October 20, 2008
When the regular season ended the Arizona Diamondbacks found themselves at home watching as the Los Angeles Dodgers prepared to meet the Chicago Cubs in the National League Divisional Series. Arizona finished in second place having won 8 games less in 2008 than they did in 2007. They had gone from a team having the best record in the National League to one that barely finished 2 games over .500. Considering that this young team had another year of seasoning and experience and that they had led the National League Western Division from April 4 through September 5 the expectation was that they would retain the divisional championship. In fact there were many who expected the Diamondbacks to be the National League’s representative in the World Series. Instead they did not even make the play-offs.
Continue reading ‘Coaching Continuity’ »
October 19, 2008
When the American League Championship Series began I didn’t hold out much hope for a good series. Although the Tampa Bay Rays had the better regular season record, the Boston Red Sox had the momentum and the experience that I felt they would triumph over the series. After Game 1 of that series I felt confident that my prediction was accurate. Then something strange happened. In Game 2 of this series Tampa Bay showed resilience and overcame a miscue by the bullpen to win the game and tie the series. Still, the Red Sox now had home field advantage as they headed back to Boston with their ace Jon Lester on the mound. During the off day between Game 2 and Game 3 I think the consensus was that the Red Sox had the upper hand. The problem was no one told the Rays that.
Continue reading ‘An Incredible Finish’ »
October 18, 2008
It’s been five days since I turned in my seat relocation forms and I am eagerly waiting to hear when the relocation process will begin. The process has been fairly hands-off in the past. I would turn in the forms then after a predetermined time period I would receive notification of whether my relocation had been successful. It was always a nerve wracking time sitting and waiting to hear where my seats would be located for the upcoming season. It was made even more stressful by the fact that my relocation forms have been lost before causing me to fall through the cracks. That nearly resulted in a call to the suicide hotline to talk me off the ledge.
Continue reading ‘My Appointment with Destiny’ »
October 17, 2008
Prior to the last game of the season, Randy Johnson approached manager Bob Melvin and told him he could throw the pitch count out the window. Randy planned on doing whatever it took to win his final start of the season. Once again the Diamondbacks struggled offensively and it looked like the Big Unit might find himself the recipient of no run support. The Arizona hitters were finally able to eek out a couple of runs late in the game to preserve the win for Randy. It was an incredible pitching performance and was vintage Randy Johnson. He dominated the Colorado Rockies throwing a complete game allowing 2 hits and walking 1 batter while striking out 9. He looked like a man who would not be denied his 295th career win.
Continue reading ‘The Return of Randy?’ »
October 16, 2008
Last night I sat down to watch game 5 of the National League Championship Series. I did so with equal parts of enthusiasm and trepidation. On the one hand as an Arizona Diamondbacks fan I wanted nothing better than to see the Philadelphia Phillies crush the Dodgers and put them out of the play-offs. Since the Dodgers had taken the post season spot earmarked for the Arizona Diamondbacks since April 4, every day they remained in the play-offs was a reminder of the failure of the D-Backs season. With the exception of Manny Ramirez, the Diamondbacks roster matched or exceeded that of the Dodgers. That one player difference, that one trade deadline deal difference is what made this post season nearly unbearable.
Continue reading ‘What Might Have Been’ »
October 15, 2008
It’s funny; when you get up in the morning you have some preconceived notion of what you are going to be doing on that day. Since it is the off-season and there are no more Diamondbacks games this usually means that I get up in the morning trying to think of new ways that I will be able to escape from the evil clutches of the “honey-do” list that Trina has been compiling since before Spring Training. It’s a lot of work and takes a lot of creative energy to think of new ways to get out of working. It’s almost a full-time job avoiding the full-time job. Every once in a while though your day takes an unexpected turn and things go a completely different direction. Today happened to be one of those days.
Continue reading ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin Time’ »
October 14, 2008
I was really looking forward to tonight’s American League Championship Series game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox. Not because I am a big fan of either team but because I am fascinated with the knuckleball. Tonight was game 4 of the ALCS and it featured a match-up between Andy Sonnanstine from Tampa Bay against Tim Wakefield pitching for Boston. Sonnanstine is a second-year pitcher with a good fastball and looks to become a strikeout artist. He was on the mound when the Rays clinched their first play-off berth and has been compared to Greg Maddux in how he approaches the game. He has the potential to be a very good pitcher for a long time for the Rays. Despite his upside, he was not the reason I was interested in this game. No I wanted to watch the 39-year old pitcher for the Red Sox who had not pitched since September 28. I was tuning in to see Tim Wakefield.
Continue reading ‘Knuckleball or Knucklehead?’ »
October 13, 2008
Today is an extremely important day. One could make the argument that it is one of the top five most important days in history. No I am not talking about Columbus Day. I’m not a big fan of Columbus. Seriously all the dude did was get lost, not ask for directions and stumble upon a really cool destination. If we are going to use that as criteria for a holiday then I should get a whole month named after me; I’m always lost. No there are a lot more historic things than that today.
Continue reading ‘I’m So Sorry Linda’ »
October 12, 2008
Do you ever have one of those nights? I was lying in bed in my Arizona Diamondbacks pajamas letting the memories of the day slowly wash away. My mind was starting to slow down and relax. I was hoping to soon be asleep. Suddenly a thought crashed into my consciousness like a bolt of lightning. I sat straight up in bed. Sleep was suddenly the farthest thing on my mind. I leapt out onto the floor and hit the ground already in full stride. I opened the bedroom and ran to the stairs. The movement woke Trina up and she rushed out the bedroom after me. As we were bounding down the stairs I heard her ask, “what’s the matter, did you hear something?”
“No, I just remembered that tomorrow is the deadline for turning in Diamondbacks seat relocation forms.” At the sound of that Trina stopped in her tracks and retreated back to the bedroom mumbling something under her breath about “mental health benefits” or some such nonsense.
Continue reading ‘Preparing for the Best’ »
