Diary of a Diehard

Game two of the Arizona Diamondbacks Tenth Anniversary Celebration came today against the Colorado Rockies. Today’s game was nationally televised as the Fox baseball game of the week. This meant the game time was moved from 5:10 PM local time to 12:55 PM. With outside temperatures registering in the mid-80′s with not a cloud in the sky that also meant that the game would be played with the roof open. There is nothing quite like a Saturday afternoon game to make you appreciate living in this great country. The smells of cut grass and roasting hot dogs while sitting in a wide open stadium remind us of why we love this game so much. It takes us back to a time of our youth when it was us playing between the foul lines imagining what it would be like to be a Major League Baseball player. Add to the fact that your team is playing their heated rivals after having beaten them four consecutive times to begin the season and it just doesn’t get much better than this. But today wasn’t just about an early April regular season game. This one had special meaning as it was a continuation of the celebration marking the first decade of Diamondbacks baseball.

Continue reading ‘The Ultimate Diamondbacks Team’ »

When I was a kid I used to live in front of the television on Saturdays. It would begin early in the morning when I would get up, make myself a bowl of cereal and turn on the television to watch cartoons. One of my favorites was the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. There is just something about a flying squirrel and a talking moose that intrigued me. And don’t get me started on Boris and Natasha and the evil Fearless Leader. But it wasn’t just “moose and squirrel” that kept me entertained. There was also Sherman and Peabody and the whole Peabody’s Improbably History segment. Who doesn’t love a genius dog and his pet boy who has a time machine aptly named WABAC which was pronounced “way back”. For those of you who somehow missed this animated classic let me explain the premise. Mr. Peabody and Sherman would travel back in time to important events only to find out that things were not going as planned. The boy and dog would then assist historical figures to get it right finally saving the day. Before returning to their own time each episode would end in a very bad pun that would cause the characters and the audience to groan. It was classic television and the perfect way to bridge the span of time until the Baseball Game of the Week with announcer Joe Garagiola making the calls. So why exactly did I just take that trip down memory lane?

Continue reading ‘Let the Tenth Anniversary Celebration Begin!’ »

Today marks day eleven of the 2008 Major League Baseball regular season. Today also marks the second off day for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. I’m still scratching my head over that one. I could definitely see this being the first off day of the season but the second? Especially when you consider that their first day without games occurred on April 1 a whole day after the season began. I guess the scheduling geniuses at Major League Baseball don’t put too much credence in the strength and stamina regimes that most franchises utilize during Spring Training. No need tiring the players out. Two days off in the first week and a half of the season coupled with an afternoon getaway game between two teams that have the next day off and are only 90 minutes away via air travel makes you wonder if perhaps the Commissioner’s office needs to extend the drug testing to include employees responsible for developing the schedules. I recognize that over the course of 162 games it is necessary for teams to have a day off periodically but the schedulers need to understand that as a fan I have been waiting since October 15 for baseball to resume for the Arizona Diamondbacks so taking 2 days off this early is not exactly what I was hoping for out of the 2008 season. If anything I was hoping that we would get a doubleheader in the first couple of weeks of the season to make up for being without baseball for 167 days 13 hours and 48 minutes. But that isn’t going to happen so for the second time in this young season I am left to ponder, “What am I supposed to do on a day without Diamondbacks baseball?”

Continue reading ‘Being Prepared’ »

As I expected, the game last evening was an emotionally charged affair. The Chase Field crowd gave starter Doug Davis a resounding ovation from the moment that he emerged from the dugout to begin warming up. The cheers continued through throughout the game as Davis seemed to do it all. He had his best start of the season (which sounds much more impressive than saying that he looked better this start than he did in his first start). Davis did seem to have all of his pitches working. He was ahead in the count for most hitters which allowed him more flexibility in his pitch count. Walks were down and strikeouts were up which is always a good sign. It wasn’t just his pitching though that made this night unforgettable. Doug also picked-off a runner from first and collected two hits at the plates including his first RBI of the season. For a moment you had to wonder if you were watching Doug Davis or Micah Owings. As Doug made his way back to the dugout after pitching 6 innings the crowd cheered partly for the gutsy outing and partly to wish Doug well in his surgery and recovery. Davis responded by making a curtain call which brought even more cheers. This game could very well be one of the highlights of the 2008 season.

