. I happened to mention to Trina my curiosity as to why the change. Trina stated that Mallorie had been talking to the other kids and found out that both Dakota and Whitney had gotten new Diamondbacks jerseys which they believed was a reward for attending at least 20 games each. During the bobble head game Mallorie had spotted the cutest Diamondbacks sweatshirt in the team shop and since it was only half the price of a jersey she felt justified in asking for that if she went to 10 games. I’d argue that but since I had been to every game and I had 4 jerseys I wasn’t sure I had a good excuse as to why her logic was flawed. Instead I decided I should just enjoy the one-on-one time we would spend together over the next 9 games.

Yesterday definitely pegged the weirdness scale. I am not sure I can really explain it. It was kind of like going all day long and then finding out when you were getting ready for bed that you had been wearing your shirt inside out all day and nobody said anything. You’re not sure whether people were just being polite or if you were just so strange that the general population decided it was best that they left you alone. That sounds a little paranoid but like they always say, “just because your paranoid doesn’t mean somebody is not out to get you.” Yesterday should have been a joyous occasion. The Diamondbacks were returning from a 5-1 road trip through the National League West having taken series from both of their closest competitors. They were atop the divisional standings and just a couple of games away from having the best record in the National League. They would be showcasing their best minor league prospect Justin Upton in his Chase Field debut. And they were facing the last place team in the anemic National League Central division. What could possibly happen to damper this night? That’s a question I should never ask.

You would think that after a while I would learn but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Just one day after posting a blog entry suggesting that fans come to the ballpark to cheer on Eric Byrnes in what looks like his final season in a Diamondbacks uniform the team calls a news conference where they announce that they have re-signed “pigpen” to a three-year contract extension worth a reported $30 million. I should be on the psychic network in Bizarro World. For those of you unfamiliar with Bizarro World, it is an alternative universe that is the exact opposite of Earth. In fact the real name of the planet is Htrae which is Earth spelled backwards. The inhabitants of Bizarro World are mirror opposites of the characters to Superman. Now I ask you, what other baseball web site offers you the diversity that this one does? You come to find details on the re-signing of Eric Byrnes and in the process you get a history lesson of character development within the DC Comics universe. That is what I call diverse.

Recently the Arizona Diamondbacks held a relatively unique promotion. Playing off the popularity of outfielder Eric Byrnes the team held an “Eric Byrnes Look-Alike” contest. Fans were asked to dress up as the quirky fan favorite. It was somewhat disconcerting to arrive at the ballpark and see the plaza filled with curious fans looking quite confused at coming face-to-face with hair-care-challenged filthy replicas of Byrnes. And while it was fun seeing the fans attempt to replicate the fun-loving outfielder the promotion struck me as oddly timed. It came shortly after Arizona broke off talks with Byrnes on a long-term contract.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks began this six game road trip there were a lot of questions as to whether they would falter against their divisional rivals. The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres make up the top of the National League West food chain and each are very capable of running away with the divisional crown. While Arizona has played San Diego evenly over the course of this season the snakes have been abysmal against Los Angeles. The Dodgers have flat out owned the Diamondbacks so far in 2007 with Arizona only managing a 2-7 record. This is the kind of albatross that can drag a team down into a state of depression that they never recover from. As I looked at the schedule for August it was this past week that just made me cringe. The 8 game winning streak at the end of July could be a distant memory if the Diamondbacks got swept in San Diego and Los Angeles. Fortunately that hasn’t been the case.

Many people are under the delusion that a trade cannot happen after the July 31st trade deadline. That is not necessarily the case. Prior to July 31 a team can trade any player that they own the rights to. After that time a player can still be traded but he first must clear waivers. After the deadline has passed on July 31 teams will place players on waivers hoping to get them through and allow them to continue negotiating with other teams on potential trades. If a player is claimed on waivers the team placing him on the waiver wire has the option of pulling the player back or letting the team who claimed him have him at a prorated salary for the remainder of the season. The waiver wire becomes a cat and mouse game where teams place players on waivers and teams interested can claim them for their own team or in many cases to block that player from clearing waivers and being traded to one of their competitors. In many cases players will be claimed more as a defensive move than because of real interest. I liken it to a game of hot potato. When the game stops you might find yourself with a nice baked potato but then again you might just find that all you got was burned. Such is the case with the Arizona Diamondbacks this year.

With the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles for a critical three game series against the Dodgers you would have thought it would be quiet down at the ballpark. That was not the case though. It was time for the second annual Chase Field Sleepover. Here fans had an opportunity to roll out their sleeping bags and camp out where players like Eric Brynes, Chris Young, and Carlos Quentin roam. At first glance it seems like kind of an odd promotion. Why in the world would anyone leave their comfortable homes to spend the night sprawled out on the grass at Chase Field? And even more to the point why in the world would head groundskeeper Grant Trenbeath allow anyone to lay out on the outfield? The field is already showing some serious wear in right and left field where Byrnes patrols and has been patched so this off week for the field was the perfect time to let it recover without planting a bunch of sleepy fans on it. No matter what the reasons why, the promotion was scheduled. The question was, what exactly do you do at a sleepover at a baseball field?

I had no sooner finished my blog entry on Carlos Quentin and getting back into the swing of things when he pulled a hamstring and was placed on the fifteen day disabled list. This left the Diamondbacks an outfielder short, or two if you count the anemic stats that Jeff DaVanon had put up since returning from shoulder and leg injuries. That could only mean one thing, a roster move would be made to bolster the Diamondbacks outfield crew. With the Diamondbacks currently in first place in the National League Western Division and in the midst of a pennant race it would have been logical to assume that the Diamondbacks would recall Jeff Salazar from Tucson. After all Salazar has had big-league experience, he has had success with Arizona, and he is on the 40-man roster making the move relatively painless. Never let it be said that the Diamondbacks are about easy or painless.

By all accounts I think everyone would agree that Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Carlos Quentin has struggled this year. It began in Spring Training when a strange swing of the bat resulted in a partially torn labrum. This injury limited his playing time and resulted with him opening the regular season on the disabled list. Quentin was extremely eager to return to the game and make up for lost time. When he was recalled from the disabled list he wanted to immediately make an impact. This didn’t work quite as well as he had hoped and soon Carlos found himself in the midst of a slump something he has not been accustomed to during his brief professional career. Quentin’s batting average soon resembled one of Brandon Webb’s sinkers dipping and diving with each at bat. Carlos has always been known as a player who can be hard on himself and the lack of production he saw during the first half of the season made matters even worse. It was obvious from watching him that he didn’t seem to be having any fun. The Diamondbacks saw this too and felt it was time for a change.