Diary of a Diehard

It never fails, whenever you think you have finally figured out some of answers of life they go and change the questions sending you back to square one. When the year began we decided that we would plan one grand vacation for the family.

After holding a rather long and drawn out meeting where each of the kids brought forth their ideas for the perfect vacation we voted on where the destination would be. Despite my best arguments my idea of going to the Arizona Diamondbacks Fantasy Camp only received one vote. I still question whether or not there was voter tampering but I can’t prove it.

Continue reading ‘Facing a Dilemma’ »

Baseball is not just a sport. It is a roller coaster of emotion that will tear at your very soul if you let it. With each win or loss you find yourself ecstatic or suicidal. I listen to Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson talk about “maintaining an even keel”. I understand what he is saying, I just have no idea who you do that.

It’s not just the games that cause this roller coaster ride. Take this week for an example. The Diamondbacks began their final home stand of the regular season. Before going to the ballpark I remove that day’s game tickets from the folder and put them with my seat cushion to take to the ballpark.

Continue reading ‘They’re Here! They’re Here!’ »

It is hard to believe it has been a couple of years since I first penned My Bucket List. At the time it was merely an exercise of fiction. The ten items that I listed were so far removed from reality that I questioned why I even listed them. After all, how in world would I ever be in a position where I could experience even one of these items let alone multiples of them.

Continue reading ‘The Bucket List Revisited’ »

When the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they would be holding a Star Wars day at Chase Field I felt equal amounts of excitement and fear. On the one hand I grew up with Star Wars and that movie franchise has always held a special place in my heart. On the other hand, I could not even fathom the geekiness that would find its way into Chase Field.

Continue reading ‘Long, Long Ago In a Ballpark Far, Far Away…’ »

Fourteen years of attending just about every Arizona Diamondbacks game at Chase Field you would think that you would have about seen everything. There was the no-hitter thrown by then St. Louis Cardinals rookie Jose Jimenez against a D-backs team that would win 100 games that season.

There was the 20-strikeout game by Randy Johnson where he would not get the win against the Cincinnati Reds and the record would not count because the game went extra innings. Or how about the triple play where the Cardinals had the bases loaded with Mark McGwire at the plate? Then of course there was the most iconic moment in Diamondbacks history; a bloop single against a drawn in New York Yankees infield that would win the only World Championship in franchise history and be the only postseason loss in future Hall of Famer Mariano Riveria career.

Continue reading ‘Lights Out Baseball’ »

When the San Francisco Giants ended their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers by losing it set the stage for a three-game set against the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks who no one besides their manager Kirk Gibson thought would compete this year.

Instead the World Champion San Francisco Giants would come to Phoenix in a must win situation. The magic number to eliminate the Giants from the National League Western Division was one meaning they would have to win six straight ballgames while the Diamondbacks would have to lose six straight to force a one-game playoff.

Continue reading ‘Pool Party Champion Style’ »

Over the course of 162 game season that covers nearly six months the Diamondbacks have approximately 12 days off. When you stop to think about it, that is a huge commitment. How many of us would be willing to work 7 days a week with only two days off a month. Add to that the fact that you have to be away from your family for nearly the whole time and you gain an appreciation of the sacrifices baseball players make.

From a fan’s perspective it is just the opposite. The most dedicated of us spend 81 days away from home in the comfort of Chase Field rooting for the Diamondbacks. Vacations are planned around road trips and if you play your cards right you might just be able to talk the family into a destination where the Diamondbacks just happen to be playing such as San Diego, Denver, or Los Angeles.

Continue reading ‘How to Survive an Off-Day’ »

On Monday I took part in the Arizona Diamondbacks first annual TweetUp. I was seated next to Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall who I have known since he became the team’s president after the 2005 season. Through the years we have interacted on several occasions.

Continue reading ‘Putting Things in Perspective’ »

Before Monday’s game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Arizona Diamondbacks held their first annual Tweetup. The event was to bring users of Social Media in content with a panel of local Social Media personalities to open dialog on how tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs have changed the landscape of sports.

The Diamondbacks announced the event via Twitter and followed up with posts to their Facebook site. Given that communication path it was impressive to see nearly 100 fans in attendance at this first event.

Continue reading ‘Diamondbacks Tweet Up a Huge Success’ »