June 2008 Archives

I remember graduating from high school and going to college. I packed up all of my most important belongings and throwing them into the back of the car I headed off to my new life. College was great and I had a blast but there was something comforting knowing that if things got really bad I could always go home and be surrounded by a support structure that would never let you down. After college I got married and began a family of my own. Trina and I have tried to create a nurturing environment so that our kids felt safe at home just like we did when we were growing up. Now the kids are getting to the age that they too are beginning to leave the nest and forge out on their own. Ashley is now married and Mallorie is on the downward side of college. Tiffany is just getting ready to start her college career. Whitney is beginning high school and little Dakota is now in middle school. Regardless of how old they are all getting or how independent they have become they still look home to make everything right.

One of my favorite television shows of all-time right behind any Major League Baseball game would have to be Seinfeld. For some odd reason I related to a show about nothing. I am not sure what that says about my personality. One of the episodes had Jerry Seinfeld coming to the realization that he was "Even Steven". No matter what happened in his life, it all balanced out. If he had one friend who was having success he would have another friend who was going through substantial trials. If he lost a job another one would fall into his lap. In the ultimate test Elaine borrowed a 20 dollar bill and threw it out the window. As they were leaving Jerry's apartment he put on his jacket and found $20 in the pocket. This episode touted how good it was to be in balance. I had almost bought into that theory until today.

The conclusion of today's game marked the halfway point to the 2008 season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have now played 81 games of the 162-game season. Early on we were told that the season was a grind, a marathon, and we should not jump to any judgments (good or bad) about this team. We didn't have enough data to make a determination of what kind of team the 2008 Diamondbacks were going to be. When the team began to falter in May and were playing poorly we were again admonished not to read too much into it. The season was still young and there was still time to turn things around. Now though we are half over and you have to begin to wonder what we should expect over the course of the remainder of the season.

Typically the Major League Baseball schedule is set up so that each team plays non-divisional opponents one series at home and one series on the road. In the National League two teams will play each other for one additional series due to the fact that there are two more NL teams than there are in the American League meaning that there is one series that features only National League franchises while the rest of baseball is involved in Interleague play. It just so happens that this impacts the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. While every other team is playing against the American League, the D-Backs will begin a series with the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium/Pro Player/Joe Robbe Stadium/"That Ugly Football Monstrosity" Stadium. This is the second time the Diamondbacks have made the trip to Miami. This is the first time in franchise history that the Diamondbacks have played the Marlins at their home twice in the same season.

At the amateur draft earlier this month the New York Yankees selected pitcher Pat Venditte from Creighton in the 20th round. This is the second consecutive season that the Yankees have drafted him. I had heard of Venditte before and I was kind of hoping that the Arizona Diamondbacks might take a flier on him and draft him. Venditte is one of those pitchers that I would pay to see throw if for no other reason than to tell people I was there to witness this young kid. Venditte is not known for an overpowering fastball nor has he been described as having a filthy breaking ball that will make a hitter's knees buckle in the box. But he does offer something that I have never seen in my lifetime and may never see again and that is worth something especially in this day and age of pitcher specialization.

Game three of the Boston Red Sox series was one for the ages or should I say one for the aged. This game featured 44 year-old Randy Johnson against 41 year-old Tim Wakefield. This was not just a game between two of the elderly statesman of the mound. It was a contrast of styles. Randy Johnson throughout his career has been known as a power pitcher. He would routinely lead the league in strikeouts blowing people away with his 98 miles per hour fastball or nasty slider. Wakefield on the other hand was a light-hitting outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates who in a last ditch effort to remain a major league baseball player took up pitching throwing a knuckleball.

The Diamondbacks have really been scuffling as of late and it has mostly been as a result of poor offensive production by the entire line-up. Going into this series with the Boston Red Sox I was really dreading even watching the games. The Red Sox are in first place in the American League East and have one of the most potent offenses in the game. Their pitching staff has also been nearly unbeatable which is bad when you are hitting but when you aren't it makes for a brutally long night. In game one it took an unbelievable game by Dan Haren to keep the Diamondbacks in it and through some timely hitting they were victorious over Sox ace Josh Beckett. Tonight's game featured Doug Davis for the Diamondbacks and it looked like a long shot for the Diamondbacks to be able to take 2 in a row from the defending World Champions.

