Testing, testing

And, to scattered applause across the western hemisphere (good spirit, Bolivia!) Line Drive in the High Desert is back on the air. We're settling in to our new, palacial offices, and will be returning to our regularly scheduled razor wit and insightful analysis in the next couple days. Thanks for listening.

Making progress

Moving is a terribly stressful process. I'm sure everyone knows this, and has been through it before- possibly recently. But I've found something that makes the drive much more enjoyable- XM Radio. Thanks to that, I didn't miss the past couple Diamondbacks games. Sure, I had to listen to the Astros feed, but it was better than nothing. And it was even better because they won.

Last night was even better, because we beat Roger "Jerkface" Clemens. Who I understand is wicked fat. But I've always disliked Roger "Bouncin' 'Round the AL East" Clemens, so beating him is especially sweet. The Diamondbacks sounded pretty good, and did a good job of taking advantage of the Astros mistakes. All in all, a pretty nice game to listen to.

Anyway, we've still got a half dozen important things to do today, so I'll cut this short. We hit Detroit tonight for a three game run, and I'm hoping we can do some damage to them.

In progress

Rockies 18, Diamondbacks 3
Diamondbacks 10, Rockies 4

It's a busy time in the LDitHD offices, so this entry will be a bit abrupt and rushed. In addition to our impending relocation, Saturday was a day of celebration. It was my birthday, and my fiance graduated from college. So, congratulations, my dear. We're all very proud of you.

Friday night, however, was not. 18 freaking runs? Geez, guys! 18? A sarcastic "good work" to Ligtenberg and Lopez for their work in relief- both now sport what my mother likes to refer to as "a tee-ball like ERA." Halsey wasn't blowing past their batters, either, though. On the plus side, I am glad to see Valverde back, though.

Yesterday was a better birthday present, though. My favorite pitcher got his 5th win, and pitched 8 innings. We took advantage of a lot of walks, and, though we left a fair number of men on, we got more than enough runs across. Good work, guys.

Meanwhile, mutant freak Dontrelle Willis has an ERA of 1.08. The only good thing about this is that it means Roger "I'm retiri- no, wait!" Clemens is in second with his, also anoying, 1.11 ERA.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to laugh at Eric Gagne, who gave up two homers in his first game back from the disabled list. He's also appealing his suspension.

< Nelson> Ha-ha! < /Nelson>

As I'm typing, Craig Counsell has just hit a home run to give us the lead over the Rockies in the 7th. I'd relay a conversation I had with my parents today on how we're all glad to see him back. But, I've got to get ready for work, so just feel free to reconstruct it in your mind. Thanks!

In a row?

Diamondbacks 3, Nationals 2
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 3

And, with those wins and a loss by the Dodgers, we're tied in first place again. We've picked up three games in a row now, and it was pretty nice to have more than a couple of runs tonight. Though I have to agree with ESPN's assessment of Chacon as the Rockie's "most unfortunate starter." He's got an ERA of 3.28, but a record of 1-3. That's just sad. He, Derek Lowe (2.94, 2-4), and Joe Blanton (3.22, 0-3) should probably start a club or something.

Cruz has certainly made himself welcome in the games since he's been back. He didn't hurt that at all by going 3 for 4 with two home runs today. And the defense continues to be pretty solid. We're apparently on pace for 64 errors this year, not bad after leading the majors last season. Plus, we're a pretty decent 16-7 against the NL West, which is important. We're facing swings in luck, and are not consistent, but so far the coin has landed our side up so far.

The point was made on Random Fandom, that "Past performance -- especially just seven days' worth -- is absolutely no predictor of future success[...]" which made me laugh. Primarily because, a few nights ago, I was wandering Yahoo's baseball page. They post favorable matchups, and a "Hot/Not" bit, based on the last 7 days. It made me laugh, because first they had Tim Redding, with an unimpressive ERA of 108.0 over the past seven days. But he was far better off than Paul Wilson, who, due to his tragic performance on the 6th (8 earned runs in 0.0 innings pitched) had an ERA of infinity! I mean, that's the kind of stat that's going to stick with you, I think.

It just brings to mind the words attributed to Hubert Blalock: "The manipulation of statistical formulas is no substitute for knowing what one is doing."

No, I'm not entirely sure who Hubert Blalock is. Yes, I acknowledge the irony.

We're in Denver the rest of the weekend, then a day off before we travel to Houston. The Astros aren't doing too well, and I'm trying to work up some rivalry with a friend online, so I'm disappointed I'll be offline for much of the series. Ah well.

"Aren't we all day-to-day?"

