AZ Snakepit

Another All Star Snub

Wimb — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:09:24 -0000

So Clint Hurdle has picked his staff for the All-Star game and no Melvin in sight

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3399661

You know I can't say Im surprised...but how does the NL Manager of the year and manager of the NL leading Diamondbacks get overlooked in favour of Willie Randolph and Bud Black....two managers who might very well be out of a job, in Randolphs case maybe even before this game takes place

Sigh its a real shame because you know, "THIS ONE COUNTS" etc ;)

Surely ,it's way past April Fool's Day?

hotclaws — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:12:43 -0000

I laughed my socks off at this, then went .

"Wait, it's serious"

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Why-the-Colorado-Rockies-should-sign-Barry-Bonds?urn=mlb,82263&post_comment=1&success=1

So what do you think? It's be great for all the other teams having that mastodon in the outfield but haven't the Rockies suffered enough?

I can't see him playing again frankly, who wants to take on that burden?

Surely, the only possible opening for him is a DH, and hello! the Rockies are in the NL.

What are our options in LF at this point?

Zephon — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:00:29 -0000

With Byrnes playing with a nagging injury, and playing just down right terrible overall, I figured it's about time some one actually went over all of our options at this point. Some people will start throwing out suggestions like DLing, Trading, or DFAing Byrnes with out suggesting a corresponding roster move to replace him in left field. I'm not going to mention the mistakes that were made after signing Byrnes to the extension (See Scott Hairston, Carlos Quentin), and I'm not going to speculate on any player outside the current system that we could acquire via trade.

Unlike the last few years, we don't really have any good offensive prospects that are ready for the majors RIGHT NOW. Our best positional prospect, Gerardo Parra , is a 21 year old right fielder. He's not that different from the last young toolsy right fielder we traded away, Carlos Gonzalez. he doesn't have as much power as Cargo, but he's a more polished hitter overall. I've also heard he has an even better arm and is better defensively. He's playing for our Hi-A affiliate in Visalia, and will probably end up in AA by the end of the year. At the earliest, he should be ready by next year, and in all likelyhood, by the end of the 2009 season. There really aren't that many other outfielders in the system ahead of Parra that are worthy of mentioning. I guess Cyle Hankerd is worthy of note. He's really the only outfielder other than Alex Romero in the higher levels of our system worth mentioning.

So until then, if Byrnes doesn't pick up his hitting, we do need to find an adequate stop gap for LF until Parra arrives.

Here is who we have that can help us RIGHT NOW

1.) When Tracy comes off the DL, put him in left field. Or move Reynolds to LF, and have Tracy play third.. This seems like a very good option, especially if Tracy starts hitting with any kind of authority. This would give Tracy more playing time with out taking away from Reynolds or Jackson. Reynolds has played right field this year, and he has played left field in the minors. Tracy has also played some out field. This seems like the best, and most likely option at the moment.

2.)Either platoon or replace Byrnes with some combination of Salazar and Romero. Neither of these guys has a lot of power, but they're both left handed bats with good speed, and great defense. Romero is three years younger than Salazar, and still has some decent upside.
Alex Romero's current statistics in Tucson
Career statistics

3.) Trot Nixon. He's hitting well in Tucson, and has been playing left field. His defense is questionable at this point in his career, and he really isn't that versatile either. A corresponding roster move would have to be made too. A platoon of Byrnes and Nixon would be one route. Nixon's current stats with Tucson
]Nixon's Career batting splits

4.)Jamie D'antona. He's been hitting like a mad man this year(1.061 OPS). He's got decent power. He's versatile defensively, having played first, third, and catcher this year. I'm pretty sure he could be average in LF. He does have a very strong throwing arm. The biggest red flag I see with D'antona is extremely average dependant OBP. In 126 ABs, he's walked twice. However, he's K'd only 17 times. His BABIP is ridiculously high, so make of that what you will.
D'antona's current and career stats
Career splits

5.) Not that it's ever going to happen, but Barry Bonds. Yes, he's a headache, a clubhouse cancer, and he's old and poor defensively. However, he still has legit power, and great OBP. With Young and Upton to his right, it wouldn't hurt the team D too much.

Any one have some other ideas/suggestion/comments?

Eric Byrnes and his hitting slump

DbkFan — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:19:43 -0000

At the game on May 13th, fans were booing Eric Byrnes for his failure to get a hit in the game.

