The Game of Life

It's some world we live in where you can be keeping watch for the first 100 degree day on a Thursday and then sitting half a country away in the middle of a 35 degree night on a Monday. One day watching baseball and the next day trying to help a sick relative deal with major surgery and jerks who leave a nasty voice mail message at work because they think you're on vacation. That's when you realize that baseball, which seems to be such a big part of the life you left behind, is really just a "game". But it's one I miss now more than I can say.

Go Dbacks.

Giant Killer

Let's hear it for Brandon Webb who once again took matters into his own hands and slayed the mighty San Francisco Goliaths with his, uh, club. Can you say Micah WHO?

I'll be away for awhile (as in Cub territory-ugh) helping a relative recuperate following back surgery but will continue to live my baseball fantasies vicariously through the various Diamondback blogs on the Internet Tubes.

Also, my condolences go out to former Diamondbacks President Rich Dozer and his family on the loss of their 9 year old daughter, Laura. My thoughts and prayers are with them in this sad and difficult time.

Farewell, for now.

No Chalupas For You!

I went to the game yesterday which by now I am sure most of you know the Padres won. I've been to two games so far. I'm 1-1 and have been to 2 of the 3 games in which the Diamondbacks scored fewer than 8 runs which means no free chalupas for me. I have tickets to 9 more games this season so if you're a chalupa fan and want to know which games to avoid let me know. :-)

However, I did win the hot dog race again. I'm thinking of setting up a line on the Condiment Race.

Mustard 3:2
Ketchup 1:5
Relish 2:1

Rox Beat Padres in 22 Innings.

I gave up and went to bed last night during the 12th inning of the Rockies/Padres game. The Rockies finally got a good start out of Jeff Francis but couldn't back him up with any offense. Jake Peavy had a normal rock solid outing, but the Padres left 24 men on base. The Rockies left 30.

I recall one of the Padres announcers mentioning the longest game in Padres history, an 18 inning game they lost to the Pirates on a bases loaded walk, saying he would eat his hat if last night's game went that far. I regret I wasn't awake to see that happen.

The Dbacks will be facing the Padres for the first time this season, and though they might be tired, they are always dangerous. Arizona will benefit from not facing another ace, but Brandon Webb won't pitch this series either. Greg Maddux (who has a history of struggling against Arizona) and Chris Young have switched slots in the rotation. Maddux will go for his 350th career win against Dan Haren Friday night. Young will pitch Saturday if the soreness in his elbow improves. All signs point to advantage Arizona which usually means a team can get too comfortable and see its own energy level drop if its not careful.

The Padres are running a "smack talk" promo video for the series against the DBacks in San Diego April 25-27. The commercial shows players like Peavy and Chris Young talking about "taking back the West", and saying things like "the only way you can win the West is by beating it" (duh) and "this is our house". Let's hope the Snakes can show them the same kind of courtesy this upcoming weekend.

1-2-3 Roar

It was nice to see Brandon Lyon have a 1-2-3 ninth inning yesterday. The Giants are just...really bad, I'm afraid. With Barry Zito starting the season 0-4 there isn't much for Giants fans to enjoy right now - other than John Bowker. Now they head to St Louis to take on the NL Central division leaders who lost to the Brewers 5-3 today in 10 innings. The Cards took 2 out of 3 from the Giants last weekend.

A note to Byrnsie: Please shave. That mustache is straight out of "Boogie Nights", and I really, really don't like rooting against you at the plate. :-)

Here's a short compilation video I made at a game last last year. It was 9/04 against the Padres in the midst of a pennant race with 26, 063 in attendance. I lost the hot dog race. The DBacks won 9-1. The short clip ends with something we won't see this year: a Tony Clark home run off Padres starter Chris Young. Last year, Clark hit .444 with 4 homers in 9 at bats against Young.

That's More Like It

The Diamondbacks returned to their winning ways today by defeating the San Francisco Giants 8-2. The recipe for today's win (taken directly from the John McCain web site) which includes steady starting pitching, good defense and a major league leading 6.4 runs per game has helped propel the Snakes to a 10-4 start.

I'm still not entirely comfortable with Brandon Lyon in the closer role. He came into the 9th with a big lead today, and even though he didn't give up a run the bases were loaded when the final out was registered. My thoughts are that it's too soon still to yank him as the closer, but my hope is that Melvin is watching closely and has the big cat on a rather short leash.