It's been an interesting year around Major League Baseball, especially the National League. Most of the teams have had a fairly decent home record showing that at least through the first half home field advantage does exist in baseball. Of course everyone having a good home record means that the road records are going to suffer and suffer they do. Going into this weekend only a handful of teams had a record above .500 and the Arizona Diamondbacks are not one of them.

One of the things we were told before the season started is that this team could not sustain an extended losing streak. With the pitching staff that had been assembled it was highly doubtful that the team would not have one of its aces be able to right the ship so to speak. The Diamondbacks didn't just have an ace on their staff; they actually had co-aces in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren who could stop the bleeding. Even if the schedule somehow allowed a team to get around of these two pitchers they still had to deal with Doug Davis, Randy Johnson, and Micah Owings. When a team has a stone cold lock hall of famer as their fourth pitcher in the rotation there is just no way they can help but win. Yeah, those are famous last words if I ever heard them.

I do have to give the Arizona Diamondbacks credit. They are constantly looking for new ways to enhance the customer's experience and add value to their product. I am especially impressed with how well they listen to their customers and act upon suggestions or recommendations. As a season ticket holder I have been very happy with many of the changes they have made. Having a dedicated guest relations contact has made it great as I have one person to deal with and they are getting to know me. On the flip side of that I am sure that the person who was assigned to my account is definitely rethinking his career decision and what he could have possibly done to deserve getting someone like me. I didn't use to think that I was high maintenance but now I am changing my mind. It is not that I require a lot of hand holding, it is just that I somehow have very strange and unusual questions that most representatives have not had to deal with. It has made me much more conscientious to how many requests I make of this already overworked staff.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have left the confines of Chase Field and are now being whisked away to Minneapolis Minnesota for the beginning of a 12-game road trip where they will visit the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Florida Marlins before returning home on June 30. This means that the current home stand has been completed which means it is time for another episode of the "State of the Home Stand Address" where I try to recap what was the most recent home stand at Chase Field. Just as a reminder, the viewpoints and opinions expressed within this post are my own and in no way are indicative of how others might view the team or Chase Field. This entry covers the three game series against the Kansas City Royals and the three game series against the Oakland Athletics. So without further adieu let's begin.

Last season the Arizona Diamondbacks introduced an interesting concept. During a weekday afternoon game they offered discount tickets to local summer camps to allow children to attend a game as part of their camp activities. The concept was a big hit and the Diamondbacks enjoyed an increase in attendance that might otherwise not have occurred. When the 2008 schedule was released I was somewhat surprised at the number of weekday afternoon games the Diamondbacks would be playing at home. It is pretty tough to try and schedule time away from work to attend a game and having the team play so many makes it especially difficult. It was therefore not surprising to see "Camp Day" listed among these dates. Today marked the first "Camp Day" for this season.

For the past two weeks Trina and the kids have dropped subtle hints to me in hopes of jogging my memory and minimizing the chance that I will do something stupid. At times I have to wonder if they think I am some kind of complete idiot or something. This all started around the first of June. I got a call from our oldest daughter Ashley that wanted to remind me that June 18 would soon be here. Well I am pretty good at math so I quickly calculated that it would arrive in approximately 18 days. Ashley ignored my smart aleck comment and went on to ask if I knew the significance of that day. Of course I did, the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the Oakland Athletics and if things continued to go as planned that would either be the game that Brandon Webb or Dan Haren would pitch. That was not exactly what she was referring to. Oh yeah, it is also D-Bingo night I added. I could sense the frustration in her voice as she explained that there was something else happening that day, something really important.

They say that it is easy to get over a blow-out loss but it is much harder to overcome losing a close game. I have no idea who "they" are but "they" obviously were not at Chase Field last night where we witnessed the Oakland Athletics rip the hearts out of the Diamondbacks players and use them for batting practice. It was brutally painful to watch this game unfold. I think the guy running the scoreboard has come down with an acute case of carpal tunnel syndrome from having to keep updating the score of the A's. I thought it was tough watching as the lowly Kansas City Royals came into town and took two games out of three from the Diamondbacks. But even those were not as tough to watch as this game tonight. In the first inning Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb allowed 2 runs. Yes, the same Brandon Webb who has been masterful for the beginning of the season. He followed that up by giving up another run in the third inning and another in the fourth. The wheels came off in the fourth inning when Webb allowed another 3 runs before being relieved having only recorded 1 out that inning.