I believe these were the same fans (or same type of fans) that threw the garbage on the field in the playoff game last year, making all of the true Dback fans look like fools.

With everything Eric does both on and off the field for his team , his fans and the community, he certainly does not deserve this type of treatment.

Let's leave this type of fan representation on the East Coast where it started and don't bring it to our house.

A quick question

royhobbs — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:34:30 -0000

Greetings Snakes fans,

Ignore my Braves hat - baseball fan, to baseball fans, I have a small question for the locals. I'm thinking about doing something absolutely crazy, but I need some knowledge.

What's the general time it takes to drive to/from Las Vegas to Phoenix? I am juggling the idea around to come by and see Chase Field while I'm out touring the west later this month. Catch the Dbacks take on the Nationals, and then drive the night away back out to Vegas.

Google maps has it 291 miles from my hotel in Vegas to Phoenix, and they're listing it at just over 5 hours. But only the locals could tell me the real stats.

I guess, what's the more optimistic travel times? Are there a lot of cops on US-93 that would be hateful to a baseball fan rushing to get to a game? Am I just simply nuts?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Updating EB vs Q, Vs. Hairston D backs Watch

shoewizard — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:38:48 -0000

Jim hasn't had time lately to update this section of the site, so I thought I would lend a helping hand, and add a little "nuance" to things. ;)

OPS+ since the begginning of the 2008 season:

Quentin 161 OPS+

Hairston 91 OPS+

Byrnes 70 OPS+

Unadjusted Raw numbers

Quentin: 149 PA's, .288/.403/.568 9 HR 29 RBI 3 SB 2 CS

Hairston: 121 PA's .229/.277/.431 5 HR 11 RBI 1 SB 0 CS

Byrnes: 159 PA's, .226/.289/.377 3 HR 15 RBI 4 SB, 2 CS

Note: Q plays in a very homer friendly home park, and of course Chase helps inflate offense too, while Petco is the most extreme pitchers park in baseball, so providing both OPS+ and the unadjusted numbers helps add a little depth and clarity to the comparison. (Jim, might I suggest adding OPS+ to your line as you update throughout the season?)

And finally, since the day Hairston was traded, July 28th, here is the comparison between Byrnes and Hairston. (Q played very little after July 28th last year so I didn't bother sticking him in here.)

Hairston 217 PA's, 196 AB .255/.304/..526 13 HR 31 RBI 1 SB, 0 CS, 1 GIDP

Byrnes 392 PA's, 356 AB's, .233/.306/.374 8 HR 39 RBI, 27 SB, 3 CS, 13 GIDP

Hairston aint all that, I agree. He's not as good a hitter as I thought he'd become. But he's still a better hitter than Byrnes. EB is a better fielder, by far, but Byrnes would have to play LF, CF, & RF all at the same time to earn that 3 yr. 30 million contract, and be worth the difference between what they are paying him and what they could have been paying Q or Hairston. Since the day he signed that extension, he's totally sucked, and the numbers prove it CONCLUSIVELY beyond any reasonable form of debate or argument. He got that extension on the strength of a two month hot stretch in May and June that hoodwinked ownership into thinking he was better than he really was. What a shame. What a waste.

Signing Byrnes cost this team Q, and cost this team Hairston, and saddled themselves with an albatross. I'm sure he'll hit better than he has lately.......he's not as bad as his last 3 weeks, but look at those numbers over his last 400 times to the plate folks. Get used to it, cuz it just won't get much better than that. A little maybe, but not much.

Who leaves first?

seton hall snake pit — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:48:07 -0000

I was just bored and thinking about our current personnel. We have 8 solid major league starters at every position all of which will probably be coming with a hefty contract someday. My question is who do you think will be gone first. Obviously O-Dawg is more than likely gone and EB will be done after 2011, so that leaves let's say 7 players that we'd love to see stay but will potentially not be with us within 5 years: Drew, Reynolds, CoJack, Upton, Young, Micah, Snyder, Miggy, Tracy (yeah I know that's 9, I kept coming up with names). Who's gone in the near future who stays? This is kind of a depressing thought process I'm asking of you, but it's a good off day discussion.

In my opinion I don't see Drew sticking around too long. He's played great but he'll more than likely be asking for much more money than we're willing to pay, plus he's very low on the list of priorities. I hate to say it but after his contract is up I don't think Drew will be with us any longer.