Nick Piecoro reports that there have been a lot of complaints about the mound at AT&T Park.

Apparently there have been a lot of complaints about the mound here at AT&T Park. (See, what did I tell you?) They say it’s too high and then slopes down pretty drastically toward the plate.

Johnson was having some trouble with it last night, and catcher Robby Hammock was telling the relievers that they should throw a couple of warm-up pitches at maximum effort just to get a feel for it.

Johnson didn’t really get into how much it affected him other than to say that it was definitely different from the mound in the bullpen. But considering he couldn’t throw a strike with his fastball the first nine times he threw the pitch, it very well could have been a factor.

While watching the Cardinals/Brewers game tonight I heard the St Louis broadcasters make similar comments so there must be some substance to that. Not that Nick would make something like that up or anything. :-)

*Elsewhere today, former DBacks closer Jose Valverde, trying for his 100th career save, allowed four runs and two homers in the 9th inning as the Astros fell to the Philles 4-3. Valverde is 2-1 with 1 save and an 11.37 ERA so far this season.

*Carlos Quentin hit a 3 run homer in the White Sox 4-1 victory over Oakland.

Here are a couple of updates on earlier CDTLB Reports:

Erik Bedard has been placed on the DL with inflammation in his left hip. The move is retroactive to April 9th, and the Mariners are not sure when he will pitch again.

Bedard set an Orioles record with 221 strikeouts last season despite missing the final month of the season with a strained side muscle. He said he doesn't know when he can get back on a mound for a bullpen session, let alone a game.

"I think rest is the only thing that helps it right now," he said.

Bedard isn't sure if his hip is destined to bother him all season.

"I have no idea," he said. "My next start, we'll see. If it still hurts after that, then maybe it will be a long-term thing."

Also, I received a response from FSN AZ regarding the April 14th DBacks game which was not broadcast in HD even though all home games are advertised as scheduled to be shown in Hi-Def. I don't really know what it means, but here's the reply anyway:

In regards to Sunday’s D-backs game not being available in High Definition on DirecTV, we were just informed by DirecTV today that since they do not have designated bandwidth for FSN Arizona HD telecasts, the games need to be manually scheduled -- and unfortunately they missed Sunday’s game. They assured us they have additional staff that they are training to help verify HD content to prevent this from happening again in the future.

That's it for now. The Dbacks play the Giants again at noon forty-five tomorrow with Webb (3-0) facing off against Zito (0-3).

Let's take two.

(And, no, it's not you. I have no idea why the type in this post keeps getting smaller.)

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Last year, right before football started, we set up hi-def TV. Man, is it gorgeous. I've become very spoiled by it. Imagine my excitement to hear that all DBacks home games on FSN were going to be shown in HD. However, the technology still seems to be too new for everyone to understand. The first two HD home games were unwatchable. The first game had transmission problems. During the second game, the audio trailed the video by about 3 seconds for the entire game, including commercials. I have found these problems to be not uncommon when watching HD broadcasts on satellite, but more often than not the picture is crystal clear.

Yesterday when I sat down and flipped on the game, I was surprised to find that it was NOT broadcast in HD so I decided to check the FSN web site.

86 D-BACKS GAMES IN HIGH DEFINITION THIS SEASON:

FSN Arizona will televise a record 86 D-backs games in High Definition during the 2008 season. The 86 HD telecasts represents the largest number of D-backs games ever offered in High Definition in a season by any outlet and it is a 405 percent increase over the amount of D-backs telecasts FSN Arizona produced in HD last season. Every single home game that is scheduled to be televised by FSN Arizona will be done so in High Definition (72 total), as well as 14 road games, including eight against National League West rivals Colorado, Los Angeles and San Francisco. FSN Arizona also took the steps to ensure that the most important games are in High Definition, highlighted by the fact that 11 of the D-backs final 14 televised games of the regular season can be seen in HD. (Italics mine)

The site goes on further to list the home games available in HD this month.

THIS MONTH'S HD SCHEDULE:

Here are the upcoming D-backs games that will be available in High Definition:
* April 11 - Rockies (6:40 pm)
* April 18 - Padres (6:40 pm)
* April 19 - Padres (5:10 pm)
* April 20 - Padres (1:10 pm)
* April 21 - Giants (6:40 pm)
* April 28 - Astros (6:40 pm)
* April 29 - Astros (6:40 pm)
* April 30 - Astros (12:40 pm)

I don't see April 14th's game on that list. Am I missing something here?


