Diary of a Diehard

When you go to as many games as I do each year and sit in a section made up primarily of group tickets or season tickets that have been split a million different ways you get to meet a lot of interesting people; some more interesting than others. Over the course of the first 10 home games I have begun to see a disturbing trend in the stands. With the slow start by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the fans have become much more restless and critical that I have seen in the past. I am not sure whether the expectations are higher this year or if the fans are taking out their frustrations about their jobs, financial issues, or the economy on the team. It should be important to remember that the season is only 13 games old and with 149 games remaining there is still time to make up any ground the DBacks might have lost in these early games. If history has taught us anything it is that the baseball season is a marathon and how you start is not necessarily how you finish. The 2008 season is a prime example. The Arizona Diamondbacks began last year going a blistering 20-8 in April and finished 2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the stadium. After the first 13 games last year the Dodgers were 5-8 and won the National League Western Division. In 2001 after 13 games the Diamondbacks were 5-8 and that year they won their only World Championship. Of course it should also be noted that the Diamondbacks were 5-8 in 2004 and went on to lose 111 games so anything is possible.

Continue reading ‘Fan Observations’ »

Just two short weeks ago or in the case of impatient Diamondbacks fans two excruciatingly long weeks ago the gates to Chase Field opened and another season was ushered in. Amid the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day we got our first look at the Arizona Diamondbacks as they took on the Colorado Rockies to begin what everyone hoped would be a play-off run. The game would see the return of Brandon Webb who many including myself believed was the real Cy Young Award winner last season if the voters would have been consistent in how they voted. The game would see the Diamondbacks hitters jump out early and often chasing Rockies starting pitcher Aaron Cook from the game after just 2 innings. The game featured a glimpse of the power that the Diamondbacks hitters are capable of and gave hope to everyone in attendance that this was going to be a fun and exciting year.

Continue reading ‘It’s Like Déjà Vu All Over Again’ »

I fondly remember January 9, 2007 when the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a trade with the New York Yankees that saw the return of Randy Johnson to the desert in exchange for RHP Ross Ohlendorf, RHP Luis Vizcaino, RHP Steven Jackson, and infielder Alberto Gonzalez. At the time Randy would sign a contract extension through the 2008 season. Considering his win total; it seemed inevitable that Diamondbacks fans would see him reach his 300th career win while wearing Sedona Red. Given the landscape of the game it appeared that Randy may very well be the last 300 game winner we will see. That alone made this trade significant. Of course things didn’t quite work out the way anyone planned. Randy spent much of the 2007 season on the disabled list after undergoing back surgery. He came back strong in 2008 but due to lack of run support fell 5 games short of 300.

Continue reading ‘The Big Unit Comes Up Huge’ »

On November 25, 2006 the Arizona Diamondbacks traded disgruntled catcher Johnny Estrada to the Milwaukee Brewers for starting pitcher Doug Davis. At this time the big name on the free agent market was Oakland Athletics pitcher Barry Zito. Diamondbacks fans were calling into local radio stations in droves begging the DBacks to make a run at Zito to bring him to the desert. Club officials were perfectly content with adding Doug Davis instead. Their confidence was expressed in January 2007 when they signed Davis to an extension that would keep him with the Diamondbacks through 2009. I remember at the time looking at the statistical career numbers comparing Davis and Zito and how surprised I was at how similar they were. I wrote about this in the From “Z” to “D” post on this very blog. With the Diamondbacks playing the San Francisco Giants I thought it might be interesting to look at how the statistics stack up now.

Continue reading ‘Double-D Fully Loaded’ »

When my wife and I began having children we were young and very naïve. Like many people our age we thought we were prepared to start a family and had a list of things we thought they should learn and know. The problem of course was that neither of us shared that list with each other so when children came along we found ourselves at times at odds with one another as parents. This coupled with the fact that the hospital forgot to give us the owner’s manual or the warranty information on these kids made it extremely difficult to raise them right or make sure that their maintenance records were up to day in case we wanted to sell them as used kids later on. Even with this lack of proper documentation the kids turned out ok (despite my parenting skills according to my wife).

Continue reading ‘A Proud Parent’ »

Beginning with the 2007 season I instituted something I called the “State of the Home Stand Address” where I attempted to my thoughts and ideas on how the season was going both from a team perspective and also from a stadium point of view. This series became quite popular and was well received by the readers. It was therefore continued for the 2008 season and again was among the more popular posts that were done. During the off-season I was asked on numerous occasions if I would be continuing it so to show that I really do listen (despite what my wife says) I will be continuing this series for the 2009 season. As always let me reiterate; these views are my own and in no way represent the thoughts of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bud Selig, Major League Baseball, or any other san fan for that matter. Your mileage may vary, objects in the rearview mirror may be closer than they appear, and this offer is not valid in the states of Texas or Arkansas. That should pretty much cover all of the standard disclaimers. So with that let’s get started and start talking about the state of the first home stand.

Continue reading ‘State of the Home Stand Address – April 6 – 15’ »

One of the great things about baseball is the continuity of the game. Although there have been changes through the years the basis of the game is the same. At any given game there is most likely to be a conversation between two fans where they attempt to compare a former player to a contemporary counterpart. How would Babe Ruth fare against today’s specialized pitchers? Could Cy Young mow down the larger hitters of today? How would commissioner Bud Selig handle Ty Cobb and his dirty play antics? The list of questions and comparisons are endless. As a baseball fan myself I am less interested in the comparisons and more fascinated with what it would be like to see past moments in history. I would love to go back in time and see some of the game’s greats in their prime.

Continue reading ‘A Tribute to Jackie’ »

I have fond memories of my childhood growing up in rural Idaho. We would spend every waking moment playing some form of baseball. We carried our gloves with us everywhere organized a pick-up game at a moment’s notice. There were a group of us that always seemed to be picked together when choosing teams. This group would become some of my best friends. Besides baseball we dealt with childhood tragedies such as girls, mean teachers, and mothers who made us eat green vegetables (I still contend that some of those vegetables were not supposed to be green). At the end of the school week our band of friends would all plot to figure out a way to talk our parents into letting us have a “sleep over”. The “sleep over” is an interesting event. I’m not exactly sure why the word sleep is even in there since rarely if ever did anyone ever go to sleep and if you did you would surely wake up with your hand in warm water or shaving cream coming out of your ear. While we loved each other’s company; the real reason for having the sleep over was so we could sneak into the living room after the parents had gone to bed and watch Creature Features.

Continue reading ‘The Haunting’ »

The thing I love about going to baseball games is that you never quite know what to expect. On any given day or at any given moment you just might witness something historic or at least something you’ve never seen before. I have been involved in baseball in some aspect for over 40 years now either playing, coaching, watching, or writing. In that time I thought I had seen just about everything but each time I go to the ballpark I seem to find something new that keeps me humble and reminds me that I still have a lot to learn about this glorious game. Yesterday’s Arizona Diamondbacks game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was a prime example. The game started quite normally. The D-Backs scored in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead. With Dan Haren on the mound that was almost enough offense to win the game or so we thought.

Continue reading ‘When 3 Outs Are Not Enough’ »