Snyder heating up

Santo from Smithfield — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:30:26 -0000

I've got to give a lot of credit to Chris Snyder's performance lately. When Snyder made an adjustment late last year he started showing some offense. What I saw last year made me think he could be a sleeper in this year's fantasy draft. After a slow start to the season, Snyder has really picked up his game. Anyone would be glad to take .279/.387/.471 from the catching slot. Just wish Montero didn't get so much pt.

Rate our defense

foulpole — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:51:22 -0000

We have given up a lot of unearned runs and not all miscues show up that way. So, let's take a look at our D. I'm going to list our starters based upon a scale from 1-10 according to what I feel is expected from a NL starter at their position. I'm going to use things such as: range, glove work, footwork, arm strength, arm accuracy (are they throwing to the most beneficial spot on the field), how many hits, extra bases, runs do they save/cost us. I'm going to use starters for now but feel free to use bench guys as well. My scale is based upon what I see them do on the field.

C Snydes 8.5

1b CJ 2.5

2b O-Dawg 9.5

3b Reynolds 4.5

ss Wolf 4.5

LF Bam Bam 9.0

CF CY 8.0

RF J-Up 3.5

I'm interested in everyone's opinion so please chime in. Again, I'm using what I see to determine my ratings. Let's try to use visuals as best we can.

Thanks

Reynolds, what are you doing?(In relation to hitting)

srdmad — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:52:26 -0000

Do I really need to spell it out that he is hitting really poorly. Adam Dunn and Ryan Howard don't look that bad when they are at the plate. I don't mind if a guy strikes out a lot as long they are hitting bombs, but what Reynolds is doing is ridiculous. I don't know what is worse, his hitting or his fielding. He reminds me of the religious black guy from the move Major League. He can only hit pitches that don't move much.

Alternatives to Hudson

seton hall snake pit — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:27:01 -0000

If we do not resign Hudson what would we do at second base? Would it end up being Benafacio's job to lose or do we give Jamie D'Antona a chance to switch over from third and have a go at it. He's hitting really really well for the Sidewinders right now. What do you all think? Can D'Antona make the switch? I think it would make a very interesting spring. extra word

Thames Valley Bisons Baseball 2008

Wimb — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:05:35 -0000

Howdy folks,

Jim said a while ago it might be an idea for a diary and as there's few people this side of the pond to share (or relate) to baseball I hope none of you all mind if I chronicle my first year as a baseball player, here on the 'Pit.

I won't bother writing alot of personal background here, (that's already been done in the Hello my name is thread) but in a nutshell im a 21 year old guy from the UK living in the south of England who has never played baseball before in my life. However after 7 years of following the Diamondbacks and having returned from University I finally decided to take the plunge and seek out a local side to play for. Fortunately for myself the nearest time was only 10 miles away, the Thames Valley Bisons, who i'd learned of after doing some research on UK baseball for some work experience I did with my local BBC radio station back in the fall.

Despite my enthusiasm I still didn't really fancy joining a new team by myself so dragged my mate Steve along for the ride. Even though Steve had never watched yet alone played the game before he soon took a liking to the game and so we began to play some basic catch and took a few swings with the bat down our local field. With a view to joining the Bisons for their first practise session at the end of February.

When we got to the Bisons field it wasn't exactly Chase. The diamond was at the back of two football (I will not call it soccer dammit ;) ) pitches, and all that was there to show that it was ever a baseball diamond was a mound and some rough patches where the bases had been. When our hopefully future team mates arrived It turned out that 7 of the 8 or guys there were Polish (there's a heavy and growing Polish population in Reading) of which only one or two could speak English. Still the guys were very friendly and welcoming and made us feel part of the team straight away, but we weren't just there to make friends we were there to play ball (insert dramatic music here)

The first thing I'll say as someone who has never played before Now neither of us really expected to be the next A-Rod (Steve doesn't even know who A-Rod is..) but we didnt expect to be so far behind our team mates when we turned up to our first practise session. What we saw wasn't Major League caliber by a long shot but it still made us look like little leaguers. The biggest thing I took away from my first proper game of catch Is that you never really appreciate the intricasies and techniques required to do the simplist of things such as throwing a ball. Our captain Tomasz and coach Peter took us aside for 90% of that first session and literally taught us the very basics of how to throw and grip a baseball. On the surface being taught such remedial things was enough to make me think "what the heck am I doing here?!" and such feelings only grew stronger as most of my throws barely made 10 yards, flew over Steve's head or into the dirt, yet slowly and surely it began to come together.