Continue reading ‘Nothing Like an Afternoon of Baseball’ »

Today’s post is going to cover a gambit of subjects and emotions. I want to talk a little bit about the Diamondbacks Opening Day Part III that occurred last night, some of the transactions that have occurred over the past couple of days, and I also want to touch a little on tonight’s game. Since this is being written 6 hours prior to first pitch, the latter subject will be covered from an anticipation perspective rather than after the fact. If I get time I will augment the entry after the game but once I finish updating Now Hitting with box scores, transactions, and the all important results to the Circle K Hot Dog Derby, I might just have to wait and write a follow-up to tonight’s game tomorrow.

Continue reading ‘This Could Get Emotional’ »

You know its funny how Major League Baseball scheduling works; especially during the first week or so of the season. This year in particular has been extremely odd. Usually you can bank on the Major League Baseball season opening the first week in April and running through the last week of September. Opening Day always lands on a Monday and in my opinion should be a national holiday celebrated by everyone. But instead of consolidating and concentrating baseball into one enormous holiday that gets the general public enthused, Major League Baseball did quite the opposite in 2008. The season started with the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox travelling to Japan to take on the Oakland Athletics to open the season. While most clubs were just entering their third week of Spring Training the Red Sox and Athletics travelled half-way around the globe for the first two games of a 3-game series. It was really hard to get your hands around an Opening Day game that started at 4 or 5 AM. And how exactly did that affect season ticket holders? As a Diamondbacks season ticket holder I have tickets to 81 regular season games and 2 exhibition games to end Spring Training. I would be livid if MLB came to me and said that the number of games I would be able to attend has been reduced by 2 to allow people in Japan an opportunity to watch Opening Day. There would be a sudden increase in the purchase of Bud Selig voo-doo dolls as fans tried to inflict pain on the commissioner equivalent to what he had just introduced to the American fan.

Continue reading ‘It’s Opening Day, Again’ »

When the Diamondbacks arrived in Denver on Thursday they were well aware that they would be facing the Colorado Rockies in their home opener. I’m sure they also expected that there would be some recognition for the Rockies accomplishments from last season. I am not sure anyone expected that the Rockies would plan a celebration before every game during this series. It’s one thing to commemorate the 2007 and their first trip to the World Series but it is something else completely to drag that celebration on over the course of three days. Even in 2002 after the Diamondbacks had won the World Series they had Opening Day with the unveiling of the World Series banner and the day after when the players received their World Championship rings.

Continue reading ‘How About a Celebration?’ »

Did you ever have one of those weeks when you wake up and it’s as though you are in another dimension? One where everything is opposite of what you have come to rely on as being normal? That’s kind of how I feel this week. It just seems like every time I turn around I am dealing with something that would be perfectly natural if we lived in Bizarro World. It started off with our annual Fantasy Baseball draft. This year I decided I was way too busy to devote as much time to Fantasy Baseball as I normally do. I promised myself I would cut back and only play in half as many leagues as I normally do. Therefore I limited myself to four leagues. Trina and I have learned to agree to disagree on a few things in our marriage. I don’t attempt to understand her family and she doesn’t attempt to understand my obsession with Fantasy Baseball. She does ask that I try to minimize the number of players I select from National League West teams other than the Diamondbacks as she just hates to deal with the moral dilemma I place myself in whenever one of my fantasy players are playing against the Diamondbacks. I can’t deal with the fact that I am actually cheering against the Diamondbacks even if it is just for one batter. That subject is probably best left to discussing with a mental health professional.

Continue reading ‘Sometimes I Just Don’t Get It’ »

The Arizona Diamondbacks began the season in Cincinnati Ohio where they were the opponent to the Reds for their home opener. After dropping two of three games to the Reds they now travel to Denver Colorado where they are the opponents to the Colorado Rockies home opener. This has to be a bittersweet homecoming of sorts for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was on this very field on October 15 when the Snakes watched their magical 2007 season end as the Rockies swept the good guys to advance to the World Series. As if we needed any reminder of that, the Rockies and their fans wanted us to remember which team was better last year. Prior to the game starting the Rockies unveiled their 2007 League Championship banner to the ovation of a sold out Coors Field crowd. I know I should just be grateful for how far the Diamondbacks went last year but it was still hard watching this celebration and still thinking that the best team did not win that series. I don’t want to take anything away from the Colorado Rockies, I think they were a good team. I just think that NLCS saw the hotter team and not necessarily the better team win. Of course this is the same kind of thinking that has made Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes become public enemy number one in Denver Colorado.

Continue reading ‘Memories, Good and Bad’ »