Diary of a Diehard

After yesterday’s game the Arizona Diamondbacks packed up and headed to San Diego for a brief 3 game road trip. They will return home on Thursday to begin preparing for a 6 game home stand which includes the final home series with the Los Angeles Dodgers next weekend. This means it is time once again for the next edition of “State of the Home Stand Address” where I give a fan’s perspective of how the games went during the recent home stand. This entry covers the three game series with the San Diego Padres and the three game series with the Florida Marlins. As always I’ll start with my standard disclaimer that the opinions expressed within this post and this blog are my own and in no way are indicative of how others see the games or the series.

Continue reading ‘State of the Home Stand Address – August 19-24’ »

There are certain things that absolutely scare me in life. Those would include things such as the Arizona Diamondbacks being realigned into the American League and me having to accept the Designated Hitter; my wife standing behind the door leaping out questioning why I made my latest purchase at the Diamondbacks team shop; and clowns. These fears are very real and I have had to learn to deal with them. I thought that was an exhaustive list but now I am adding one more item to that list; Stitch and Pitch.

Continue reading ‘Stitch and Pitch?’ »

Each year the Arizona Diamondbacks are scheduled to play one home and one away series with every National League team outside of the Western Division. Then there are the Interleague games which rotate each year so that ultimately the Diamondbacks will play every American League team at some point. Because of the quirks of the 162 game schedule there is always one non-NL West team that the Diamondbacks play more than once. Last season it was the Pittsburgh Pirates whom the Diamondbacks visited twice. This season the team is the Florida Marlins. In many cases that would not be bad since the Marlins always seem to be in some sort of rebuilding mode as they wait for the Florida voters to decide the fate of their new stadium. Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks they never match up well with the Marlins and typically get the lunch eaten.

Continue reading ‘The Big One That Got Away’ »

It has been a great year to be an Arizona Diamondbacks fan especially when they are playing the National League Western Division. I have watched nearly every game that the Diamondbacks have played this season (ok that may be an understatement, I have even watched some of them multiple times analyzing footage) and I have no idea how to explain the National League West or why the Diamondbacks seem to be dominating the teams in their division. Through tonight’s game the Diamondbacks are a ridiculous 34-16 against the West which is part of the reason why they have a 2 game lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers despite not playing well since May.

Continue reading ‘Do We Need a Broom?’ »

I love my Chase Field seats. No not the ones I have installed in my house although I do love those. The problem with the seats in my house is that they come with a lot of baggage; namely the eternal fight I have with Trina as to whether these stadium seats are appropriate home furnishings. I know, it is a strange notion that somehow Major League Baseball stadium seats may not be appropriate chairs for your living room. And don’t even think about suggesting that we buy 6 more to serve as dining room chairs. I mean really what would be wrong with that. They are plastic so you could hose them down if they get dirty, the fold up when not in use, they have the Diamondbacks logo integrated into the side of them, and they come with their own cup holders. If you ask me, stadium seats are the perfect home furnishing. The one problem is no one ever asks me.

Continue reading ‘Musical Chairs’ »

After a six game road trip the Arizona Diamondbacks return to Chase Field to play host to their National League West opponent the San Diego Padres. This game will mark the home debut of Adam Dunn. The deal bringing Dunn to Arizona was announced shortly after the Diamondbacks left for Colorado meaning that fans have not gotten an opportunity to see the big man in Sedona Red. I’ve been lukewarm about this trade since it went down. I completely understand Josh Byrnes thinking, I am just not sure I understand how this is going to play out. With the size of the outfields in the ballparks in the NL West, putting someone like Adam Dunn out there will definitely reduce your teams defense. We’ve gotten used to seeing the likes of Chris Young, Eric Byrnes, Justin Upton, and Alex Romero patrol the vast spaces in the outfield. All of this was of course hearsay until we had an opportunity to see for ourselves what Adam Dunn has to offer.

Continue reading ‘Almost Dunn’ »

You would think that going 4-2 on a road trip would be cause for celebration. The goal of every team is to win each series that they play. If you could somehow do that over the course of a season you would end up with right around 108 wins more than enough to get you to the play-offs. Considering how much the Arizona Diamondbacks have been struggling over the last three months fans should be absolutely ecstatic. Instead, all I am hearing lately is doom and gloom surrounding this team.

Continue reading ‘Hanging Onto the Ledge’ »

Over the course of the first two games against the Houston Astros, the Arizona Diamondbacks scored 23 runs from 26 hits including 6 home runs two of which were grand slams. It appeared as though the Diamondbacks bats had come fully loaded to Minute Maid Park. This was especially surprising considering that the Astros were on an eight game winning streak when the Diamondbacks came to town. Finally Arizona was beginning to look like the dominating team that they had been during the first month of the season. After watching this team struggle from May through July; the fans were poised to watch their favorite team complete another dominating road trip. Everything seemed to be lining up right for the Diamondbacks. The final game of the series would send the resurging Randy Johnson to the mound in what looked to be a classic pitcher’s duel.

Continue reading ‘As the Pendulum Swings’ »