2008 Regular Season: September 2008 Archives

With 17 games remaining in the season you hate to start labeling individual contests as "must win" but after a disastrous 0-6 road trip that took the Diamondbacks out of first place and put them 3.5 games behind the suddenly red-hot Dodgers this game tonight would definitely rank right up there in importance to the Diamondbacks season. It was not just important to the team, it was equally important to Brandon Webb.

Our son Dakota is now in sixth grade which in Arizona means that he is no longer in elementary school and is now in middle school. I totally don't understand the middle school concept. Back in my day we didn't have a middle school. We kept sixth graders in the grade school. Seventh, eighth, and ninth grades went to Junior High then there was high school. Of course in my day we had to walk 20 miles in the snow to get to school and we didn't have spiral notebooks. We used ink wells and wrote with our fingers in the air. Ok that last part was made up just for the benefit of my children who still think that my high school sweetheart grew up and married Noah because he had a boat. I have a long history with this middle school and very little of it is good.

I was really hoping that the Diamondbacks had somehow gotten to the end of their losing streak. Not only was a 5-game losing streak bad for team morale, it wasn't doing much for my marriage either. Trina and the kids were getting less happy every day. I was getting stressed about the team too but they were taking things much harder. I admired them for their outlook but quickly realized that the losing had nothing to do with how poorly the team was playing. They were just sick of this growth on my face and wanted me to shave. Still we all wanted the same goal so I was feeling good about that. I think it's important to have common goals as a family and if my unshaven face was what it took I was willing to sacrifice.

There comes a time in every man's life where desperation takes control over your mind. It is usually at a time when things look the darkest that you begin to assess what you thought was reality and what was really just a delusion. These are the times when you learn the most about yourself. Are you the kind of person who will shun these calls to action and cower in a corner or will you be the type of person who will take the situation by its horns and wrestle it to the ground and come out victorious?

After a nightmare series against the Los Angeles Dodgers I was really grateful to see the Diamondbacks leave southern California and go north to San Francisco. Before the season began the San Francisco Giants were picked by most to finish last in the National League Western Division. They have done much better than most people had expected and are actually ahead of the San Diego Padres by 7.5 games. If there were ever a time to be grateful to face a team with a losing record, this would be it. If the Diamondbacks could somehow sweep the Giants it would go a long way towards erasing the pain from Los Angeles.

While I was in Los Angeles at the Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers series my family was at home. Before anyone thinks I am a heel for not taking my family with me to Los Angeles let me assure you that me being gone for 2 days is a vacation for them so it all works out best. I'm one of those guys that you need to dilute a little. Me at full strength is definitely not for the faint of heart. While I was there I did call and check in with the family. When I went to Downtown Disney for lunch the first day I called and texted them letting them know where I was. Ok that was probably not a cool thing to do but I did get them something and it wasn't even from the team shop so that should account for something. After the game on Friday I went back to the hotel. I called Trina partly to vent about how poorly Dan Haren pitched and partly just to let her know I was thinking about her. (See I can be sentimental. Just because I had to put a reminder on my phone to do that should not be held against me.)

Today is day 2 of the much anticipated road trip to Los Angeles to watch the Diamondbacks face the Dodgers. After last night's loss the Diamondbacks find themselves just 0.5 games ahead of Los Angeles. With Brandon Webb on the mound the Diamondbacks fans were feeling fairly confident that they would keep their hold on first place. The problem was that nobody told the Dodgers that this was Brandon Webb, leading Cy Young candidate. For the second straight game the Diamondbacks found themselves on the short side of the scoreboard taking them out of first place for the first time since April 4. Rather than dwell on the game, I thought I would instead write a bit about my experiences at Dodger Stadium.

For the past several weeks I have been looking at the calendar lamenting at how September was quickly approaching. There were of course positives to this like the kids would be back in school, the monsoon season would be over meaning Arizona would return to being a "dry heat", and I would soon be able to begin preparation for Seat Relocation which has become an annual ritual where I get to spend time at Chase Field trying to decide where I want to sit for next season. Those of course are all positive aspects. There are negatives too. The 2008 baseball season will soon be over. Looking at my Season Ticket packets I have just 9 games left this regular season. That is just not enough baseball.

The Arizona Diamondbacks just completed a crucial home stand that was supposed to give us an insight as to who this team is and what we can expect. After going 3-3 over the six games I'm afraid we don't know much more than when we started. The Diamondbacks have an off day today before starting a critical weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Just a game and a half separate these two teams in the standings so this series has huge implications. This will be the last meeting between these two teams in the regular season so it is critical to take care of the Dodgers and not have to rely on help from someone else. From Los Angeles the Diamondbacks will travel north to San Francisco to play the Giants before returning home on September 12 to face the Cincinnati Reds whom they have not seen since Opening Day this season. With the Diamondbacks now out of town it is time for the latest episode of the State of the Home Stand Address" where I give a fan's perspective of how the recent home stand went. As always the entry will cover the games as well as the fan experience. This time we will talk about the three game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the three game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. I'll begin with my standard disclaimer that the views expressed within this post and this blog are my own and in no way indicate how others see the game or the series.

In the first game of this series the Arizona Diamondbacks came from behind to overpower the St. Louis Cardinals and take the game by a score of 8-6. This game was historic as it was the first game in Chase Field history where a player hit for the cycle. Stephen Drew accomplished this in route to a 5-5 night. Game two of the series saw the Cardinals take advantage to a rare shaky start by Yusmeiro Petit who lasted just 4.1 innings. He gave up 4 hits of which 3 were home runs in 4.2 innings work. The Diamondbacks could not recover from that deficit and found themselves losing 8-2 to the red birds. This evened the series at one game apiece so today was the rubber game.

Stephen Drew was not the only person making history last night. The Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals combined for 8 home runs which set a record for the most home runs during a game at Chase Field. It was like watching the launch party of the local model rocket club. Balls were flying every directions landing well beyond the outfield walls. The four home runs hit by the St. Louis Cardinals travelled a combined 1,598 feet or nearly a third of a mile. Fortunately for the Diamondbacks their four home runs were equally long and were part of an 8-run barrage that would lead them to a come from behind victory.

I have long proposed the idea that going to a baseball game in person is much better than watching it from the comfort of your living room. Sure it is nice not having to worry about parking and whether the 300 pound woman has the seat located right next to yours but it is just not the same. There is something about going through the turnstiles and hearing the vendors hawking their wares that makes everything seem right. You walk through the concourse and see fellow Diamondbacks fans and you lament the fact that the opposing team's fans are in attendance and will be boisterous when their team gets ahead. The smells from the concessionaires drift through the air and mix with the smell of fresh cut outfield grass. No there is nothing quite like going to a baseball game, especially a day game on a holiday. After all, you never know when you might just witness perfection.