When I was a kid cigarette smoking was much more prolific. Several of my parents' friends smoked. It was more of a social symbol than anything. When you watched television or movies it seemed like everyone smoked. Although I hated the smell of smoke it was something you just learned to tolerate. One of the side effects of being around people that smoked (other than continuously smelling like you just played several hours inside a fireplace) was that there were a large assortment of matchbooks always lying around. Now before you think I am about to confess to being a closet pyromaniac let me assure you that is not where this story is going. I was always fascinated by these matchbooks. Some of them had interesting words of wisdom and some of them showed detailed works of art upon the covers. I studied each cover fascinated with the notion that someone somewhere had a job where they had to decide what to put on the outside of the matchbook. I always thought about what that guy must be like at dinner parties. As you were mingling with the other guests before dinner conversation naturally turned towards what each person did for a living. It would get to the matchbook guy and the whole rest of the evening would be spent trying to explain to people how you get all that stuff on the cover of a book of matches. You're probably at this point wishing this story had been a confession of me being a pyromaniac, sorry. Of all the matchbooks there were one set that I was more fascinated with than any other.

One of the great things about Father's Day is that it happens right in the middle of the baseball season. And this year not only are the Diamondbacks playing but they are playing at Chase Field. So when Trina and the kids asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate I thought it was one of those rhetorical questions. From the looks on their faces, I think the kids thought Trina was kidding too when she asked. Maybe this was one of those tests that they give you to determine your level of sanity. I believe that if I would have answered in any way other than "go to Chase Field and watch the Diamondbacks", I probably would have been committed to some sort of home for the helplessly insane (I think some people call that Tropicana Field). So it was pretty much settled that I would like to go to a game. Straws were drawn to determine who would have to accompany me. Seriously, can you believe that? I have come to the conclusion that it is not that they are not baseball fans. Quite the contrary, each of them loves the game. I think the issue is that they have to go to the game with their dad. There is not a whole lot more humbling than to hear your kids try to talk each other into someone else going to the game with dad. I'm not exactly sure what I did to deserve that; ok maybe I do know but I promised not to write about it.

I went into this game somewhat enthusiastic. After a ten inning win last night on Friday the 13th this was going to be a good series right? I mean if you can beat the bad luck of Friday the 13th then the rest of a series against the last place Kansas City Royals should be a cake walk. Yeah I think General George Custer used a similar thought process at Little Big Horn and we saw how that turned out. Looking back over this day and this game I should have anticipated that things may not go quite according to plan.

For those that suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia this is a day where you just want to stay in bed and pull the covers over the top of you and wait out the clock. Medical and mental health professionals would have you to believe that there is nothing to this myth that Friday the 13th is bad luck (knock on wood). They will tell you that it is a mental block that must be overcome for you to lead a normal and productive life. What kind of normal and productive life could you lead if you were bad luck? No, I am not buying that at all. The concept of luck, both good and bad, has had way too much influence on my life to try and ignore them on a day like today. There is probably no industry that understands this better than baseball. Superstition and baseball go together like the "idiotic Doug Mientkiewicz" and hoof and mouth disease; you just can't have one without the other. The history of the game is filled with accounts of how luck and superstition have played a role in baseball.

For nearly a year I have been dogging the "great Troy Tulowitzki" for comments he made during the National League Championship Series. As someone in his first year of Major League Baseball he had no business opening his mouth let alone passing judgment on a fellow rookie. He doesn't know Justin Upton or the type of person he is. He just used that event to try and vault himself as an elite player and baseball leader. Yeah, we don't need leaders like that. That event was just the beginning of my disdain for the Colorado Rockies shortstop. Watching him as he went about his business before, during, and after the game it was clear that the "great Troy Tulowitzki" needed to be humbled so that he didn't forget that he was not bigger than the game. So when he got hurt earlier this year I did not bemoan his plight nor was I sympathetic to what he was going through. Quite the contrary, I am hopeful that this time away from the game will give him a new perspective and a quieter demeanor when he does return. The one bad thing about the "great Troy Tulowitzki" being hurt is the fact that we as Diamondbacks fans are left without a villain. You have to have a villain, without one who do you have left to vilify? Luckily for us, just when we need a nemesis most, one appears in the most unlikely place.

