Diary of a Diehard

In one of the most bizarre coincidences in recent history Major League Baseball chose Veteran’s Day as the day they would announce the Rookie of the Year awards. In the National League the Arizona Diamondbacks find themselves with a legitimate candidate in center fielder Chris Young. Legitimate candidate should not be confused with favorite. It has long been speculated that the winner would come from either the Colorado Rockies or the Milwaukee Brewers for the Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year. Wow, that award title is a mouthful. About the only thing longer than that is the team name for the Angels.

Continue reading ‘Veterans and Rookies’ »

With baseball season now over the amount of Diamondbacks press coverage has dwindled to a trickle. The local newspaper barely even acknowledges the team’s existence. They are busy building up the Phoenix Suns establishing Planet Orange as the place to be. They also dedicate large amounts of print space to the Arizona Cardinals as they try to explain how this year’s team implosion is different than all those that occurred previously since the team moved here. This weekend though I found a few stories surrounding the Arizona Diamondbacks and in the most peculiar place.

Continue reading ‘Gentlemen Start Your Engines’ »

November 8, 2006 was a day that I will never forget. In my life it was the equivalent to asking where I was when Kennedy was shot or what was I doing when man first landed on the moon. It was an historic day to day the least. On that day much of my life changed and I have yet to figure out whether it was for the better or the worse. The evening of November 8 at the Valley Ho resort in Phoenix the Arizona Diamondbacks unveiled their new color scheme during a fashion show. Gone were the comfortable and unique purple, turquoise, and copper replaced with Sedona Red, Sonoran Sand, and Black. This led to a dramatic change in my life as I went about replacing all of my old team memorabilia with ones that fit the new color scheme. I wondered how in the world a team could turn its back on 12 years of history and start over. I’m sure a lot of my family and friends thought I was crazy for getting so worked up over something as trivial as a team changing its colors. But to a fan there is nothing more sacrilegious as messing with your favorite team’s colors; unless perhaps a franchise goes one step further and changes its name.

Continue reading ‘You Can Call Me Ray’ »

Coming out of Spring Training this year the Arizona Diamondbacks were hoping that pitcher Micah Owings would be able to make an impact for the team. Given the tremendous year he had in the minor leagues this season the team was hoping he could make the transition to the major leagues and offer some relief as starter Randy Johnson began the season on the disabled list. I’m sure the front office was hopeful that Micah could become the fifth starter at least temporarily and perhaps grow into a valuable member of the pitching staff. I am not sure anyone fully expected that he would have the kind of year he did especially at the plate.

Continue reading ‘Rise of the Silver Slugger’ »

On July 22, 2007 it was supposed to be just another game in the Texas League between the Arkansas Travelers and the Tulsa Drillers. The Drillers are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies and were on the road to face the Travelers. In the ninth inning with the Drillers down 7-3 first baseman Tino Sanchez came to the plate. He hit a line drive foul down the first base line which struck first base coach Mike Coolbaugh in the head. The couch fell to the ground unconscious and stopped breathing. He was shortly pronounced dead. The accident devastated major league and minor league players and officials. The Colorado Rockies players went as far as to vote the Coolbaugh family a full player’s share of their post season winnings. Coolbaugh, 35, was survived by his two sons Jacob and Joseph as well as his wife Amanda who gave birth last month to the couple’s first daughter Anne Michel Coolbaugh. It was a tragic story that brought to light a very serious danger.

Continue reading ‘Being Hard Headed’ »

With the General Managers meeting this week in Orlando I fully expected to see some baseball news in the paper and on the wire services. Teams have until November 12 to exclusively negotiate with their free agent players. I had hoped that there would be news on the Diamondbacks front saying they had signed Tony Clark to a two-year contract or that Livan Hernandez was open to coming back to the team for another year. I was right in a sense, the Diamondbacks were a lead story not only on the sports page but in the news section as well.

Continue reading ‘Where Does It Stop?’ »

On December 27, 2005 the Arizona Diamondbacks sent third baseman Troy Glaus and shortstop Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays. In return they received starting pitcher Miguel Batista and second baseman Orlando Hudson. Hudson had just won the 2005 Gold Glove for his outstanding defense for the Blue Jays. The Diamondbacks hoped that this move would shore up the middle of the infield which had been rather porous the previous season. It did just that. In 2006 Orlando Hudson showed why the Diamondbacks had been so intent on getting him. He got to grounders that seemed impossible. As a result of the improved defense pitchers such as Brandon Webb recorded a lot more outs and had outstanding seasons including the Cy Young for Webb. At the conclusion of the 2006 season Orlando Hudson was awarded his second consecutive Gold Glove this one in the National League. Expectations were high that the O-Dog would deliver in 2007.

Continue reading ‘The Golden Boy’ »

In July 2005 baseball commissioner attended an Internet chat session carried live by MLB.com. During the session a fan asked the commissioner what his stance was on the use of instant replay within baseball. The commissioner reiterated his stance in October 2005 when a disputed call cost the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game 2 of the American League Championship Season. Since that time Bud Selig has maintained his negative stance that he first gave in 2005 when he said:

Continue reading ‘Can I See That Again?’ »

As a kid in school we were always taught that the longest day of the year was the Summer Solstice. I always thought that was funny since I thought every day was the same length. The teacher would then chastise me for being a smart aleck and explain that what she meant was the day that had the greatest amount of daylight. While scientists may say that the first day of summer contains the most amount of daylight in the northern hemisphere; any kid in the United States will tell you that is not necessarily accurate.

Continue reading ‘The Longest Time of the Year’ »