Sadly for us just as we thought "ok this might work out ok..." we were called over to the main field where the other guys were practising to practise catching fly balls. Having played cricket before i was no stranger to catching a ball (bare handed at that ;) ) but even so there's no words to descrive the feelings you go through when you see that ball sail into the sky off the bat knowing you have to make the catch. As I stood there waiting for what seemed like an eternity I couldn't help but think how much I take for granted a routine flyball out when I watch a game on the TV, but now standing waiting for the ball to (hopefully) hit my glove all I could think was please don't let me make a fool of myself. Fortunately it did nestle into the webbing of my glove and I made the catch sadly for me though it was one of about 3 i caught out of 6 or so.

That first session we didn't even get to bat but we'd both enjoyed ourselves enough to make a return visit the following week….

That second week felt a lot better then the first as even though neither of us could throw worth a damn we were better then the week before and getting somewhere. It was with this growing confidence that we headed over to the diamond to have our first fielding practise and I was planted at 2nd base with Steve (being left handed) in right field. As I stood there waiting I had dreams of making Orlando Hudson type plays and turning double plays for fun, but sadly I ended up making Orlando Hudson plays of the wrong kind, you know the simple ones you just mess up… The hardest bit was learning where the hell I should be when the ball went where, when to stand on the base, when to be a relay guy etc etc and half the time I felt like a kid lost in the middle of the supermarket unsure of which way or where to go. Still my team mates took it in good spirits and helped me whenever they could which admittedly wasn’t easy in mostly broken English. After dusting myself down I finally got a chance to hit a baseball as we were shown how to stand and swing the bat before being let loose on a few soft throws. This is the one thing I can seemingly do alright in as I was able to make good contact with a fair few..

After a week off to go skiing we returned ready for my BP and fielding drills. This time I played centre field probably catching about 75% of the fly balls my way and during BP I once again seemed to do alright. But at the end of the session I had to face a pitcher for the first time, with a catcher behind me. The experience was quite surreal as I stood staring down the pitcher, our captain Tomasz. Sadly Tomasz was more huge manatee then Webby and he struggled with his control meaning I got around 10 balls and about 4 strikes. Our coach Peter then took over and gave me 5 or 6 strikes so that I had something to hit and I did make contact on a couple though without a base hit!

So that’s about where I am right now heading into my final before our spring training opener against Guilford on Sunday. I still have no idea where I’ll field or if I’ll even make the team, but with numbers at around 12 I stand a good chance of being involved. I think I’d like to field first or left field to be honest, at least to start with as there is no DH ;)

Anyways hope that this isn’t too long/boring and I’ll try and update later after practise. For anyone that’s interested our website is http://www.thamesvalleybaseball.co.uk/ which has some background info on the club and last season. I should have mentioned last year was the teams first and the results page reflects this!

Still, Go Bisons! ;)

Posting on other sites

Jim McLennan — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:32:13 -0000

Recent events have brought into sharp focus the issues involved with posting, as Arizona fans, at other sites in the SB Nation network. The new architecture here makes it easy to join other sites, and the common "look and feel" also gives the impression these are related sites. While true to an extent, this is not the case when it comes to community guidelines.

There, each site is different, and it is very easy for guests to forget that what may be harmless banter on one blog, is unacceptable on another. For example, political discussion is permitted on some sites, but not on others. Here are some tips to help maintain good relations: whether "official" or not, when you visit other SB Nation sites as an Arizona fan, you are effectively an ambassador for the Pit.