This has been the longest freaking 10 days of my life. I have not been to Chase Field in a week and a half. I have no idea how I am supposed to survive another three days until the Diamondbacks get back into town. It is not just the baseball I miss, I also miss the stadium. I miss the guys taking tickets. I miss the customer service representatives saying hello and asking me if I need any help. I miss Katie the usher meeting me at the top of the section. I miss Bobby Freeman and his organ. I miss hearing the roof opening music and wondering whether we will play the game with the panels opened or closed. I even miss seeing Baxter throwing things from the top of the dugout. I don't miss Rally Sally just in case anyone wondered. There is so much that I miss when the Diamondbacks are out of town. I've started looking for excuses to go on the freeway just so that I can see whether the roof is open or closed. So when my friend Andre asked me if I would be interested in going down to Chase Field with him today so that he could pick up tickets to an upcoming day I jumped at the chance.

It was just over a month ago that we last saw the New York Mets who rode into Chase Field as one of the favorites to win the National League East. During that three game weekend series the Mets as usual beat up pretty good on the Diamondbacks winning 2 of the 3 games and outscoring Arizona 17-14. The overall score is skewed by the fact that Arizona scored 10 runs in their 1 win. The other two games they were only able to squeak out 2 runs per game. Basically, the Mets owned the Diamondbacks as they have for several years. I remember thinking at the time that I wished the Diamondbacks were done with the Mets this season as I just could not deal with much more of a beating. Here we are now with the snakes limping into town on a 2-5 road trip so far. Micah Owings scheduled to pitch game 1 of the final regular season series they will ever play at Shea Stadium. I had my fingers crossed that their luck might have changed.

Monday is probably one of the least appreciated days of the week. No one looks forward to Monday. Well I can't say that, I think barbers like it. They must like Monday since they are closed every week on that day. Then again maybe the opposite is true. Maybe barbers hate Monday so bad that they refuse to even acknowledge its existence. That is an interesting question and one that will probably plague me until my next hair cut. It's funny and slightly scary how quickly I can derail a post. This has to be a record; I was able to completely lose my train of thought in just 3 short sentences. Hold on; let me try to get back to where I was going with this. Oh yeah; I remember now. Monday is typically not a day that I look forward to. It usually signifies the end of the weekend and the beginning of yet another week of working for the man. There is very little to look forward to on Monday; especially this Monday. The Diamondbacks are still out of town so there isn't even a game to go to. This Monday was looking to be one of the bleakest ones on record. Then I came to a realization.

Today I am feeling a little like Al Pacino's character Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part III when he uttered this classic movie line, "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in". I thought when the BALCO firestorm hit it would put an end to the steroids story. That instead fueled even more stories. I thought when Jose Canseco came out with his book Juiced that we had heard the last we would about steroid use in professional sports. That of course didn't happen and the rumors and innuendo continued. Then I thought when George Mitchell released the infamous Mitchell Report that we would finally be able to put the steroids storyline to rest but again that has not happened. Now today I find myself staring at the local sports page and again find the bold headlines of steroids usage and how it may have influenced the outcome of a sporting event. Is this ever going to go away?

One of the great travesties of baseball is the fact that for so many years it remained segregated. It was not until Branch Rickey brought up Jackie Robinson that the color barrier was finally broken. In this day and age it seems impossible to imagine baseball without color boundaries. It's even more difficult for some fans to imagine that there was a time when baseball actually included a league devoted to African American players. That league was the Negro League and prior to 1947 it included some of the greatest players to ever play the game. For the longest time; the dedication of the players from the Negro Leagues has been underappreciated. Hall of Famer Dave Winfield felt that the time had come to make amends for that. He approached Commissioner Bud Selig and suggested that a special draft be conducted prior to the beginning of the 2008 First Year Player draft whereby each franchise would call out the name of a living representative who played in the Negro Leagues. The commissioner eagerly agreed and this commemorative draft was held earlier this week.

Today was day two of the 2008 First Year Player Draft. Yesterday the draft completed the first 12 rounds. Today they plan to complete the remaining 38 rounds. Yes you heard me right, the remaining 38 rounds. It seems somewhat appropriate that the MLB draft is being held at Disney's Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World since it lasts longer than standing in line for Test Track at Epcot. Perhaps Bud Selig should introduce Fast Pass into the draft sequence to allow teams who know who they want to draft to get to the front of the line quicker. Day one was brutal as each team was given 10-15 minutes per selection for the first round. There is just so much drama you can build into a draft pick and baseball as usual went well beyond that line.

