Sure, sure, Valentine's Day, whatever, but let's focus on the important love today- baseball! First practices from our boys in Sedona red! Supersized editions of SnakeBytes with a whole slew of links! I mean, you guys do love those, right? Because I decided that'd be easier than mailing you all Batman valentines.
Diamondbacks News:
-
[AZCentral] Arizona Diamondbacks work on identity as spring training begins - I think this is something that will be interesting to watch. This team has seen a tremendous amount of turn-over from last year, let alone two years ago. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like one of the things I'll be watching Spring Training for is to have the chance to see the new guys, and acquaint myself with different faces than the one I'm used to having around.
-
[The D-blog] D-backs Fans & Players Have a Blast at Fan Fest - For those of us who couldn't make it out there, the D-blog has some pictures of the event.
-
[DBacks.com] D-backs' Hudson healthy for spring - Good to hear- I think a lot of the excitement people feel about this year rests on Daniel Hudson's shoulders, so it'd be great to see a big year from him.
-
[Fox Sports Arizona] Upton healthy, content, ready for 'big year' - "I am looking forward to a big year." So are we, Justin. So are we.
-
[DBacks.com] D-backs begin first Spring Training in Phoenix area with high expectations - Again, Kevin Towers thinks we could win the division. Okay, I won't argue this time. Show us it can happen, team, and we'll believe you.
-
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks' Mark Grace found trophy, vindication in Arizona - A nice look at part of the most important half-inning in Diamondbacks history so far. The exchange between Grace and Colbrunn is pretty classic, you'd expect to see it in a baseball movie.
-
[Venom Strikes] Rise and Shine Diamondbacks Fans, Spring is Here - Finally!
Sorry if you wanted that Batman valentine, but, well, postage gets expensive, my hand cramped up signing all the cards, and I couldn't get most of your addresses.
Around the NL West:-
[Sign on San Diego] Six questions the Padres hope to answer this spring - Wait, no, okay, the Padres need to replace leadership? Not 31 home runs, a .298 batting average, and a 152 OPS+, but frakking leadership? Uh, anyone else feel like San Diegans have just gone delusional this off-season? I mean, I'll let them have that, because it's just cruel and potentially dangerous to interrupt a hallucination like that, but wow.
-
[San Jose Mercury News] Giants 'torture' gives way to 'hysteria' - I'm calling it! The Giants are back to being my least favorite team in the division. And only a small fraction of that is due to already being tired of hearing about Brian Wilson's beard. (Is "Magic" the brand of marker he uses to color in his beard? Okay, that only makes sense if you've seen the ad I'm talking about.)
-
[9NEWS.com] Behind the scenes at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick - The shared complex with the Rockies seems to be getting a lot of attention so far, and pretty much all the reviews are enthusiastic. (Except for Tim Lincecum, who accused the joint facility of flagrant false advertising.) Anyone been out to see the new area? I'm going to try to catch some practices this week, I'm very excited about it.
-
[LA Times] T.J. Simers: Many things still aren't clear about Frank McCourt. - I find it interesting that when I was looking for articles on the rest of the teams in the NL West, I found articles about Spring Training starting up for each of them pretty easily. For the Dodgers? An column about cash-strapped Frank McCourt going to the Super Bowl. I think that says something about where the focus seems to be for the Dodgers so far, and it sure isn't on the field.
Around Baseball:
-
[ESPN] Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals agree to noon Wednesday deadline - While we're just ending the one off-season, we might be seeing the prologue to the next- if Pujols isn't resigned by Wednesday, there'll be a cloud of gloom over the Cardinals season before we even see a pitch thrown in a scrimmage.
-
[Hardball Times] The final games of the all-time winners - A look at the last outing of top pitchers in baseball history. From Cy Young giving up eight earned runs in an inning to Randy Johnson's blown save, a lot of familiar names didn't go out on a high note.
-
[Beyond the Box Score] Pujols has Broad Shoulders - Really, the interesting part here is the infographic showing players who had the largest percentage of their team's offensive output in terms of Weighted Runs Created. Pujols has the largest impact, at 18.5%, with Ichiro in second place at 18.3%. Any guesses on who was the top producer for the Diamondbacks?
-
[New York Times] Strat-O-Matic Fans Attend Anniversary Convention - Baseball nerdery didn't start with wOBA or Bill James. Strat-O-Matic Baseball celebrated it's 50th anniversary over the weekend,
-
[Sports Illustrated] Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees open spring training as favorites - Interesting numbers on the dominance of the Red Sox, Phillies, and Yankees over the past five years. But it didn't put them in the World Series last year.
-
[ESPN] Spring questions (and answers) for all 30 teams - Every team comes into Spring Training with questions- yes, not even the Red Sox, Phillies, and Yankees are immune to preseason uncertainty. Despite the title, there aren't really answers for every team, but it's a good look over the league.
Baseball, people!