Each month Arizona Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall holds an on-line chat where for 30 minutes he subjects himself to being peppered by Diamondbacks fans. It is an interesting opportunity where the fans are allowed to speak their mind and ask whatever they want. The questions are submitted then the Diamondbacks determine which questions will be answered. At first that was a little frustrating since many of my questions never get brought up. But after several months of this I have come to appreciate that functionality. Knowing the questions I am asking I respect the Diamondbacks not answering some of them. And if my questions are strange and unusual I cannot even imagine what some of the other fans must be asking.
I try to attend the chat each month. Partly I go to show my loyalty and appreciation for Derrick Hall offering this opportunity; and partly I go just because I am a curious guy that always seems to have a question about something. You would think that after ten going on eleven years I would have all my questions answered but for some strange reason that doesn't seem to be the case. This month for example I had a lot of questions about dbTV which is the new high-definition scoreboard at Chase Field. I love that thing and marvel at it every game. I'm still trying to put together a killer justification of why I need one of those for home. Well maybe not 46 feet by 163 feet but a similar scale that would fit in my family room. I'm already working on the graphics that would allow me to sub-divide the television into regions so that I could show game action in the center of the television while having the score and player information around the outside. I even considered mounting a camera on the wall so that I could display crowd shots of the couch during commercials. Trina of course isn't buying into any of this, yet. I just don't think she understands how cool this would be. In the meantime I'll spend my time analyzing dbTV trying to find new and unique ways this technology could be used. I would love to see them incorporate some of Pitch FX from MLB.com which shows pitcher release points, amount of break on the ball, and where the ball crosses the plate. It should not be that difficult to connect dbTV to the Internet, should it? [Note to self: check to see if there is a Chase Field behind the scenes tour of the video display room and see if you can find out who is in charge of this technology to gain a better understanding of what it can do.]
Besides the video board questions, I also had a couple of personal things I wanted to ask. My wedding anniversary is quickly approaching. Trina reminds me of this fact quite often as if I would forget it or something. I am well aware that our anniversary is on the second game of the Interleague Series with the Oakland Athletics. I already have her down for going to the game that night. The Diamondbacks obviously also remembered our anniversary as they are giving away D-Bingo prize packs on that day. I like D-Bingo even if I do get a defective game card every time. Take last week for example; in order for me to get a bingo I had to have Catcher Interference, a Balk, an error on the shortstop, an error on the right fielder, and a Hit By Pitch. I wonder if those five events have ever occurred during the same game in the history of baseball; probably not. But hey, you can't win if you don't play so I'll keep trying. So anyway, my wedding anniversary occurs during a home stand, pretty lucky huh? I mean the Diamondbacks have pretty much done the planning for me. The gift is taken care of since Trina will get a D-Bingo card. The date is taken care of since we'll be going to the game. And dinner is taken care of because I know she would like a Hungry Hill Polish Sausage with the works. Well at least that is what I thought. Trina it seems had other ideas. When she realized that there was a game that night she initially asked if we would be going to the ballpark that night. What an odd question that was. I just assumed she would be going to the ballpark otherwise how would we be able to spend time together on our anniversary? I tried explaining that to her but I am not sure I was getting through. When I got to the point about the Polish Sausage her face started turning Sedona Red and I am not sure that is necessarily a good thing in this case. She insisted that at the very least we needed to go somewhere nice to eat. Well duh, why do you think I suggested Hungry Hill? Trina was kind of adamant that somewhere nice meant that the restaurant needed to have chairs and a table and no; stadium seats do not count as chairs. Well, that put me at a disadvantage. I only know 3 places at Chase Field that would fit those criteria. The first would be Friday's Front Row Grill which is open 363 days a year. Hopefully our anniversary isn't one of the 2 days (3 days during Leap Year) they are closed. The second would be the Strike Zone Lounge behind home plate and under the stands. There's absolutely no way that would happen since the Strike Zone Lounge is accessible only to those who have Dugout Level seating. Last time I checked, Section 112 is not in the Dugout Level seating chart. The final option was The Lexus Club. This is normally limited to guests on the Insight Diamond Level or one of the lettered sections (i.e., above