June 30, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘Homeward Bound’ »
June 29, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘Even Steven and Other Fallacies’ »
June 28, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘Half Empty or Half Full’ »
June 27, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘I Don’t Like Fish’ »
June 26, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘What Might Have Been’ »
June 25, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘A Bunch of Knuckleheads’ »
June 24, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘It’s Duck Season, It’s Qualls Season’ »
June 23, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘Road Rage’ »
June 22, 2008
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.
Continue reading ‘Opportunities Lost’ »
