Diary of a Diehard

Do you ever have one of those days where it doesn’t seem to matter what you do you just somehow find a way to stick your foot in your mouth? And then you try to fix things and you make an even bigger mess out of stuff than if you had just let things alone? Unfortunately, that pretty much describes every day of my life but even more so it describes my day yesterday.

Looking at the web site analytics and my email in-box there were many people who visited Diary of a Diehard yesterday and read my entry on the Justin Upton Meet-and-Greet event held at Chase Field last evening.

Continue reading ‘I’d Like to Apologize and Clarify’ »

At the conclusion of the final home game of the 2010 regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks held a celebration for their Season Ticket Holders on the playing surface at Chase Field. Season Ticket Holders had the opportunity to sign up and have their pictures taken with various players and coaches.

It was an overwhelming success after the 2009 season and season ticket holders I spoke to were looking forward to this event. With the home team in route to a 97-loss season, fans and team personnel were looking for anything positive to come out of the year.

Continue reading ‘Justin Upton Failed Meet and Greet’ »

A year ago at the Winter Meetings, then Diamondbacks General Manager Josh Byrnes inquired into reliever J.J. Putz. After a disastrous 2009 season where the bullpen struggled to close out games, Byrnes needed a closer.

At the time the Diamondbacks offered Putz a one-year contract worth just under $3 million. Putz declined the offer opting to sign with the Chicago White Sox where he appeared in 60 games throwing 54 innings striking out 65 while waking just 15.

Continue reading ‘The Bullpen is Getting Closer’ »

When Kevin Towers took over the job as General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks he had several items on his to-do list to make this team more competitive. The top of that list included rebuilding the worst bullpen in all of Major League Baseball and cut down the number of strikeouts by the offense.

Both of these items were addressed when Arizona sent starting third baseman Mark Reynolds and either a player to be named later or cash to Baltimore for right-handed pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.

Continue reading ‘Diamondbacks Reduce Strikeouts With One Swing’ »

With Thanksgiving now over, all eyes are focused on Christmas at our house. Before the turkey had even cooled off battle plans were being laid for shopping. A lot of this focused on “Black Friday” when stores enticed normally sane people to skip sleeping and stand in line for hours to save a dollar on a Snuggie.

Normally I try to fake an injury to keep myself on the shopping disabled list. I’ve thrown my back out lifting a turkey, dislocated a shoulder passing the gravy, and even pulled a hamstring putting the leaf in the dining room table.

Continue reading ‘Christmas Decoration Challenges’ »

Just over a year ago I had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking ceremony at the Talking Stick golf course in Scottsdale where the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies announced their new Spring Training facility.

At the time we stood among mounds of dirt and run-down buildings as team officials stood and described the future and what it would be like to train in the Phoenix valley. I remember looking around trying to imagine the finished product.

Continue reading ‘Select-A-Seat Spring Training Style’ »

At the deadline the Arizona Diamondbacks declined to tender contracts to four of their players allowing them to become free agents. The four players non-tendered included pitchers Blaine Boyer and DJ Carrasco along with infielder Augie Ojeda and outfielder Ryan Church.

Perhaps the most disappointing of the four was seeing Ojeda’s name included. He had become a staple on the Diamondbacks roster being able to play several positions in the infield. His gritty nature had made Ojeda a fan favorite, which led to him being voted as the final bobble head.

Continue reading ‘Diamondbacks Cut Ties with Four’ »

Just a week after the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates that landed them left-handed starter Zach Duke, the team announced they had reached an agreement with the pitcher on a one-year deal with a club option for 2012.

It was widely assumed that if the Diamondbacks could not come to some sort of agreement on a contract before the deadline for tendering contracts to players that Duke would be cut loose.

Continue reading ‘Banking on a Rebound’ »

In yet another example of how little I actually know about baseball and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team offered salary arbitration to their two Type-B Free Agents Adam LaRoche and Aaron Heilman. This comes just one day after I wrote that the team likely would not offer arbitration as they were afraid the players might actually accept it. Just goes to show you there are a lot going on that a typical fan may not understand (or just ignores).

The second part of the arbitration discussion was decided last night, which was the deadline for players to accept or reject the team’s offer. As the deadline came representatives for both LaRoche and Heilman declined the Diamondbacks offers making them free agents and giving them an opportunity to negotiate with all 30 teams.

Continue reading ‘Players Just Say No to D-backs Arbitration’ »