Diary of a Diehard

Mother’s Day is one of those holidays that just feels made up by Bell Telephone and the Hallmark corporations. What other possible explanation can you give for a day where you call your mom and send her a card? This is not one of those elective holidays like Martin Luther King Day or Veteran’s Day where the only people who get the day off are school children and the post office. No, if you ask any woman who has raised a child (or in our case a husband who acts like a child) this is the number one holiday for the year. It has all the importance of Yom Kippur, Easter, Christmas, and Boxing Day. Just try to blow off this holiday and see how long it takes you to be forgiven (if ever). Luckily for me I had planned ahead and done my Mother’s Day shopping so I would not be facing the wrath of Mom (which by the way is the best of all the Star Trek movies that they made). All that I was missing was a killer card to go with my killer gift. Sure, I could have taken the standard path and done what I do every year and get a card at Circle-K when I stopped to get gas but this year I wanted something special (that and I had just gotten gas so there was no reason to stop by Circle-K especially since the Diamondbacks have not recorded 12 strike outs at a home game all season meaning that I don’t have any ThirstBuster coupons and I am not happy about that at all). No I decided that the best plan of action was for me to make Trina a card.

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I’ve been a little tardy in the posting of my State of the Home Stand. Part of the delay was due to the Nightmare on Buffalo Street, the Alberto Callaspo fiasco, but mostly due to the fact that Trina has had me running around like a maniac ever since the Diamondbacks left town. So I do apologize for the delay and without further adieu I bring you my state of the home stand covering the seven game series from May 3 through May 9.

Continue reading ‘State of the Home Stand Address – May 3-9’ »

News reports began surfacing last evening of an issue surrounding one of the Arizona Diamondbacks players. The Arizona Republic newspaper reported that police were summoned to the residence of infielder Alberto Callaspo on Thursday in response to a domestic violence call. Callaspo was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage and booked at the Fourth Avenue jail. The initial charges are one count of assault which is a Class 1 misdemeanor and one count of criminal damage which is a Class 6 felony. Alberto Callaspo, age 24, is currently living at the Legacy Golf Resort with his wife Marianna Paola, age 22. As police arrived at the residence they found Marianny with minor injuries. Additional information has not been released as the police investigation is on-going. The Arizona Diamondbacks who were scheduled to travel to Houston Texas for a series beginning tonight against the Astros have prohibited Callaspo from traveling with the team while an internal investigation is underway by the team.

Continue reading ‘Domestic Doghouse’ »

For the most part I try to look on the positive side of things and always try to find the silver lining when bad things happen. Life is too short to dwell on the negative in life. Besides in most cases it is the bad things that happen in life that are the funniest things. But there are times when life really challenges my positive outlook and today happened to be one of those times. I knew it was going to be a tough day for me when I realized that the Diamondbacks had the day off meaning there was no game either at Chase Field or on the road. Still, I could deal with that. I mean I survived a whole off season, what is one 24 hour period without Diamondbacks baseball? I mean it wasn’t like there was no baseball anywhere. If all else failed I could always watch the Red Sox or the Yankees play. What was I thinking? I may as well have just written that I have denounced all religion and have chosen to root for Satan. Next thing you know I would begin justifying the designated hitter. Quite honestly that would have been better than what I had to face today.

Continue reading ‘The Most Frightening Night of My Life’ »

There is nothing like afternoon baseball. Nothing quite like the game being played in the daylight as the shadows creep across the grass and the fans sit enjoying a relaxing afternoon with a beer and suntan lotion. Granted, it is starting to heat up in Arizona so the heat is slightly warmer than the surface of the sun and the beer tends to reach boiling point if left in the cup holder in the bleachers for more than 3 innings but still there is nothing like afternoon baseball. This is especially true when your team has a 3 game winning streak going and is facing the team they have already bested the first two games to win the series. Topping it off is the fact that you have an opportunity to watch a living legend take the mound to try and find his first win of the season. Randy Johnson has gotten better in each of his starts so far and although he has not yet won a game in 2007 he has done exactly what the Diamondbacks have asked of him, he has given them a strong performance and eaten up innings. I was really looking forward to today’s game.

Continue reading ‘Afternoon Delight, Almost’ »

I get reminded nearly every day that Mother’s Day is coming this weekend. Trina does that in a very stealth like manner. She reminds me that I only have a few shopping days to get my mother something and send it to her if I want it to arrive on time. That is usually followed up with a couple of advertisements for things that I might be interested in getting. These items of course are in Trina’s size rather than my mothers but I guess she figures I am too dense to figure that part out. Each time Trina brings this up I have to gently remind her that the Diamondbacks are in town until Thursday so there really isn’t a lot I can do before then. Trina then shrugs and leaves me the advertisements just in case I want to look through them. I am of course playing this pretty cool since I already have something in mind but I don’t want to tip my Sedona Red Diamondbacks hat. My well laid plans nearly were foiled this morning when Trina began her daily reminder about Mother’s Day. In a moment of absent-mindedness I asked, “Well what do you want at the team shop in case I get to the game early tonight?” Trina closed the ads and turned to leave. “Use your imagination I guess” she said as she walked off. Wow, use my imagination that seems like a dangerous thing to say. Not wanting to disappoint her, I figured I would do just that and so started my Mother’s Day 2007 shopping experience.

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I was at the ballgame the other day. I arrived early to watch batting practice and to take in some of the sights and sounds of Chase Field. It’s always great to get to the park early. You beat the crowds that tend to arrive right before first pitch. You can take your time choosing what you want to eat at the concession stands without someone behind you freaking out because they just finished the last drop of beer and they desperately need another one, and you can usually get into the door of the team shop to check out what new merchandise the team may have added from the day before. On this day it was the team shop that was the big draw for me. I was looking for the new pin of the month and anything else that might catch my eye. As I was wandering around the store I happened to find a pair of Nike branded Diamondbacks shorts. I have three pair of Diamondbacks shorts along with three shirts/jerseys that I wear as pajamas (not at the same time unless it is really cold or I am going for the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man look). My problem is that all of my pajama shorts and shirts are Diamondbacks Classic colors (purple and teal). Given this fact I decided I just had to get the new black and Sedona Red shorts. I bought them along with a pin and headed back to my seat. After the game I gathered up my personal belongings before leaving Chase Field just as the PA Announcer requested and headed home.

Continue reading ‘I’m Not Psychotic’ »

There are times that I look at the schedule and I wonder what in the world the Arizona Diamondbacks were thinking. Today was one of those days. The Diamondbacks complete a four game series with the New York Mets in an afternoon. These are the same New York Mets who have beaten the Diamondbacks 13 consecutive times at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field. These are the same Mets that have rabid fans that somehow always seem to cause fights in the stands resulting in several ejections during the series. After having beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks three consecutive games already, the brooms would be out in force being swung wildly above the heads of fans dressed in blue and orange. Given this potentially volatile situation I had to wonder whose idea it was to have military appreciation day and the second annual Stitch N’ Pitch promotion fall on the same day? It just seemed like a bad idea to mix fans trained in hand-to-hand combat, obnoxious New Yorkers, and women wielding knitting needles in a confined place for 3 hours. No good could possibly come from this.

Continue reading ‘A Stitch in Time’ »

Cinco de Mayo is always a fun day to spend at the ballpark. Few young Americans understand the significance of this holiday. Lost is the fact that this battle purged the French from Mexican soil or what implications it might have had to the United States had Napoleon been successful in his conquest of Mexico. No this date has become an excuse to party and consume large amounts of Mexican cuisine and larger amounts of alcohol. And really what better place to have a margarita and a Garcia’s burrito than Chase Field?

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