Nationals 4, Diamondbacks 3
Diamondbacks 3, Nationals 2

Two games split, and neither game a terribly impressive showing. But we've finally beaten the Nation-os (check your grocer's shelves!) and ended that streak. Jose Cruz Jr. had a decent showing on Monday night, as did Craig Counsell. They went a combined 4 for 5 with 5 walks, so we had runners. We managed to put together 11 hits, but we left 13 on base, and were just short offensively to get the win. And last night was pretty much the opposite. Three hits, and we win 3-2. Webb and Estes put up fairly similar numbers in each game, but it was just when we managed to get our hits that made the difference. Lyon did get his 12th save, in what was his first save situation in a week. After getting 10 saves in our first 21 games, he's only had two more in the last 13. We're either losing or winning by too big a margin.

Another game against Washington tonight, and then we start a road trip against the abominable Rockies. Which could be very good for the D-backs. There seems to be a fair bit of stress in the clubhouse right now, and getting out of Phoenix, plus a trip to the team with the worst record in the NL, might be just the thing to get them a little more comfortable with where they are.

As the Mariner Housewife put it:

Baseball has seen its share of scandals. The Black Sox, the cancellation of the '94 World Series, and now steroids, are just a few major examples. There has been more than one occasion, even just in my lifetime, when fans have had their loyalty to the game called into question, and a serious examination of conscience has been required. Many have sworn off baseball forever after one blemish after another on the honor of the game*. But something always happens to turn it around. Baseball magic shows up just long enough to bring that old love and excitement back again. It happened in '98 when Sosa and McGwire famously chased after the home run record. And it's happening again now. There's a mystical force at work, providing an antidote to the embarrassment of performance enhancing drugs and all the questions that go along with that. That antidote is the delicious disaster of the 2005 New York Yankees.

The Yankees are looking to win their fifth in a row today, but will be doing it against the sub-par Mariners (sorry, Housewife) and not easily. They've already given up 9 runs, including 4 home runs to the Mariners, a team that only had 19 home runs so far this season. That's impressive. And now they are currently considering giving Jason Giambi a free trip- to the minor leagues! Turns out the "slugger" is batting .195 and is 4 for his last 38. All that for only $13.5 mill a year. Sure makes Richie Sexson seem like a bargain last year, huh?

Programming Note: Line Drive in the High Desert will be facing a (hopefully) brief interruption of service next week, as they'll be relocating their offices. Their status is listed as 'day-to-day.'

Hmmm

To borrow a quote from the book Good Omens, "Well, that went down like a lead balloon."

Could have been worse

Probably should have been worse, really. The only reason we only lost by a run was because the Pirates left twelve runners on base. But we just couldn't get a hit today. We had two errors, though one was changed in the scoring to a hit. It was just a lackluster game overall. To be honest, I wasn't terribly upset at the points I got called away from the radio. Bah.

Tomorrow we close out the series with the Pirates, and then the Nationals come to town. Yeah.

Maybe I can only call for one win a day. And I wasted it on the Reds. No, I wouldn't say wasted it. They needed it more than we did. So, if I spent my win on the Reds, okay. But tomorrow, I'm putting it back on the Diamondbacks. One win is enough for Cincinnati.

I at least did get to hear Mark Grace on the radio. Like I referenced earlier, I followed the Cubbies before the Diamondbacks, and he was my sister's favorite player. (I was an Andre Dawson fan.) But I've enjoyed interviews with him, and I like listening to him at the games. He's not bad as color guys go, it's like having your uncle help broadcast the game. Or my uncle, I don't know what your uncle would be like. (Members of my family know what I'm talking about.) But since I get my games via the broadcast power KTAR, rather than the TV, I don't get to listen to him much. I liked having him on the radio, and had to laugh when he mentioned David Ross. I was at that game, and that was the best half-inning there.

So, the Giants are "freaking out" according to the article at ESPN. Which makes me laugh. Is it wrong to laugh at another person's misfortune? Even if that person is Barry Bonds?

On the topic of people who are better than me, congratulations to Steve Nash on winning MVP. I'm not a big basketball fan, but good for him. I'm also always like when a player credits his teammates when he wins an award. Good show.

Also, an important anouncement: Zaphod Beeblebrox for President. It's my understanding that he has the longest hair of any candidate.

And that's all for tonight. Hopefully, we'll have a better showing tomorrow.

Good for them

I stand corrected. The Reds did, against all odds, win. 11 runs over three innings to beat the Dodgers.

A win tonight, and we're back in a tie for first.

Dear Diamondbacks

Okay, I'll admit I was a little annoyed in the first when we had the bases loaded, no outs, and got one run- on a walk. I probably jumped the gun in criticism a bit, but you guys have to admit, last night brought back some unpleasant memories of last year. If it weren't for that smoothie, I might have wept myself to sleep in my giant baseball pillow last night. Today was stressful, and I took it out on you. But, you guys were understanding. Javier Vazquez, you gave me just what I needed to pick up my spirits- 7 innings, 8 strike outs, no walks, and only 94 pitches? Rock on, man.

