2008 Spring Training: February 2008 Archives

Time is a logical progression of single slices of consciousness. One instance builds upon the previous slice and bridges itself to the next. It is a way for the human mind to try and place order upon its surroundings by evaluating instances and developing a pattern of how things occur and then try to put meaning to them. The problem is that the human mind also likes to put things in nice little containers where everything fits neatly together. The universe on the other hand has other ideas. It is a constant ebbing and flowing of matter through space meaning that there are no constants that can act as boundaries around the definition of time. As a result man tries to describe a changing environment with a static measurement. So while we attempt to define the measurement of time within our neat little boxes of calendar days there always seems to be a little left over. The result of this rounding error is that before long the remainders begin to add up to a significant value. Presently that number reaches significance every four years. So to compensate for this dilemma we add a day to the year to get everything back on track at least for another four years. I always wondered why they picked February to tack on that extra day. I suppose it is because February is already suffering from a inferiority complex being the runt of the calendar with only 28 days. This gives February the opportunity to at least think he's growing and will someday be able to play with the big months. We all know that will never happen but it at least makes February feel better and it's important that all the months have good self-esteem.

Mark Reynolds was the feel-good story of 2007 for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here was a kid who began the year in Mobile Alabama playing for the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate when he gets a call to the major league team in an emergency when Chad Tracy suffered an injury. Reynolds came to the parent club and began to light up major league pitching at a blistering pace. Soon pitchers began to realize that Reynolds could hit a fastball a country mile. Mark soon found himself receiving a steady diet of breaking balls and struggling mightily. Rather than demoting him, manager Bob Melvin showed a lot of confidence in the youngster. That confidence seemed well placed as Reynolds bounced back from his struggles and as the season ended Mark was again lighting up major league pitchers.

During the off-season many of the Arizona Diamondbacks took some well deserved time off to regroup and get ready for the 2008 season. Some of the players returned to their home countries and started their second season. For a lot of players especially from Latin America it becomes a matter of national pride to play winter ball for their country. Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero is one such player. Miguel returned to Venezuela to play for Bravos de Margarita. Montero was putting up decent numbers hitting .258 in 23 games. His defense was progressing nicely with several people commenting on the young catcher's ability to call a game.

There are a few things in this world that I just can't stand. The top three in no particular order are the gyrating moves of Rally Sally in the upper deck, the "great Troy Tulowitzki", and going to the dentist. The first two on this list I can at some point tolerate. Oh sure I am still hopeful that someone will sit behind Rally Sally and give her a gently nudge off the upper deck or that she has changed her allegiance and has become a diehard Arizona Cardinals fan giving up baseball completely. And there is always a chance that the "great Troy Tulowitzki" will fade to mediocrity after suffering miserably in a prolonged sophomore slump. Two of the top three worst things in the world have the potential to fade off my list so I do have that working for me. The one remaining item though I'm afraid I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

Besides my invitation to Evening on the Diamond, I had one other piece of Sedona Red mail. This one seemed a lot more affordable, or so I thought. The Arizona Diamondbacks had previously announced on their web site that single game tickets for the 2008 regular season would go on sale at 9:00 AM on Saturday March 1. I had marked the calendar with a Sedona Red circle and hearts which interestingly enough looked just like Valentine's Day. But according to the postcard I received in the mail, Season Ticket Holders have an opportunity to purchase single game tickets before they go on sale to the general public and could actually begin placing orders today; just another benefit to being a Diamondbacks Season Ticket holder. This is the part of the blog entry where we pause for a brief advertising endorsement suggesting to everyone to rush over to the Arizona Diamondbacks web site and order your season tickets. So you don't forget order before midnight tonight. Now back to our regularly scheduled entry.

We have an interesting phenomenon that occurs in our house. Myself or one of the kids will go to the mailbox every day and retrieve the mail. We'll then walk back to the house and after removing the mail addressed to whoever picked up the mail the remainder will be deposited on the edge of the cupboard. On the surface you would think this would work out very well and be quite an efficient method of dealing with the postal mail. Unfortunately there is a small problem with this process. The person who retrieves the mail typically forgets to tell anyone that they had gotten the mail. This results in additional trips to the mail box which of course find it empty leaving the retriever with a false impression that the mail has not yet arrived or that we simply did not get mail that day. The second flaw is that everyone seems to forget to check the corner cupboard to see if the mail has been deposited there. This coupled with the fact that the kids also deposit their homework, school papers, and anything else they can find on the same cupboard means that the mail is quickly lost and forgotten. The pile of papers continues to accumulate until either someone gets frustrated with the stack of paper or there is a cave in from the paper causing a safety hazard whereby someone is trapped under the weight of a paper avalanche. After the rescue crews have safely cleared the avalanche there is a family meeting where we all promise to change the way we retrieve mail. The reminder of the weekend is spent going through the mountain of paper and dealing with the lost mail. Today was one of those days.

The starting rotation for the Arizona Diamondbacks has garnered a lot of attention this off season and rightfully so. It will definitely be a source of strength for the team entering the 2008 season and from top to bottom should be a force to be reckoned with. The fifth starter is typically someone who is good enough to start but is the person most likely to be skipped in order to keep the front line of the rotation on schedule. In the Diamondbacks case the fifth starter is someone who may not only be counted on for his arm but also with his bat. Micah Owings has drawn a substantial amount of press by winning a Silver Slugger award in his rookie season. His prowess with the lumber caused manager Bob Melvin to ponder aloud at the winter meetings wondering if perhaps Micah might take infield practice and play first base on occasion just to give him more at-bats. That notion was subsequently shot down when Spring Training opened as Melvin stated that Owings was going to be counted upon to contribute on the mound every 5 days. The front of the pitching staff has likewise found themselves as the center of attention.

