Diary of a Diehard

I do have to give the Arizona Diamondbacks credit. They are constantly looking for new ways to enhance the customer’s experience and add value to their product. I am especially impressed with how well they listen to their customers and act upon suggestions or recommendations. As a season ticket holder I have been very happy with many of the changes they have made. Having a dedicated guest relations contact has made it great as I have one person to deal with and they are getting to know me. On the flip side of that I am sure that the person who was assigned to my account is definitely rethinking his career decision and what he could have possibly done to deserve getting someone like me. I didn’t use to think that I was high maintenance but now I am changing my mind. It is not that I require a lot of hand holding, it is just that I somehow have very strange and unusual questions that most representatives have not had to deal with. It has made me much more conscientious to how many requests I make of this already overworked staff.

Continue reading ‘Ticket Technology’ »

The Arizona Diamondbacks have left the confines of Chase Field and are now being whisked away to Minneapolis Minnesota for the beginning of a 12-game road trip where they will visit the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Florida Marlins before returning home on June 30. This means that the current home stand has been completed which means it is time for another episode of the “State of the Home Stand Address” where I try to recap what was the most recent home stand at Chase Field. Just as a reminder, the viewpoints and opinions expressed within this post are my own and in no way are indicative of how others might view the team or Chase Field. This entry covers the three game series against the Kansas City Royals and the three game series against the Oakland Athletics. So without further adieu let’s begin.

Continue reading ‘State of the Home Stand Address – June 13 – 19’ »

Last season the Arizona Diamondbacks introduced an interesting concept. During a weekday afternoon game they offered discount tickets to local summer camps to allow children to attend a game as part of their camp activities. The concept was a big hit and the Diamondbacks enjoyed an increase in attendance that might otherwise not have occurred. When the 2008 schedule was released I was somewhat surprised at the number of weekday afternoon games the Diamondbacks would be playing at home. It is pretty tough to try and schedule time away from work to attend a game and having the team play so many makes it especially difficult. It was therefore not surprising to see “Camp Day” listed among these dates. Today marked the first “Camp Day” for this season.

Continue reading ‘Surrounded By Happy Campers’ »

For the past two weeks Trina and the kids have dropped subtle hints to me in hopes of jogging my memory and minimizing the chance that I will do something stupid. At times I have to wonder if they think I am some kind of complete idiot or something. This all started around the first of June. I got a call from our oldest daughter Ashley that wanted to remind me that June 18 would soon be here. Well I am pretty good at math so I quickly calculated that it would arrive in approximately 18 days. Ashley ignored my smart aleck comment and went on to ask if I knew the significance of that day. Of course I did, the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing the Oakland Athletics and if things continued to go as planned that would either be the game that Brandon Webb or Dan Haren would pitch. That was not exactly what she was referring to. Oh yeah, it is also D-Bingo night I added. I could sense the frustration in her voice as she explained that there was something else happening that day, something really important.

Continue reading ‘How to Spend an Anniversary’ »

They say that it is easy to get over a blow-out loss but it is much harder to overcome losing a close game. I have no idea who “they” are but “they” obviously were not at Chase Field last night where we witnessed the Oakland Athletics rip the hearts out of the Diamondbacks players and use them for batting practice. It was brutally painful to watch this game unfold. I think the guy running the scoreboard has come down with an acute case of carpal tunnel syndrome from having to keep updating the score of the A’s. I thought it was tough watching as the lowly Kansas City Royals came into town and took two games out of three from the Diamondbacks. But even those were not as tough to watch as this game tonight. In the first inning Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb allowed 2 runs. Yes, the same Brandon Webb who has been masterful for the beginning of the season. He followed that up by giving up another run in the third inning and another in the fourth. The wheels came off in the fourth inning when Webb allowed another 3 runs before being relieved having only recorded 1 out that inning.

Continue reading ‘I Think I Have Whiplash’ »

When I was a kid cigarette smoking was much more prolific. Several of my parents’ friends smoked. It was more of a social symbol than anything. When you watched television or movies it seemed like everyone smoked. Although I hated the smell of smoke it was something you just learned to tolerate. One of the side effects of being around people that smoked (other than continuously smelling like you just played several hours inside a fireplace) was that there were a large assortment of matchbooks always lying around. Now before you think I am about to confess to being a closet pyromaniac let me assure you that is not where this story is going. I was always fascinated by these matchbooks. Some of them had interesting words of wisdom and some of them showed detailed works of art upon the covers. I studied each cover fascinated with the notion that someone somewhere had a job where they had to decide what to put on the outside of the matchbook. I always thought about what that guy must be like at dinner parties. As you were mingling with the other guests before dinner conversation naturally turned towards what each person did for a living. It would get to the matchbook guy and the whole rest of the evening would be spent trying to explain to people how you get all that stuff on the cover of a book of matches. You’re probably at this point wishing this story had been a confession of me being a pyromaniac, sorry. Of all the matchbooks there were one set that I was more fascinated with than any other.

Continue reading ‘Draw Me!’ »

One of the great things about Father’s Day is that it happens right in the middle of the baseball season. And this year not only are the Diamondbacks playing but they are playing at Chase Field. So when Trina and the kids asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate I thought it was one of those rhetorical questions. From the looks on their faces, I think the kids thought Trina was kidding too when she asked. Maybe this was one of those tests that they give you to determine your level of sanity. I believe that if I would have answered in any way other than “go to Chase Field and watch the Diamondbacks”, I probably would have been committed to some sort of home for the helplessly insane (I think some people call that Tropicana Field). So it was pretty much settled that I would like to go to a game. Straws were drawn to determine who would have to accompany me. Seriously, can you believe that? I have come to the conclusion that it is not that they are not baseball fans. Quite the contrary, each of them loves the game. I think the issue is that they have to go to the game with their dad. There is not a whole lot more humbling than to hear your kids try to talk each other into someone else going to the game with dad. I’m not exactly sure what I did to deserve that; ok maybe I do know but I promised not to write about it.

Continue reading ‘What Better Way to Spend Father’s Day?’ »

I went into this game somewhat enthusiastic. After a ten inning win last night on Friday the 13th this was going to be a good series right? I mean if you can beat the bad luck of Friday the 13th then the rest of a series against the last place Kansas City Royals should be a cake walk. Yeah I think General George Custer used a similar thought process at Little Big Horn and we saw how that turned out. Looking back over this day and this game I should have anticipated that things may not go quite according to plan.

Continue reading ‘Floppy Hats, Music Fans, and a Couple of Royals’ »

For those that suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia this is a day where you just want to stay in bed and pull the covers over the top of you and wait out the clock. Medical and mental health professionals would have you to believe that there is nothing to this myth that Friday the 13th is bad luck (knock on wood). They will tell you that it is a mental block that must be overcome for you to lead a normal and productive life. What kind of normal and productive life could you lead if you were bad luck? No, I am not buying that at all. The concept of luck, both good and bad, has had way too much influence on my life to try and ignore them on a day like today. There is probably no industry that understands this better than baseball. Superstition and baseball go together like the “idiotic Doug Mientkiewicz” and hoof and mouth disease; you just can’t have one without the other. The history of the game is filled with accounts of how luck and superstition have played a role in baseball.

Continue reading ‘Oh Great, Friday the Thirteenth’ »