Lurk before you leap. Reading a site is essential before joining it, and there's little substitute as far as learning the guidelines. It'll give you a good idea of the tone, content and style. However, bear in mind that many sites will - understandably - give more latitude to regulars. Don't expect the same.
First impressions last. If you are going to post on another site, you might want to make your debut when we are not playing them. Indeed, have also not just finished playing them, and won't be playing them for a while, to reduce the chance of intentions being misunderstood. Find something nice to say about your hosts: admire a prospect, commend a recent performance. Or ask their opinion: how's former D-back X doing?
Avoid contentious topics. To quote Professor Higgins from My Fair Lady, "Keep to two subjects: the weather and everybody's health." Good advice. Even discussing the game can be problematic, especially as there is always a winner and a loser. It's very easy for winners to come across as smug or patronizing, even unintentionally.
Stay consistent. This may seem obvious, but if you do anything that could be construed as 'talking smack' about a site or team here, don't expect a warm welcome there. We read other sites; other sites read the Pit. Especially in the integrated system, it is very easy to see all the comments someone has made. No-one likes a hypocrite.
Be ready to back off. At the first sign of hostility, apologize - even if you don't feel it was your fault - and withdraw. No parting comments or last words, because they will almost certainly make the situation worse. Certainly, let us know here, so others can learn from your experience.

Personally, part of the joy of baseball, is the opportunity to talk to others who share that passion, regardless of what team they support. This common ground in a love of the sport unites us, and the above guidelines, combined with a genuine and general respect for others and their views, should help ensure a pleasant experience on both sides.

Micah Owings - part time player?

Orestes Destrade — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:23:01 -0000

This guy deserves the opportunity to see what he can do with 250+ ABs. GMs now a days don't want to jeopardize a young pitcher's arm and choose to shy away from the idea of fielding a pitcher. I would agree with this philosophy with and ace of a staff or a potential ace of a staff. But, to be realistic in all lilkelyhood M. Owings is gonna have a very average career as a SP or reliever. So, why not maximize his talent/potential and see what he can do with the bat. Rick Ankiel's story should open GMs eyes.

First of all the days he is pitching he should bat no lower than 7th in the lineup. Everyday players know what he can do with the bat and won't be embarressed batting behind him. When he is replaced on the mound he should stay in the batting lineup as a double switch if he is having a good day at the plate. I don't know how much of a liability he is on the field and can only imagine him playing LF or 1B. I don't see the DBacks sitting Byrnes or Jackson so that is a problem.

If a position could be found for him I would have him on the field 2 days after a start and the following day (the two middle days in between starts). This could give him up to 300 ABs for the season if he could stay off the DL. He could fill a role similiar to what Tony Clark did the past couple of seasons. Being fairly modest I'll project his stats this season if he were to see about 300 ABs :

.283/.343/.520

Once again that is a modest prediction. That is projecting only 15 2Bs and 11 HRs over 300 ABs. He will probably strike out around 75 times in 300 ABs but, let's see if anyone off the DBacks bench gets close to the #s.

How many K's for Mad Max?

Augie's Army — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:11:20 -0000

Are we getting ahead of ourselves? Probably, but damn it Mad Max is making his first MLB start and this something to get fired up about. Chase Field is going to transform into "Thunderdome". I am just glad he isn't a knuckleball pitcher or this wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Also, anyone have good lines that are dying to use? I mean the quotes that could come from "Thunderdome" alone might need an overflow thread.

Two Men Enter, One Man Leave.

Poll

How many K's does Mad Max get tonight?

First Month Hero - Conor Jackson

unnamedDBacksfan — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:08:40 -0000

Found a link thanks to Levski on DBBP on the best offensive players for the month of April. Since one of our own is on this list, I thought I'd share it.

Actual link is:http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/first-month-heroes/

First Month Heroes

by Dave Cameron - May 4, 2008 · Filed under Daily Graphings

Most teams have played about 30 games so far, so through the first baseball month of the season, let’s take a look at the guys who have performed the best at the plate. We’ll do it all-star team style, with one player representing each position. I’m using WPA/LI as the determinant for offensive production.

Catcher: Geovany Soto - 0.64
First Base: Conor Jackson - 1.49
Second Base: Chase Utley - 1.78
Shortstop: Rafael Furcal - 1.33
Third Base: Chipper Jones - 1.49
Left Field: Pat Burrell - 1.77
Center Field: Nate McLouth - 0.91
Right Field: Ryan Church - 0.75
Designated Hitter Hideki Matsui - 0.73

The thing that jumps out to me is that all eight position players represent the National League. Lots of NL hitters going nuts in April, but none more so than Chase Utley, who was clearly the best player on the planet for the first month of the season. Furcal, Chipper, and Burrell had special months as well, especially if you give Burrell credit for the fact that he leads the league in clutch hitting.

Double plays started by 1b

foulpole — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:58:52 -0000

During today's game thread, we were trying to find the number of double plays started by 1bs.