BASH BROTHERS

BJ and Justin Upton are both off to great starts. BJ, 23, is currently hitting .302 with an OBP of .423 and slugging percentage of .442 and 11 RBI with Tampa Bay. Younger brother Justin, 20, has a .400 average, and OBP of .442 and a slugging percentage of .756, 5 homers and 11 RBI.


TRAGICALLY HIP

Remember how badly I wanted Erik Bedard in the off season? Bedard was scratched from his start Sunday because of inflammation in his left hip. Bedard also sat out April 6 at Baltimore with the same injury, but returned to the rotation Tuesday to earn his first win of the season at Tampa Bay. Now this comes from Lookout Landing:

It's not good.

The Mariners are being coy about it, but the situation looks to be worse than they're letting on, and the fear is that if Bedard gets an MRI and a proper diagnosis, they'll have to shut him down for a significant amount of time. And if they don't do that and decide to play it day by day, it's an injury that could nag him all season.

Thankfully, instead of Bedard's bad bum, we've got Danny being Danny.

DBacks Free on MLB.tv Monday Night

Via Nick Piecoro:

It’s a little ridiculous that the Diamondbacks game tomorrow night isn’t going to be on television here in Phoenix, but at least the organization was able to do something to let at least some people see Randy Johnson’s first start of the season.

The club called MLB Advanced Media and got clearance to air the game online on MLB.tv for free. So that’s pretty neat. It gives them a good chance to promote the game on their web site to try to lure new subscribers, while also appeasing at least wired Diamondbacks fans.

But what’s the deal with this game not being on TV in the first place? It’s a road night game. I guess FSN Arizona was already committed to the Suns, so is this just a drawback of having one exclusive television home?

Sweep L.A.

Yesterday (Wednesday) since hubby was off work I played hooky and went to the final game of the DBacks/Dodgers series. It was a beautiful afternoon to watch a ballgame. It seemed more like an April day in Southern California than in Arizona.

Micah Owings pitched well, but he was getting hit pretty hard early. The Dbacks stranded too many baserunners again which will be troublesome if they continue to fall back into those old habits, but a win is a win and a sweep makes the win even better, and it was good to see Brandon Lyon pick up the save and Byrnsie come up with some clutch hits.

Here is Eric Byrnes' picture on the new scoreboard (which is really awesome).

And here is the new pre-game opening. I have to admit that I haven't really cared for any of these since the very first one that featured the music of U2.

I'd Rather Be Me Than You

I'll admit to being nervous about this series before it started, but after sweeping the Colorado Rockies' "Championship Weekend" I can say: At this moment, I'd rather be a Diamondbacks fan than a Rockies fan.

I'd rather have our offense. Rather have our defense. Rather have our starting pitching, our bullpen and, yes, even rather have our shortstop. I'd rather have our record, our manager, our ballpark and our weather; and I'd rather have fans who may get a little intense at times but at least know that if you're going to boo then you boo the players who have hurt your chances with their bat instead of those who have hurt your feelings with their words.

And I know we had our nosed rubbed in it all weekend (trophy on Friday, banner on Saturday, rings on Sunday) and that Colorado was thinking we were wishing we were them, but I'd rather have our six year old World Series Championship banner than their brand spanking new 2nd place one because this is a new season when your accomplishments of last year fade with the first pitch and everyone starts asking "But what have you done for me lately?"



Yeah. I'd rather have our history than theirs; but more importantly, I'd rather have our present.

Red Rain Fallin' Down - Reds 3, Dbacks 2

Talk about your proverbial 1 step forward and 2 steps back. That's how it feels sitting here staring at a 1-2 record after posting an Opening Day win. The best thing that could have happened today would have been if the weather system bearing down on the area had opened up before the 5th inning because it had the looks of being a very long day for the Snakes.

I didn't get to watch the game too closely, but I tried to grab a few peeks while working, and it doesn't appear I missed much. The day belonged to Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto who made his big league debut and stymied Diamondbacks hitters, taking a perfect game into the 6th inning before giving up a solo home run to Justin Upton and allowing only one baserunner while striking out 10 and walking none in 7 innings.