the dugout or behind the plate). This is a problem too since 112 doesn't appear to be a letter but rather a series of numbers and that number doesn't start with a "2". Last season I got lucky and the Diamondbacks offered one free pass to the Lexus Club with our season tickets. Looking through the package this year, that wasn't included. The monthly chat seemed like the perfect place to ask if there was any way to get to The Lexus Club. Mr. Hall explained that The Lexus Club was limited to the aforementioned sections but that if I called him he might be able to get me in for a special occasion. Whew! That was a close one. I think I may have dodged a bullet and found a solution for Trina to enjoy her anniversary. Personally I think she is giving up a good thing by foregoing the Hungry Hill Sausage but that's just me. My final question during the chat dealt with Season Ticket Appreciation Gifts. This is an annual thing with the Diamondbacks where they reward their Season Ticket Holders with a free gift. These are really cool things. One year it was seat cushions (not as cool as Seat Cushion 2.0 but still pretty cool). One year we got a crystal Chase Field thing which was pretty cool too. One year it was cool Diamondbacks coffee mugs so it is something we definitely look forward to each year. This year though I had not heard anything and wondered whether this was a benefit that was continuing. Mr. Hall assured me that it was and that the gifts were already being given out. They were Antigua Season Ticket Holder polo shirts. What? Already been given out? I started to panic and rushed to my email to send a note to Season Ticket Holder Services. How could I have missed this? I started yelling at Trina and the kids asking if I had gotten anything from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the mail. Was there a postcard or a letter or anything that they forgot to tell me about? The answer was no and I was freaking. I quickly sent an email and crossed my fingers hoping for help. This morning I got a reply from Luis in Season Ticket Sales. He explained that the card should have been in with the renewal package I got in December. I frantically went through everything I had gotten and could not find anything that referred to a shirt. I started to feel woozy and thought for a second I was going to faint. Trina said I was hyperventilating and made me breathe into a paper bag. I have to admit I felt kind of stupid trying to reply to an email while wearing a bag over my face. Luis was great trying to talk me off the ledge by assuring me there was still time and that I could still get a shirt. The gift this year appears to be on a per account basis not on a per ticket basis meaning I would get one shirt not two. I'm not sure what Trina is going to say when she finds out she doesn't get a shirt. I'm thinking that I will wrap up the shirt and give it to her then when she realizes it is too big for her she will just give it to me. I've pulled that enough times that I think she is starting to get wise to that. I may just end up having to buy a second shirt just so I can have some peace around the house. Thanks to Luis, my breathing is back to normal and I am not dialing the suicide hotline. That really was a close one. It's a good thing I go to these chats otherwise my life would seriously be messed up.
Besides the video board questions, I also had a couple of personal things I wanted to ask. My wedding anniversary is quickly approaching. Trina reminds me of this fact quite often as if I would forget it or something. I am well aware that our anniversary is on the second game of the Interleague Series with the Oakland Athletics. I already have her down for going to the game that night. The Diamondbacks obviously also remembered our anniversary as they are giving away D-Bingo prize packs on that day. I like D-Bingo even if I do get a defective game card every time. Take last week for example; in order for me to get a bingo I had to have Catcher Interference, a Balk, an error on the shortstop, an error on the right fielder, and a Hit By Pitch. I wonder if those five events have ever occurred during the same game in the history of baseball; probably not. But hey, you can't win if you don't play so I'll keep trying. So anyway, my wedding anniversary occurs during a home stand, pretty lucky huh? I mean the Diamondbacks have pretty much done the planning for me. The gift is taken care of since Trina will get a D-Bingo card. The date is taken care of since we'll be going to the game. And dinner is taken care of because I know she would like a Hungry Hill Polish Sausage with the works. Well at least that is what I thought. Trina it seems had other ideas. When she realized that there was a game that night she initially asked if we would be going to the ballpark that night. What an odd question that was. I just assumed she would be going to the ballpark otherwise how would we be able to spend time together on our anniversary? I tried explaining that to her but I am not sure I was getting through. When I got to the point about the Polish Sausage her face started turning Sedona Red and I am not sure that is necessarily a good thing in this case. She insisted that at the very least we needed to go somewhere nice to eat. Well duh, why do you think I suggested Hungry Hill? Trina was kind