This link shows that, for '07, the top 10 in the NL were:

2007

Pujols

Albert

STL

2007

Gonzalez

Adrian

2007

Adam

2007

Todd

2007

Ryan J

2007

Carlos

2007

James A

2007

Ryan

2007

Dmitri

2007

Lance

2007

Mike

CJ had 1 (about 1 every 870 innings) and Tony Clark had 4 (about 1 every 100 innings).

Chase Field ranked 25th in SI poll

Jim McLennan — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:47:00 -0000

In March, Sports Illustrated recently surveyed fans across the nation with regard to the experience at their local ball-park. They asked them to rate the stadium based on the following factors: affordability, food, team quality, tradition, atmosphere, fan IQ, hospitality, promotions, traffic and neighborhood, then used those to come up with an overall ranking. Chase Field came in 25th. That seems kinda low, but puts us right beside our expansion brothers in Tampa, who were 24th. Here's the detailed breakdown, with some thoughts therein. What do you think?

Affordability: 22nd. This is an interesting one, given the Team Marketing Report which found the Diamondbacks had the cheapest overall tickets in all of baseball. Why is there such a disconnect between the figures? This is something I've chewed over with Diamondhacks previously. Part of the reason may be the relatively low per-capita income in the Phoenix area, part the huge difference between season-ticket prices and single-game prices. The seats we have cost us about $35 per game, and that's good value. But if I walked up to the box-office, the same seats would cost $60-70: I wouldn't pay that.

In a market such as Phoenix, without a long history of fan loyalty, especially in a recession, many people are not prepared to make the major commitment of season tickets, and the high single-game prices put them off there too. Witness the attendance against the Astros, which averaged only 20,500; with a season-ticket base around 15,000, that means only about five thousand people bought seats. For the reigning division champions, that's pretty bad.

Food: 21st. This mostly seems to be related to the cost. 47% of fans rated the quality of the food as above-average, but only 21.8% were of the same opinion for the prices. Despite recent moves by the organization to reduce the costs a bit, I can't argue with the results here. There is precious little at the park which is better than mediocre fast-food [though I am a big fan of the garlic fries, simply because they are not normal], and the prices are extortionate. A bottle of water that costs perhaps 25 cents at the supermarket is now, what, $3.75? And I can't remember the last time I bought a beer. Yes, you can apparently buy one for four bucks, but given the brands in question, I'd rather drink my own urine.

Team Quality: 10th. Kinda amusing, given we had the best record in the National League. Even funnier, is that topping this area were Detroit, with 89% of fans rating their team as "excellent". Wonder what they think of their 14-17 team now? AL fans rate their teams much higher; the top five in this category are all American League, before the Rockies at #6. The Mets, Brewers and Phillies are also above the D-backs, but again, one suspects opinions in this area might be a little different now.

They also asked, "Which player on your team is the most worth paying to watch?" Eric Byrnes pipped Brandon Webb here, 31%-29%, with no-one else breaking into double figures. This is an interesting result: much as some of us here may complain, the reality seems to be that Byrnes is the face of the franchise. He is certainly the most-visible, and that is, to some extent, the responsibility of the organization. They need to be a little bit careful, and should perhaps spread the wealth a bit more if they want to avoid a potentially-nasty situation after 2010. Remember what happened last time the left-fielding "face of the franchise had to be let go...

History and Tradition: 26th. Hardly a surprise here, when as I always say, I have shoes older than this franchise. Surprisingly, we did finish ahead of the Twins, who have three pennants and two World Series. Less surprisingly, we were also above the Nationals and Rays. Dead-last were the Marlins: I guess winning it all and then having a fire-sale doesn't count as a "tradition." Not much the organization can do about this one, but wait it out. I was, however, pleased to see that they stopped trying to force-feed us a Brown-Eyed Girl sing-along in an attempt to create an entirely artificial tradition.

Ballpark Atmosphere: 23rd. Fans appreciate the comfort of the seats [63% giving that the thumbs-up], but the atmosphere is less well-liked. I'm inclined to agree with that, but this is probably related to a couple of the other categories [Tradition and Fan IQ]. There's not much that can be done to improve it right away, though I was also pleased to see the exhortations to "Get Loud...Stay Loud..." appear to have been removed from the new Jumbotron. Still, too often, attempts to start up cheers are drowned out by canned music, etc. This is a ballgame, where events on the field are supposed to spontaneously create the fan reaction, not orders from Mike and Vanessa.