And on offense? Thank you, guys. I mean, every starter picked up a hit, except for Tony Clark and Luis Gonzales. And, Tony, you've been doing well enough lately, I'm not going to hold today against you. Gonzo, you picked up two walks and got hit by a pitch, and I can't complain when a guy gets on base three times out of the five he steps to the plate. Plus, come on, eight runs? Awesome.

Really, there's not much I can nag you on today, other than that first inning. And you guys didn't let it shake you. Good work.

Sincerely,

Devin

P.S. I don't actually have a giant baseball pillow, it was more to illustrate the point, really.


Is it just me, or is Dontrelle Willis just kind of scary? I tend to get very personal grudges against two groups of players in baseball: the Yankees, and pitchers, and Dontrelle Willis is on that list for a couple reasons. First, I dislike his use of the nickname "D-Train", 'cause, seriously, that could be my nickname. I've thought about it. But did he even ask if he could use it? No! Jerk. Second, I still think Brandon Webb had a better rookie year than Willis did. But, seriously, this year he's got a 1.07 ERA? 1.07? At home, he's got an 0.58 ERA! Think about that! That's saying he averages a little over a run for every two complete games he pitches at home! That's amazing. By which I mean terrifying. Geez.

The Marlins are also making noise about moving to Las Vegas. I'm hoping they'll have to hire a bunch of horrible players to get their attendance to drop, as in the hit movie, Major League. But I'm pretty sure that's not how it works in "real life". Which is good, because then we won't have to suffer through the extraneous romance plotline.

I hadn't realized how terrible the Rockies were doing this year. Really. It's kind of sad, since I used to follow the Rockies before the D-backs came along. But their last win was April 23rd. Since then, they've lost nine games with three postponements. Yikes. In comparison, the Diamondbacks have gone 8-4 since then. Kinda puts some perspective on dropping two to San Diego last weekend.

I also want the Dodgers to lose a game. Can I make an order on that? Come on, Reds, you can, against all odds, win tomorrow! Really!

Bleh...

But good work, Diamondbacks.

Yeesh

I think this game was best summed up in a comment on AZ Snakepit:

Do we have to post about this game?

Those words of wisdom from Stefan pretty much sum it all up. The offense seemed unimpressive. The pitching was not stellar. Even our defense, which has been solid this season, gave up a pair of errors. I think I heard the crowd really get excited on the radio once- and that was a two on, two out situation in the 8th, which was quickly squashed when Terrero struck out.

Okay, but good things. Umm... After I got off work, I went to see my sister, and she bought me a smoothie. Orange strawberry. It was probably the best smoothie I've had in a while. Really. Delicious. Oh, game related? The game was fairly quick. And I got to listen to most of it.

Okay, if I could just take a moment to address the team here. Guys? Didn't I say, last post or so, that you could keep on doing whatever you wanted to, if you kept winning? Let's keep the focus on the last part of that sentence, okay? Geez.

Other places in the NL West, we're apparently finding out that Barry Bonds has picked a surgeon who is on probation with the Medical Board of California, for unprofessional conduct, and has a spotty history. Stellar. If you were the Giants and paying Bonds $22 mill this year, don't you think you'd make sure to get him the best doctor in the state? I'm sure there had been some occasional swearing in the Giants head office over Bonds this year.

Another good series

Another series win, and the Diamondbacks looked pretty good today. Webb didn't seem to have his best stuff from my seat/computer speaker, with a number of walks, but he was good enough to pick up his 4th win of the season to no losses. Can't argue too much with that. The offense also decided today that they don't *always* have to go for the late inning rally. Once the Giants got a run in the fourth, we had some nice two-out shenanigans against Tomko that proved to be more than enough for the win. The bullpen gave us some nice support again, with three innings of scoreless pitching, including Valverde giving us his Brandon Webb impersonation. He faced six batters, struck out one, and had the other five ground out.

If I had any requests (other than more wins), I'd have to say that a little more offense would be nice. We put together ten hits, but six of those came in the fourth. Gonzo had a good game, going 3-4 with a run and an RBI. So a few more hits from the rest of the team would be nice. But, if this is how you guys are going to win, I won't complain too much. Just keep it up.

Tomorrow, we face the Pirates. They're currently trailing in the 8th, in what would be their fifth loss in six games. They're last in the league in runs scored (79) and well back of the second to last place team, Cleveland, with 95. Four game series, at home, we should be looking pretty good.

