Just a guy from Section 132 Row 9 Seat 9
There are times when a box score does not necessarily tell the entire story about how a game went. This was definitely the case in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. At first glance, it appears the Braves crushed the Diamondbacks in route to tying the series up at one game apiece.
Going into Tuesday afternoon’s game, all we ever heard about was the inadequacies of Randy Johnson and how he was not a big game pitcher. Johnson was identified as a choker who just rolled over during a big game. There were even some that said Johnson was cursed since he had not won a post-season game since 1995.
Ah, there is nothing quite like an afternoon of Major League Baseball in October, especially if your team is playing in its first ever National League Championship Series. The grass is greener, the sun is brighter and the hot dogs smell good enough to eat.
Continue reading ‘Land of the Free and the Home of the Diamondbacks’ »
Play-off baseball is a fascinating phenomenon. It has a way to bring out the best and the worst in people depending upon the circumstances. The events of the St. Louis and Arizona series bears witness to this fact. With their season on the line and in one of the most important games in the history of this franchise, the Diamondbacks found two unlikely heroes.
Loyalty is an interesting concept, especially as it pertains to sports. If you ask anyone what one of the biggest changes in sports today, a large number of those questioned would exclaim free agency. With the advent of the free agent, Major League Baseball changed forever. Gone were the days when a player would break into the big leagues as a rookie and play their entire career for one franchise. With the retirement of Tony Gwynn we may have seen the final player of our generation begin and end with the same National League team. Fans everywhere are becoming accustomed to seeing their favorite player move from the hometown team to a rival. When these moves occur, the fans are in an uproar as the player is admonished for their lack of loyalty. “Where is their sense of community?” they ask. “How could they abandon the fans like this?” or “The players are nothing more than a bunch of pampered millionaires looking for money.” These comments are often heard on sports talk radio or read in print. Soon, that player that was the cornerstone of the local team is now publicly ridiculed and derogatory remarks are made that he didn’t care about the fans or didn’t care about the game.
It has been interesting to watch the intensity of the play-offs and what effect it has had on the players as well as the fans. For the past week, all anyone has heard is how much different play-off baseball is versus the regular season. How every play and every pitch has so much more meaning. That always sounded like such a cliché. I really questioned whether the media was being overly dramatic in order to promote interest or if there was indeed a difference. All of my doubts about this being just another baseball series have been erased with the past two games of the Arizona and St. Louis series. The divisional play-offs have been an emotional roller coaster ride that is not even half over.
As Bob Brenly announced the starting pitching rotation for the Arizona Diamondbacks series against the St. Louis Cardinals, hundreds if not thousands of Diamondbacks fans questioned what he was doing. After all, it was a forgone conclusion that Randy Johnson was the number one starter on this ball club. Granted, both of these pitchers have earned the right to be the game one starter with the performance they have shown during this season and I am sure that there are 29 other clubs in Major League Baseball that would love to have the problem Brenly was facing. What a quandary, does he go with the 22 game winner with 273 strikeouts for the year or does he go with the 21 game winner who has 372 strikeouts?
Nothing quite like October baseball to get a fan’s heart to race. The air at Bank One Ballpark is electric with excitement as anticipation grows towards Game 1 of the National League Divisional Play-offs. I can still remember the atmosphere back in 1999 when the Diamondbacks made their first trip to the post season. Everything was so magnified compared to the regular season. It was like Christmas morning and I was a kid again. I fully expected to see Santa Claus descend from the JumboTron and deliver special baseball bats to the players. The Diamondbacks even dressed the stands around the stadium with red, white and blue bunting giving it a look of baseball tinsel. Everything seemed larger than life. From the increased sound system to the screaming of 48,000 fans, the stadium seemed so alive. The grass seemed greener and the hot dogs tasted better. There is nothing that can compare to the sights and sounds of Major League Baseball play-offs.
With no baseball being played today as the teams all travel to their games and put in a short workout, I am left to ponder the meaning of life. No good can ever come of that as my mind tends to wander to areas it should never be allowed. As I looked at the calendar, I noticed that it is Columbus Day.
