Well it’s now September and we should be excited and raring to make the final push to the post-season. However, the warning signs that I saw in May never disappeared. Mark Reynolds is still hitting in the terrible range, Chris Young still isn’t the hitter he should be. Justin Upton hasn’t improved. The bullpen is still shaky and Lyon’s confidence level hasn’t been 100% all year. Confidence is the key word here. I believe that most of the year the D-Backs bullpen has had loads of confidence problems. It’s not the talent that is the problem, I really believe it’s the collective confidence level of the entire pen. Byrnes and O-Dog are down for the season and to the credit of the D-Backs organization, were replaced with respectable guys. However, nobody can replace those two. Byrnes and O-Dog gave the team an excitement and I believe held the team together with their humor and their all out love of playing the game.

There have been some bright spots:

Co-Jack is awesome. He plays with heart, he plays with style and he plays with a love that I thought would have spread to his teammates. He’s solid. I hope he stays in Arizona for a long long time.

Stephen Drew has made plenty of mistakes this year but he’s also grown the most this year. He has become the player that the scouts knew he would become.

Dan Haren for the most part has been as advertised. His record should have been better because of the lack of run support in a bunch of his outings. His last few starts have not been the greatest but neither has Webb’s. 

Brandon Webb is again in the running for the Cy Young Award and rightfully so. If he can finish off the year with a solid couple of starts, he just may win his second Cy Young.

There is no reason that the D-Backs can go from 4 1/2 games up to 3 1/2 games behind at this stage of the season. Regardless of the past months of up and downs, they should not have been outplayed by the Dodgers, or even the out right terrible Giants. I have this sick feeling in my stomach about the future of this team if they can’t find a way to turn this around and go on a big historic streak.  

The only bright spot that I can think of at the moment is that the rest of the division is doing just as terrible. Even though we have only won 2 of our last 10 games (including being swept twice, once by the lowly giants), we still are in first place by 3.5 games over the Dodgers. I’m just plain frustrated and am not enjoying watching my team right now. I know that they will snap out of this and find their groove again, but lets not rehash the big peaks and valleys that we went through last season. That roller coaster ride is something that we are supposed to be in the past. This team has evolved, and hopefully they will remember their mistakes and move forward.

As much as I like Chris Young, he should be hitting in the .270′s and .280′s and not the .238 that he’s at right now. Same goes for Mark Reynolds who’s hitting .235. Young, Reynolds, and Upton have more strikeouts then they have hits. Chris Young strikes out 26% of the time, Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton strike out 35% of the time. I know these guys are young, but holy smokes. Hey Mr. Batting Coach, are you noticing these numbers? Defensively, we should not have an outfielder that has 6 errors already. 6 ERRORS? How can any outfielder have that many errors in 2 months? I could see an outfielder having that many for an entire season, and that is if he was just having a bad year defensively, but 6 in two months is unexcusable. Rookie or Sophomore mistakes that are being made by Justin Upton I hope are being learned from right now so that he doesn’t end the season with 20 plus errors. Reynolds is having a bad year defensively as well, he leads the team with 9 errors. Orlando Hudson, the veteran, the gold glove winner, has 6 as well. I’m blown away by the sloppy play on the defensive side of the ball.

I really didn’t want this entry to be a vent of my frustrations but I guess it turned out that way. I’m just a fan that wants to see good pitching, good defense, and situational hitting. Is that too much to ask for right now? I know that the team will return to provide just that, well mostly except for the defense. I know that this is just a valley in a marathon season of lots of peaks and valleys. But I guess they just spoiled us in April. They showed the world what they were made of in April and in May they have shown us that they are human. Never stop believing fellow D-Backs fans, because I won’t and neither should you.

http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_8951339

Seriously, I’m in awe. I give my official golf clap to the man who wrote the article….Mr. Patrick Saunders. Thank you for being a voice of reason in a sea of D-Backs haters.

I don’t even understand why Rockies fans hate the D-Backs so much. The D-Backs are a classy organization and have even classier fans. The booing of Eric Byrnes that happened in Colorado and the vileness that has been directed at Mark Grace was pathetic and childish. I do not promote anyone booing a player or hating a broadcaster. This is baseball. Save the boos for the villians on the silver screen and keep them away from the ballpark. Restrain the obscenities from being uttered and screamed in front of the kids that are brought to the games. If you want to be childish….fine….just do so in the comforts of your own home.