of adamant that somewhere nice meant that the restaurant needed to have chairs and a table and no; stadium seats do not count as chairs. Well, that put me at a disadvantage. I only know 3 places at Chase Field that would fit those criteria. The first would be Friday's Front Row Grill which is open 363 days a year. Hopefully our anniversary isn't one of the 2 days (3 days during Leap Year) they are closed. The second would be the Strike Zone Lounge behind home plate and under the stands. There's absolutely no way that would happen since the Strike Zone Lounge is accessible only to those who have Dugout Level seating. Last time I checked, Section 112 is not in the Dugout Level seating chart. The final option was The Lexus Club. This is normally limited to guests on the Insight Diamond Level or one of the lettered sections (i.e., above the dugout or behind the plate). This is a problem too since 112 doesn't appear to be a letter but rather a series of numbers and that number doesn't start with a "2". Last season I got lucky and the Diamondbacks offered one free pass to the Lexus Club with our season tickets. Looking through the package this year, that wasn't included. The monthly chat seemed like the perfect place to ask if there was any way to get to The Lexus Club. Mr. Hall explained that The Lexus Club was limited to the aforementioned sections but that if I called him he might be able to get me in for a special occasion. Whew! That was a close one. I think I may have dodged a bullet and found a solution for Trina to enjoy her anniversary. Personally I think she is giving up a good thing by foregoing the Hungry Hill Sausage but that's just me. My final question during the chat dealt with Season Ticket Appreciation Gifts. This is an annual thing with the Diamondbacks where they reward their Season Ticket Holders with a free gift. These are really cool things. One year it was seat cushions (not as cool as Seat Cushion 2.0 but still pretty cool). One year we got a crystal Chase Field thing which was pretty cool too. One year it was cool Diamondbacks coffee mugs so it is something we definitely look forward to each year. This year though I had not heard anything and wondered whether this was a benefit that was continuing. Mr. Hall assured me that it was and that the gifts were already being given out. They were Antigua Season Ticket Holder polo shirts. What? Already been given out? I started to panic and rushed to my email to send a note to Season Ticket Holder Services. How could I have missed this? I started yelling at Trina and the kids asking if I had gotten anything from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the mail. Was there a postcard or a letter or anything that they forgot to tell me about? The answer was no and I was freaking. I quickly sent an email and crossed my fingers hoping for help. This morning I got a reply from Luis in Season Ticket Sales. He explained that the card should have been in with the renewal package I got in December. I frantically went through everything I had gotten and could not find anything that referred to a shirt. I started to feel woozy and thought for a second I was going to faint. Trina said I was hyperventilating and made me breathe into a paper bag. I have to admit I felt kind of stupid trying to reply to an email while wearing a bag over my face. Luis was great trying to talk me off the ledge by assuring me there was still time and that I could still get a shirt. The gift this year appears to be on a per account basis not on a per ticket basis meaning I would get one shirt not two. I'm not sure what Trina is going to say when she finds out she doesn't get a shirt. I'm thinking that I will wrap up the shirt and give it to her then when she realizes it is too big for her she will just give it to me. I've pulled that enough times that I think she is starting to get wise to that. I may just end up having to buy a second shirt just so I can have some peace around the house. Thanks to Luis, my breathing is back to normal and I am not dialing the suicide hotline. That really was a close one. It's a good thing I go to these chats otherwise my life would seriously be messed up.
You should know by now that the people at the Season Ticket department are idiots. Here's the deal with the shirts. The "giveaway" was supposed to happen at the beginning of the year but something got screwed up. They sent out an email that said you should be receiving a letting in the mail that was a voucher. We got our postcard looking thing about a week ago. There's no way you were supposed to have gotten in last December. In any event, they are giving them out at the table inside gate E. If you don't have a post card, just go over there and tell them what is up.
Season ticket services has been pretty helpful in this situation. I am in contact with a nice guy by the name of Luis who is helping me through the lost voucher issue. I was a little disappointed that the Diamondbacks chose to reward just the account holder. As a fan who purchases 2 season tickets and religiously attends the games to make sure at least those two seats are filled for every game that the rewards should be on a per seat basis. But I guess $30 for an extra shirt isn't too bad when compared to the price the team shop has on Antigua shirts. Hopefully things will work out.