Today was the first full day of workouts for the entire team. Everyone with the exception of Tony Pena is now in camp and ready to get going. Pena is still facing issues getting a visa that will allow him to enter the United States. Much of the problem stems from a case of mistaken identity where Pena played his first few of seasons under the name of his cousin Adriano Rosario. The Diamondbacks should find out in the next few days what the timeframe will be for when Pena will be able to get to Tucson. In the mean time drills will continue as players begin to prepare for the upcoming Cactus League season followed by the regular season. The case of the missing Pena was not the big news to come out of Diamondbacks camp though.

Going into the off-season after the 2007 season one of the biggest questions surrounding the Arizona Diamondbacks was how they were going to relieve the logjam they had at the corner infield positions. At times during the 2007 campaign Bob Melvin found himself with four very viable options for two positions. It is a decision that many managers would envy but it can be difficult especially of all four players deserve to be the starter. Part of the decision was in the hands of Tony Clark who was a free agent. He could choose to go to another franchise which would mean that the Diamondbacks would have three players for two spots which was the plan. Another option that the Diamondbacks explored was to trade Conor Jackson and resigning Tony Clark which again would give them options and adequate depth. Adequate depth is the key hear and unfortunately also the greatest unknown.

For the past 127 days, 11 hours and 43 minutes I have been pacing the floor waiting for this day to finally arrive. I suffered through 4 long games watching the "Great Troy Tulowitzki" and his cronies play in a World Series that should have included the Arizona Diamondbacks. I struggled as Major League Baseball announced Jake Peavy had beaten Brandon Webb in the Cy Young award voting even though Webb's number in 2007 were better than they were in 2008 when he won the award. I danced and cheered as Micah Owings won his Silver Slugger and Orlando Hudson won his second Gold Glove. But through it all my mind was squarely focused on this day.

Now that pitchers and catchers have begun reporting to Spring Training I was really hoping that the focus could get back between the foul lines. It has been a long off season filled with headlines surrounding the pharmaceutical side of baseball. Beginning with the Mitchell Report and continuing through the Brian McNamee / Roger Clemens war and now culminating with yet another round of Congressional hearings this has been a very dark time for baseball. And while Bud Selig and Donald Fehr proclaim that baseball is taking working measures to clean up the game; every day brings about more accusations and innuendo. Now it seems like no matter where you go, if you are identified as a baseball fan you are immediately questioned of how you feel about the usage of steroids and what it has done to the game.

As a kid growing up I remember February as a month of strange celebrations. It began on February 12 when we celebrated the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. That was followed shortly by Valentine's which taught us at a very early age that the best way to a girls heart was through a fancy card and some candy. This was of course augmented as we got older and had to add expensive jewelry to the list of things that women find romantic. Once Valentine's Day was over we moved on to February 22 when we celebrated George Washington's birthday. In school we made stove-pipe hats and wore fake beards to begin the month and ended wearing powdered wigs and making our teeth look wooden. It was an interesting month to say the least. At some point the powers that be decided that the United States had more than two presidents and hence there should be a federal holiday that would recognize all the accomplishments of the Executive branch of the government. This resulted in the establishment of President's Day. And in order for federal employees to be assured of a long weekend the holiday would always fall on the third Monday of February.

At Fan Fest the Arizona Diamondbacks described some of the activities they have planned for the upcoming season. The first weekend series in April has been identified as the Tenth Anniversary Celebration. For each of the games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the Diamondbacks have planned something special to recognize the team, the employees, and the fans who have helped define the first decade of Arizona Diamondbacks baseball. It's hard to believe that it will have been 10 years since the Diamondbacks began play on March 31, 1998 against the Colorado Rockies. A little research last year found that there were only two active players remaining of those who saw action during that inaugural game; one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and one with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies representative is still with Colorado and still playing the same position. He has been the face of the Rockies for a long time, Mr. Todd Helton. The Diamondbacks player who is still active is no longer with Arizona but was a Diamondback on two separate occasions. Last season he played for the St. Louis Cardinals posting an 8-1 record with a 2.18 ERA; he is Russell Paul Springer.

You would think that today would be one of those days where you begin to channel Uncle Remus from the Disney Movie Song of the South. I fully expected to get up, put on my best work clothes and head out the door and begin singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da whereby Mr. Blue Bird would perch on my shoulder and together we musically account for a "wonderful day". I mean this is the day I had been waiting for since October. Pitchers and catchers are now in Tucson and at the Kino Sports Park you would be hearing the crack of leather as they began the first day of drills to open the 2008 season. Why then am I not jumping up and down with excitement? Well there are probably two reasons for that.

Happy Webbruary! There is nothing more rewarding that when you finally get to turn the page to the calendar and realize that the year has flown by and you are now in the month of Webbruary. What is that, your calendar doesn't have a Webbruary? Well it sounds to me like you got yourself a defective calendar and I would place the blame squarely on the Hallmark Corporation because we all know they are the evil geniuses behind all calendar conspiracies. I say that because Hallmark has more to gain by changing the calendar than any other organization in the world. If you don't believe me I challenge you to go into a Hallmark store and see how many different greeting cards they make and for what occasions. The last time I was in a Hallmark store looking for a card I would have sworn I found one congratulating my dog for successfully completing obedience training. I had no idea Dog Obedience Training Day was even a holiday but according to Hallmark it is. But I think in the case of Webbruary even the Hallmark people were surprised.