It’s interesting that two teams that really have never had much history are all of the sudden bitter rivals. I was actually shocked that in Sunday’s game there wasn’t a bench clearing or a charging the mound from the Rockies. I mean Diamondbacks pitchers beaned 4 Rockies (one in the head no less). Of course this wasn’t intentional, just a bad day for Arizona pitching. They pitching staff was due to have a bad day.

The Rockies finally beat the D-Backs for the first time this season with a 13-5 Whomping. Maybe the rivalry isn’t between the D-Backs players and the Rockies players. If it was, they would have brawled on Sunday. No, I think this supposed rivalry is between the Rockies fans and everything having to do with the D-Backs. This would mean the D-Backs fans, the D-Backs players, and even the D-Backs broadcasters. The Rockies fans (In general) need to lighten up. I’m not speaking to all of the Rockies fans out there, just the select group that have their underwear in a bunch.

Besides me having joy-joy thoughts and dancing on a cloud from this fabulous week of good baseball, I have to ask a few important questions. Why is Chris Burke on the team? Why isn’t Trot Nixon? I know Trot isn’t the same player that he once was, but I think he would be able to benefit this team a lot better than Chris Burke has. His pinch hitting has been poor and when he has started, he’s been dissapointing. I know I know it’s only been 11 games and he’s a rookie. But Trot Nixon and his presence in the clubhouse would be valuable. Plus I guarantee he would serve the team better as a pinch-hitter and still be happy getting spot starts. They should let Burke go to Tucson and refine his skills a little better. Am I wrong here? Am I over-reacting and not giving the kid a full chance? Does Baxter the Bobcat truly disturb anyone else but me?

Things like this are definitely what is wrong with baseball nowadays. With that being said, the article by TJ Simers was printed on April the 8th and today there was a article posted on the Dodgers website from Ben Platt of MLB.com. Here is the link to the article: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080412&content_id=2518611&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

It appears that the Dodgers caved under the pressure that they were getting from the fans. At least they changed the snobbish policy and are now doing the right thing. I applaud all of the fans who complained to them and I give a standing ovation to Russell Wise who brought this travisty to light. You are a true fan Mr. Wise and you did the right thing. If need be, we fans need to show the owners and the players that we are the one’s that keep them in business. It is our responsibility to keep them in check, otherwise baseball will continue to decline and none of us wants that. Now that the Dodgers have changed their tune, I can again respect them. Let us hope that they don’t do anything else to tarnish the great history of this franchise and of baseball.

I have been one since I was a kid. Baseball for me was something that was acquired rather than passed on since I didn’t have my father in my life to show me the wonders of what Major League Baseball is all about. Of course any kid in the United States wouldn’t be able to exist without at least hearing about the sport as they grew up. Regardless of what you hear, what you see on TV, being there in person is the only way to truly capture what baseball is all about. I didn’t begin to love the game until I actually went to a game. Before that day, I liked it, but never truly did I love it until I stood on the concourse and absorbed the sight of the diamond.

Back in 1984, the wonderful people of the valley of the sun didn’t have the Diamondbacks to love, cherish and call their own. Most of the friends I had growing up liked the Dodgers since some of their games were broadcast in our area. During that same year, my family traveled to the Bay Area to visit my sister. My brother in law found out that I had never been to a Major League Baseball game and since I was 8 years old it was a necessity to go to a major league game. So, he got us tickets to the Oakland A’s and off we went to Oakland Coliseum (Now called McAfee Coliseum) on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). When we got on the train, we were instantly surrounded by an entire car of A’s fan’s. I must have had the look on my face of utter excitement because that was what I was feeling. A passenger must have noticed by elation and says to me, “This must be your first time going to a game.” I nodded my head and he continued by saying, “You will never forget today. Everything that happens in the game isn’t necessarily what matters, just enjoy yourself and you will never ever forget this feeling for the rest of your life.” Something about this man was absorbed into me. I could never forget this man’s words to me and the passion that he was showing for the game. This passion, this love, somehow became a part of me. I felt excited, overjoyed and as the train got closer and closer to the Oakland Coliseum stop, the wonderful feeling in the pit of my stomach kept getting stronger and stronger. Then at last we were there.

