Diary of a Diehard

The fire in Utah had set us back a full day. I had hoped that I could drive the distance in one day still making it home yesterday but with the limited sleep that both Trina and I had that was impossible. Instead we finally stopped for the night in Page Arizona. A sleepy little town on the shores of Lake Powell (which at this point looks more like Pond Powell due to the draught conditions). I had great intentions to leave at the crack of dawn to arrive in Phoenix mid-morning but exhaustion got the best of me and we didn’t get back on the road as quickly as I had hoped. I found myself in the car in a race against time. It was me versus the clock to see which would survive. I had to get home, get the game tickets, and be at Chase Field in time for the game (I was beyond hoping for batting practice at this point).

Continue reading ‘Safe At Home’ »

All along the plan for our family vacation was that we would leave after the final out of the June 28 game at Chase Field and that we had to be home by 4:40 PM on July 13 when the gates would open for the first series after the All-Star break. That seemed like a simple enough plan so I was just slightly tipped over when that plan was called into question. It was not the family who wondered whether the 4:40 PM July 13 deadline was hard in fast. They knew better than to question that. No it was actually Mother Nature who wondered whether I really meant that I needed to be home by this time.

Continue reading ‘Even the Best Laid Plans’ »

I’ve written before about seat cushions. In fact, after doing a search on my blog I realized I sort of have an obsession about seat cushions. I am guessing that Trina would concur with that assessment as there is not a day that goes by that I don’t mention them. So it really should not have come as any surprise that I packed the seat cushion material when we were getting ready for our vacation. I figured that if I didn’t have a game to go to at Chase Field I could give Trina my undivided attention in helping her construct Seat Cushion 2.0. This was probably the last thing Trina wanted was my undivided attention especially when it comes to designing and sewing but she was going to get it.

Continue reading ‘Seat Cushions 2.0 Revisited’ »

For the first time since 2002 the Arizona Diamondbacks are represented by more than one player at the All-Star game. For the past few years Arizona has been one of those teams who fell into the “every team must have a representative” scenarios. It was not that there was not talent on these teams it was just that there wasn’t more than one player who was having a stellar or break-out season that warranted inclusion on the all-star team. This year that has changed and hopefully the trend of seeing multiple representatives from the Diamondbacks will become more of the rule rather than the exception. But like anything else, we are never content with what we have and always question why we didn’t get more.

Continue reading ‘Golden Gate All-Stars’ »

Major League Baseball’s All-Star celebration is filled with all sorts of sights, sounds and activities. The festivities are not just about the mid-summer classic but include other events that at times overshadow the actual all-star game. It began on Sunday even before the first half of the regular season games had completed. The first event was the Futures game which featured many of the minor league’s best in a showcase of the future superstars of baseball. The Arizona Diamondbacks organization was represented by two participants in this year’s Futures Game. Playing for Team World was outfielder Carlos Gonzalez who has been touted as one of those rare five-tool players capable of carrying a team on his back with both his offense and his defense. The second participant was Justin Upton who was the first overall pick in the draft in 2005. Upton has been making his mark this season quickly moving through the minor league levels. In just his second professional season Upton has gone from high Class-A Versalia to Class-AA Mobile. He quickly showed why he warranted the number 1 pick driving a ball into the outfield stands. And while it was impressive to see these youngsters showcase their talent the stands were relatively empty for such a big event. Many fans were waiting instead for the activities scheduled for Monday.

Continue reading ‘Chicks Dig the Long Ball’ »

Never has a team needed a break from baseball as much as the 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks. During the month of July the Diamondbacks have only been able to secure a win once in the past 8 days. You cannot just point to one area where the team is struggling. It appears to be something different each night. When Arizona gets good pitching from the starters then the offense struggles and gives them no run support. When the bats come alive and the Diamondbacks score runs then their defense falters and they give up costly errors. When the defense is stellar then the relievers come in and give up late inning runs. On this road trip nothing seemed to go as planned. To his credit Bob Melvin tried shaking up the line-up, adjust days of rest for pitchers and position players, and modify everyone’s routine just to see if that might light a spark. None of these had the kind of effect that the organization was looking for. Now the team has the next 4 days off to try and regroup and see if they can find the keys to the success they enjoyed earlier in the season.

Continue reading ‘We Need a Break’ »

Today has been marketed as the luckiest day of the century. This is a result of the date being 07/07/07. According to the Gila River Casino advertisements 7-7-7 is always a winner and therefore lucky. A lot of people seem to be in agreement with that as the numbers of marriage license applicants for this day are substantially larger than any other day including the new millennium and Valentine’s Day. I’m not sure getting married on a lucky day is going to help any of these marriages to survive better than any other day but I guess it can’t hurt either. My thoughts today were not on marriage but on baseball. I know that probably comes as a shock to many of you. It amazed me too that I woke up this morning with baseball on the brain but rather than fight it I decided to embrace it. If there was ever a team that needed a little luck it was the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since the calendar rolled over from June to July the Diamondbacks have only been able to muster one win against the St. Louis Cardinals. At this point I was willing to accept help no matter where it came from.

Continue reading ‘Feeling Lucky?’ »

Recently I received a notice in the mail from the Arizona Diamondbacks inviting me to renew my season tickets for the 2008 season. I had debated whether to take advantage of the team’s offer to renew now or to wait until after the 2007 season concluded and renew. It was not so much a question of whether I would renew my tickets or not; that was definitely a given. The real question was whether the incentive was enough to justify spending the money now versus later. With all of the time I had available to me during this vacation since I could not get a decent Internet connection, no games via satellite, and only one minor league game I had plenty of time to assess the situation and decide whether to renew or not.

Continue reading ‘All Signed Up and No Where to Go’ »

Researchers say that each of us has a unique pain threshold which describes the amount of pain we can endure before it becomes unbearable and we seek medical attention. My physical pain threshold is relatively high. While I was playing ball I had a collision as a base runner where I collided with the first baseman breaking my wrist in 2 places and breaking the first baseman’s leg. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and I stayed in the game and played to finish that game and play the second game of the double header. Once the games concluded I went to the hospital to have my wrist set and cast for eight weeks. Given that experience I thought I was prepared to handle any amount of pain thrown in my direction but I wasn’t prepared for the idea of being without baseball for 15 days during the season without an opportunity to even see a game on television.

Continue reading ‘Getting My Fix’ »