It's that time of year when there will be literally thousands of amateur baseball players glued to their houses and their cell phones hoping that their lifelong dreams will become a reality. So many kids grow up playing baseball and at an early age they dream of being a professional ballplayer. Today at the Wide World of Sports on the Walt Disney World properties representatives from all 30 major league franchises will gather and fulfill the dreams of some 3,000 kids. Today of course is draft day and the festivities will begin at 10 AM Arizona time with each of the major league clubs drafting a living member of the Negro Leagues to represent all those players who through segregation were never given an opportunity to play Major League Baseball. In the past it has been painfully difficult to try and follow the draft. Unlike their football brethren, baseball has kept the draft relatively closed off and low key. The past few years have seen baseball open up and try to create the type of media buzz that goes along with selecting the stars of tomorrow.

As I had previously reported, Sunday has been defined as kids' day at Chase Field. Obviously the Arizona Diamondbacks have never met my mother. Throughout my childhood I lamented that we celebrated a Father's Day and a Mother's Day and there was even a Grandparents' Day; but nowhere on the calendar could I find Kid's Day. When I approached my mother with this obvious calendar oversight I was told, "Every day is kids' day." I'd never known my mother to lie before so I had to believe that what she was telling me was the truth so I went through the first 17 years of my life believing that every day was Kid's Day. I don't know about you but where I come from I found that my mom's assertion was either totally bogus or the civic leaders of our town missed the memo. I tend to believe it was the latter rather than the former. I once approached the ticket counter of the local theater and asked for a free "Kid's Day ticket" to see Star Wars. The woman stared at me incredulously and stated, "There's no such thing as Kid's Day; that will be $6.50." I couldn't believe it. This lady was calling my mother a liar! It's a good thing she was trapped in that glass ticket box or I might have had to mess her up a little bit. Nobody calls my mom a liar, well except maybe my little brother but he got that beat out of him pretty good. So now for the Diamondbacks to assert that only Sunday is Kid's Day, that didn't sit well with me.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are now out of town for ten days. Ten days, are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how painful the next week and a half are going to be? I'm used to rushing home from work, grabbing my tickets and my seat cushion and running down to Chase Field to make it just in time to get the line-ups entered into my scorebook before first pitch. Now I have nothing to look forward to. Oh sure, the Diamondbacks games are on television and for the most part I enjoy the Fox Sports Arizona coverage but it's just not the same. It's especially frustrating with these games only being offered in standard definition. I'll admit it I am completely spoiled by high definition and I have a hard time getting enthusiastic about watching a baseball game using 20th century resolution. I apologize for sounding like a broken record here but I just do not understand why Fox Sports Arizona broadcasts home games in high definition but away games in standard definition. This is one of those imponderables that rank right up there with why people still think the earth is round. I just don't get that. After the last two nights I might be forced to rethink my arguments; I am definitely sure I didn't want to see the first two games of the Milwaukee series in high definition. In fact I am not sure I even wanted to see them in standard definition.

At the conclusion of yesterday's game the Arizona Diamondbacks packed their bags and left Chase Field to begin a 10 game road trip to the mid-west and east coast. That means that it is time for the latest installment to the State of the Home Stand Address. This is where I try to recap each home stand at chase field to provide feedback on the team, the stadium, and the in-game entertainment. This entry will cover the home stand that began May 27 with a three game series against the National League Western Divisional rival San Francisco Giants and concluded with a weekend series against the National League Eastern Division Washington Nationals.

It's interesting how different you view age as you get older. I remember as a kid I always tried to fudge a little making people think I was a little older than I really was. Most of this revolved around the fact that kids are never included in the cool stuff. You are always told that you will understand when you get a little older. Society puts up a barrier to the young. You have to be a certain age before you can play Little League, you can't gain entrance to certain movies until you are at least a certain age, and don't even try to gamble or purchase alcohol without proof that you have met a minimum age. But as we get older the trend begins to reverse. Trina is a prime example. She has been 28 years old for like 10 years or something. [Please note this is an exaggeration and in no way indicative of Trina's real age. She doesn't look a day over 22 in the right light and I would never suggest that she ever fibs on her real age. I have no idea how old she is nor will I ever admit to questioning the accuracy of the number she provides.] Not only does the passage of time somehow get lost as we age, so do our birthdays. I don't know how many times I have been told that after a certain age birthdays are no longer celebrated. I always thought this was the domain of the female of the species but I learned otherwise today at the ballpark.