The coliseum bustled with thousands of people working their way inside. It was bat day at the park and I received my first Louisville Slugger bat. I loved the fact they only gave the bats to the kids and this made me feel even that much more special because of it. I felt that the sport called to me and wanted me to experience every ounce of it’s magic. The day couldn’t have been better. The sun was shining, it was a warm day and here I was at the ballpark watching in my mind the greatest men on the earth. They were giants, they were special, and throughout all 9 innings of the game they showed me why they were something to aspire to be.

This is what most major leaguers forget these days. That baseball is a sport that kids will watch and will love. It’s something that should be loved by kids. It’s pure, it’s honorable, it’s heroic, and it’s all kids of American. The best ball players out there are the one’s that give their hearts and souls to the game. The ones that never forget what it felt like when they were an 8 year old, going to that first game, and looking up to the heroes on the field. These players have the competitive drive for success but also play the game with their teammates in mind. The best have character and never forget the fans especially the kids that look up to them.

Times have definitely changed since I was that 8 year old kid and so has baseball. Somewhere along the way I found myself being disgusted by the players, the union, and the owners. Because of money….nobody could get along and there was a strike. Every true fan lets baseball into their heart. They love it and it makes them feel eternally young. It hurt my heart in 1994 when that happened. I was 18 and in my final year of high school and because of everything going on, I figured that maybe it was time to let baseball leave my heart and move on. I like many others stopped watching the games, stopped going to games, and banned baseball from their lives for the pain that was caused to our hearts. That ban for me lasted for 4 years. In 1998, Arizona was going to have their own team. At first I must admit that when I heard about it, I bitterly laughed at the idea. They presented the colors for the team and the uniforms and again I bitterly mocked it. They brought in Buck Showalter from the Yankees to coach the team and something in me stopped being bitter. The Yankees have always been a team of respect. Love them or hate them….you still have to respect them. They have won 26 World Series (most championships in all of professional sports)….they have 39 American League pennants and they have had some of the greatest players to ever play the game on their squads.

Regardless, Buck Showalter joining this team and leading it woke me up a little. That first year they brought in Jay Bell and Matt Williams. Both of the players were and still are well respected. These players made me open my eyes a little more to baseball again and this team. When the team finally played in it’s first season, I finally decided to release the ban that I imposed on baseball and slowly open my heart back up to baseball. I gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a chance and slowly but surely I came to find out that the ownership of the team wanted to show the people of Arizona and the world it seemed that they were a first rate organization. They showed me that character was what mattered and they started making moves over those first couple of years that displayed that proudly. They brought in Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, Steve Finley, Craig Counsel, Mark Grace, Curt Schilling, just to name a few.

The Diamonbacks showed that they were great players. But what made them great was not necessarily what they did on the field as what they did off of it and for the fans. They are a team of heart. They are a team of honor. The players loved the fans and showed it frequently. Little League ballparks sprang up around the valley in their names, they have contributed to charities to help kids, they have visited the sick or dying kids in the valley, they have signed autographs, and they have been role models. This is what baseball should be, and because of these players and the ownership of the team, I couldn’t help but let go of my bitterness for the strike in the 90′s. Baseball once again entered into my heart and soul. I became captivated by them and wanted them to one day make it to the holy of holies….the world series. Not because of any other reason than they deserved it. They proved that they were great and nothing was going to stop their destiny. It wasn’t the if they would make it, it was the when.

Finally in 2001 they did, and they had to beat the much respected and worthy team of the New York Yankees. Everyone in baseball was saying that they didn’t have a prayer against the team that won 3 times in a row. Nobody thought that this team from Arizona could beat the mighty New York Yankees. And once again, this honorable team showed it’s worth and beat them in the greatest world series of my life if not ever. Okay I may be biased since it was my team that was involved, but who can argue that the tension and excitement of that series wasn’t through the roof? The world watched two of the classiest organizations do battle for 7 wonderful games.

But I’m getting a little off track here. What matters most is this…As long as the players, the ownership, and the unions never forget that they always have the job of keeping baseball honorable, respectable, and special then it will always be loved by the fans, especially the young one’s. Every fan that holds baseball in it’s heart and soul will always try to transfer that love of the game to future generations. It’s beautiful, it’s magical, and it’s worthy to be a part of everyone, everywhere.

I’m sure there are others out there that may read this that will have something to say about it. Maybe they hate the Yankees or that my opinions are clouded and not in reality. Maybe I don’t have the same finesse of writing as others out there. Regardless, this is just how I feel. I’m not a player, i’m not an owner, I don’t work for any baseball team or affiliation, I don’t get paid in any way for what I am writing here.

I’m just a fan.