Edit: After I wrote this, the Pirates went on to score 5 runs in the last three innings to win 6-4, taking the win away from Roger Clemens. So, good for them! I'm always in favor of Roger Clemens losing.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, Sean Henn, Randy Johnson's replacement in this game, gave up six runs (five earned) in two-and-a-third innings. Given that Hideo Nomo gave up 5 runs to the Yankees before getting pulled in the fifth, you know Randy's fuming if he thinks he's ready to pitch.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

So, last night I went and saw Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Pretty good, I enjoyed it. The evening was only enhanced when, about two-thirds of the way through the movie, my phone buzzed with the text message that we'd won. Always a bonus.

Another good game last night, Brad Halsey put up 7 good innings, we had *another* good rally late, and Brandon Lyon took his- this sentence still seems weird to type- league leading 11th save of the year. I was a little disappointed that Halsey didn't get the win, but I'm at least glad the team did. We're in the same place we were two games ago- 1.5 games back from LA, and 1.5 ahead of the Giants. If we can win tonight, we'll hit a four game stand against the 9-16 Pirates on a nice roll. We've got Webb taking the mound tonight, so we've got a good shot. I think he can recover from his last start at San Diego, and we'll hopefully be able to rattle Tomko around.

Barry Bonds announced that he had surgery on his knee again. So far I haven't seen any reports on when he's supposed to be back, because I'm not sure anyone knows. For which I'm, honestly, somewhat grateful. Not just because I dislike Barry Bonds, but because they're doing pretty well without him. And even though Feliz, their current left fielder, is leading the team in several batting categories, they're not Barry Bonds numbers. If Bonds had been able to play at his full strength, or even 85% or 90% of last year, they would be doing better. The Giants have lost four games by 1 run, two to Arizona and one to Los Angeles. Definitely times they would have liked to have Bonds in, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, how glad do you think Halsey and Javier Vazquez are to be in Arizona rather than New York? The Yankees are 11-16 so far, and you can just sense it is taking a fair bit of restraint on Steinbrenner's part to keep from taking off heads. Halsey and Vazquez are a combined 5-2 so far this season, while the Big Unit is 2-2. Granted, Randy Johnson's record is part due to his teammates, but a 3.74 ERA isn't what Steinbrenner wanted to trade for.

But it looks like there'll be other trouble there. Randy's already complaining that he's being kept out of a start. From my impression when he played here, he was a tempermental pitcher, and didn't take too kindly to being pulled when he wanted to pitch. That'll be an interesting clash of egos when it happens. Wow, and Randy's being pulled ot start a pitcher who just got called up from their Double-A ball team? Yikes. That seems a bit desperate.

Fact of the Day: Luis Gonzales' middle name is Emilio.
"Fact" of the Day: So is Bob Melvin's.

I really need a more understanding job

We dropped last night in extra innings to San Francisco last night, and again my work kept me from watching the game. I'm gonna have to find something that works better with my baseball schedule. Geez.

Looking over the box score, though, the offense did what they could. You can't be too unhappy when you manage to bring in 8 runs, but the pitching couldn't support them. Giving up 6 runs in an inning is a difficult disadvantage.

I've been playing with a website called WhatIfSports.com, which the Republic used to run a series of games between the current Suns and the 92-93 Suns. It is by no means perfect- running a game with the 2001 Diamondbacks, Mark Grace hit a ground ball triple- but it is fun. I ran a hypothetical 2001 World Series between the Diamondbacks and the Mariners. It was a back and forth series, including an emberassing Game Six where the Mariners pummeled Miguel Batista for 5 runs in the first inning before finally winning 12-8. But, in the end, the Diamondbacks won the series 4-3 behind a complete game shut-out by Randy Johnson in Game Seven. Sorry, Moira. Randy Johnson probably would have taken MVP, with a 2-1 record, an ERA of 1.95, and 25 Ks. Gonzo would have been a contender too, batting .392 with eleven RBIs and two home runs.

I'm also interested in the penalties Bud Selig proposed for the steroids over the weekend. 50 games for a first offense, 100 for a second, and expulsion for a third. Very tough. The question is does he really think he can push them through, or is he just posturing for PR sake? That'll remain to be seen, I suppose. Either way, I still don't really like him.

Weekend review

Well, we come home from a roadtrip 4-2, and a game closer to first than we left. All in all, not too bad. Some really good pitching performances on Friday and Sunday- bonus points to Javier Vazquez for going a complete game on Sunday. The Diamondbacks also apparently set a franchise record for censecutive errorless innings, going something like 89 innings without an error until Chad Tracy committed one in the sixth. Not bad for a team that had 139 errors last season.

Tonight we face the Giants at Bank One. We're starting off a ten game homstand- three against the Giants, four against the Pirates, and then three against the Nationals. The Giants have won five in a row, but Jason Schmidt hasn't done so great in his past few starts. So, hopefully we can take advantage of that and bring that streak to an end.