SnakeBytes, 7/4: Declaration of Independence

Hey, they're announcing the All-Star Team this afternoon! I'm sure you're just as excited as I am to discover which Diamondback has made the team whether the divine genius of La Strasburg has been rightfully honored by those barely barely worthy of refilling his rosin-bag. In the meantime, there's a game of baseball this afternoon: well, assuming Arizona show up for it, because they sure as hell didn't last night. The following recaps are rated NC-17 for extreme blundering and harsh incompetence...

After the jump, more background rumblings on what might have been behind the departure of Josh Byrnes, news about Brandon Webb, and some last thoughts from AJ Hinch.

Recaps

• [Yahoo!] Six Arizona errors help Dodgers to 14-1 rout - "The new manager had catcher Chris Snyder (.238, nine homers, 28 RBIs) batting cleanup. Snyder was 1 for 4 with three strikeouts. Gibson had said one reason for that move was "shock value."" Well, I think the game certainly left AZ fans truly shocked...
• [AZCentral] Diamondbacks routed by Dodgers, set team record with 6 errors - "Leading 6-0, the Dodgers scored in each of the next four innings, resulting in boos from the home crowd. Arizona's three errors in the third tied a franchise record for most errors in an inning. By night's end, a routine ground ball fielded cleanly generated as much applause as most anything else. Making matters worse: The Diamondbacks struck out 12 times."
• [dbacks.com] Franchise-record six errors doom D-backs - "The game shifted in the second inning with two Arizona fielding errors, one Dodger walking on three balls and another illegally passing a teammate on the basepaths, all leading to six Los Angeles runs against tough-luck starter Rodrigo Lopez."
• [True Blue LA] Comedy of Errors leads to Dodgers Laugher - "There are times to get Broxton an inning of work when he actually has some value to the team, rather than in a game that has already been decided, with eight games in their next eight days. Call me crazy, but I want the Dodgers best reliever to be used in high-leverage situations."

Team News

• [FoxSportsArizona.com] Tangled in a web of small-market reality - "You can nitpick some of Byrnes’ baseball decisions – the long-term extension to Eric Byrnes, the decision to pick up Webb’s 2010 option, the decision to save resources by trading Jose Valverde – but small-market teams are only as good their players and the money committed to them."
• [AZCentral] Sources: Byrnes-Hall rift in running Diamondbacks helped get GM fired - "The case for firing Josh Byrnes as Diamondbacks general manager was made by ownership Friday morning, with everything from simple wins and losses, shoddy relief work and a barren farm system cited as reasons. But those close to the situation insist the deteriorating relationship between Byrnes and Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall had more to do with Byrnes' dismissal."
• [dbacks.com] Youngblood to join D-backs as coach - "Former Major Leaguer Joel Youngblood will join the D-backs' coaching staff Saturday. The D-backs are expected to announce Saturday evening that Youngblood will take over as third-base coach, with Bo Porter moving from third to bench coach, a spot previously occupied by interim manager Kirk Gibson. "
• [AZCentral] Rough time for Arizona's professional sports owners - "This is not an easy business," Kendrick said. "I've said this (before). When I got involved in it, I thought it would be hard. I can say honestly I didn't think it would be this hard."
• [The Canadian Press] Webb says something clicked, hopes to return for 6-8 starts - Smiling and optimistic as he talked to reporters outside his locker, he said his trademark sinker ball, one of the best in baseball, is back. "It's totally the same, I think," Webb said. "It's been good. When I stay behind the ball and get on top, it's definitely there."
• [AZCentral] Hinch won’t entertain what-ifs on way out - "When I chose the accept the job and made the commitment to change courses in my career I really thought it was the right thing to do and I really thought things were going to be better and I could be a part of the solution," Hinch said. "Regardless of the breakdowns of why we’ve lost so many games or the direction this team was heading, I can’t really live in that world of ‘if this’ or ‘if that.’ I certainly wish things would have been different."

Around the Vuvuzela, Featuring Your 2011 All-Star (Provisional), Stephen Strasbug

• [Sacramento Bee] Strasburg belongs on Baseball All-Star team - "If you think there are 13 pitchers who are better than Strasburg right now, I'd have to argue vehemently. Incredibly, the National League hasn't won this game since 1996. It needs to put its best players on the field. Right now, Strasburg is easily one of its best players."
• [ESPN] Let's not give All Star spots to what people might do - - "Forgive me if I'm not riding shotgun on the Strasburg Belongs in the All-Star Game bandwagon. If he's truly as good as the hype, we'll see him in plenty of All-Star Games after this year."
• [ESPN New York] As New York Yankees legendary owner George Steinbrenner turns 80, we look back at his days in pinstripes - The late Cardinals announcer Jack Buck once quipped that he had seen Steinbrenner's personal yacht and, "It was a beautiful thing to observe, all 36 oars working in unison."
• [AP] Jimenez not sharp, Giants beat Rockies 11-8 - "Jimenez's ERA has jumped from 1.15 to 2.27 in his last three starts, during which he's allowed 17 earned runs in 17 2-3 innings. He has a win and two no-decisions in that span thanks to an offense that keeps bailing him out."
• [TwinCities.com] Strange grand slam leaves Minnesota Twins with shocking 8-6 loss - "In a span of one inning, one gut-wrenching, when-will-it-stop inning, the Twins' bullpen flipped a three-run lead into an epic flop. They did it by giving up seven runs, four of them coming on the hit that brought Guerrier to his knees — a Joyce pinch-hit grand slam to dead center field that no one saw coming even after the ball was hit. "I thought it was a pop fly to center," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We've seen that too many times here."" Welcome to our world, Ron...