Doug Davis had a shaky start giving up three runs (two earned), four hits and six walks in 3.2 innings, but in the end it was close enough to pull out despite the lack of offense. Chris Young donned the Golden Sombrero by striking out with two on and two out in the top of the eighth inning and put an end to any rally hopes. Looks like he's only human after all. :-)

Newly acquired closer Francisco Cordero took the mound in the top of the ninth. Would he return the favor that Brandon Lyon gave the Reds yesterday and blow the save? All together now on the count of three (as in three up and three down). ONE, TWO, THREE - NO.

The game included one of the weirdest doubles I've ever seen when Jeff Keppinger hit a ball up the middle that bounced off reliever Brandon Medders' back foot on his follow through and past a diving Mark Reynolds into left field. That was but another sign that most of the good fortune was with the Reds today.

Phewy. There just isn't much to say when your team can only muster one hit though there is some consolation knowing that the rival Colorado Rockies dropped 2 out of 3 to the Cardinals to start the season. Also of note: Trevor Hoffman blew a save opportunity last night after surrendering four runs to the Astros in the ninth inning, and the Padres went on to lose 9-6.

Final Thoughts: Go back to START. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

If I'm Lyon I'm Dyin' - Reds 6, DBacks 5

Lyon Walks Off With Loss

Oh so close the D-Backs came to starting the season 2-0. Dan Haren made his first start for Arizona and looked sharp. He ran into a little trouble in the 4th inning, but helped himself at the plate with a double, a run scored and an RBI.

Justin Upton got his first hit of the season and gave us a glimpse of what life would be like if he'd just make contact with the ball. I'd love to see him start hitting well enough to become the lead-off hitter. How fun would that be? Especially with a more mature and patient Chris Young following him in the batting order. Young went 1-2 with a double and 3 walks and scored 2 runs. Stephen Drew had a home run and a double. Eric Byrnes seems to still be pressing too hard at the plate, something I thought he did in the playoff series against the Rockies.

It's weird. It's like most of the players picked up their streaks right where they left off after losing to the Rockies last October.

The Diamondbacks had the bases loaded with 2 out in the top of the ninth but failed to plate a run. Timely hitting for the most part still seems to be escaping this team. Still, it was good enough to win the game, but Brandon Lyon couldn't close the deal tonight. Lyon came into the game in the bottom of the 9th with a 5-3 lead but gave up hits to Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn before surrendering a walk off 3-run homer to Edwin Encarnacion on a 1-2 pitch.

Conor Jackson left the game early and was taken to the hospital with shortness of breath. He has been diagnosed with possible pneumonia.

Interesting game note: Jose Valverde blew a save the second game of the season last year, too. (h/t AZ Snakepit)

Final Thoughts: Okay, it's only one game. Lets not make a habit of it.

How Do You Boo?

As the President was booed quite loudly before throwing out the first pitch Sunday night, one of the non-baseball message boards I frequent has been on fire for the past three days about it. There's the side who says Free Speech allows everyone to protest however and wherever they want. Then there's the side who says it's disrespectful to boo the President no matter what you think of him. It's like watching one of those American league games that never end - people just can't seem to shut up about it.

I tend to think that booing anyone - whether it's a player, an umpire or the President of the United States - is impolite and classless, but I stop short of calling it treason.

After watching baseball dragged into the Halls of Congress, where those elected to govern are supposed to stop acting like politicians and start governing, I have so far this election season been called a jerk (because I'm a baseball fan and guilty by association) and "brainwashed". And April has just started. But here is a message for all the non-baseball fans that have succeeded in making Sunday night's game a political issue while they argue endlessly that politics and baseball don't belong together:

The first pitch is but one small inconsequential part of the opening ceremonies that people just want to see done with so the game can start - much like the National Anthem. Yes, that's right, patriots, no one looks forward to the first pitch or National Anthem as much as the game itself. So sue us. The bigger story is that it was a perfectly magical game in a beautiful new park with an almost mythical ending. It was the type of game baseball lovers dream of being there to see. For people who could care less about baseball to spoil the memory of a game like that for a fan is a hard thing to do, but congratulations, you've succeeded in doing that for this one.

What To Do On A Day Off?

Read something. In case you missed this story linked from Nick Piecoro's blog, here is a great article about the Tony Gwynn, Jr./Trevor Hoffman at bat last year.

**LINK** - From San Diego's favorite son ... to spoilsport