Fan Intelligence: 29th. Quite comfortably our worst showing, but I can't say this is an area which ever has had a major impact on my experiences at Chase. It would be nice if they knew when to get on their feet and vocalize their support, but otherwise, it doesn't bother me much. I am also less likely to trust the results of any self-reported poll about intelligence. For example. rated #3 for intelligence were Yankees' fans, which has got to be a first. From my experience of that stadium, I can only presume they misread "intelligence" as "incoherence", or possibly "intoxication".

Fan Hospitality: 18th. A better showing in this category, with 55% saying we were better than average in this area. In the accompanying comments, the general theme was that we were, if anything, "too nice." I'd certainly like to see us do a much better job of drowning out chants from opposing fans. The lack of any obvious rivals may play into this: while the Mets may be ranked 29th, almost all the comments about bad experiences there relate to games against the Yankees. I had no problems there wearing my D-backs shirt - though the fact we got our asses kicked on the park probably helped alleviate the need for any off-park aggression.

Promotions: 18th. Hard for me to comment, as I don't think I've ever been to any other park on promotions night - about the only item I have is a Mets' Hello Kitty, which I bought on Ebay. I would prefer it if the giveaways were spread out, rather than being concentrated entirely on Saturday nights. I'd have thought those weekend games are the ones least in need of promotion. I have been favorably impressed with the gifts I've got; the 'Anybody, Anytime' shirts are a permanent addition to the wardrobe. I am a little fed-up of bobbleheads, but they seem to be popular, so what do I know?

Getting to the Game: 22nd. Seems about right. The construction around the park for the light-rail has definitely made things a lot more complex, but we are hopefully through the worst of that now. Something worth bearing in mind is that, for the Friday night fireworks, the garage from which they fire them is locked down until the show is over, so if you park there, you might as well stay for the show, because you aren't going anywhere. The cost of parking isn't an issue for us, since we park at my job, two blocks from the stadium. But it seems generally fair to good: you shouldn't need to pay more than five bucks on most nights.

The main blackmark against the Diamondbacks is the lack of public-transport options, which 66% rate as below average. This isn't really the team's fault, but is something that's true for Phoenix as a whole. Light-rail may help, but if you aren't on the direct route, it won't be much help. You'll still have to take your car to and from the line, and I also wonder whether the service will be able to cope with post-game volume? If you have to wait more than 15 minutes to get on a train, people are not going to bother.

Neighborhood: 14th. Almost dead in the middle; 52.5% said the dining and drinking options within walking distance were above average or excellent. We have a long way to go to catch up with the Cubs (92%) or Padres (95%) in this category, but on the other hand, are much better than the A's (5%) and Marlins (4%). Downtown is still a work in progress, and needs to become more of a destination [compare and contrast SoDo in Denver, or the Gaslamp District in San Diego], outside of sporting events. At the moment, the area is basically a ghost-town by 6pm.

I also have to say, 6:40pm weekday start times are extremely inconvenient if you work a regular job, and want to have something to eat before the game. There is no opportunity to go anywhere except for the park: this is likely the aim (getting fans to spend their money inside the park), but a thriving downtown area will help the ballpark to thrive. It does also concern me that all the renovation appears to be happening on one side of the park: if you go a couple of blocks the wrong way from Chase...hoo-boy.

Eric Byrnes' extension

foulpole — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:39:29 -0000

OK gang, Bam Bam gets a lot of flack on this board so I thought that it would be appropriate to start a Bam Bam fanpost and possibly reduce some of the Byrnes controversy.

Here's my take...When we signed him, when you combine D, base running and hitting, he was arguably one of the best LFs in the NL. Q's shoulder was cooked and he didn't even have the surgery yet. Who knows if Q is even going to be able to play, not only at all but at a ML level, at that point. We had Scooter hanging around as a guy that hasn't proved jack as a major leaguer and is , what? about 28 years old? So, it was pretty much looking like either Bam Bam or Scooter at that point.

We had a good shot at being a competitive team but also had very young and, up to that point, unproven players at 1b, 3b, ss,CF and RF. Bam Bam got a three year deal at 10 per which was more favorable to the org then the Gary Mathews deal at 5/50.

This is far from an Ortiz type deal. IMO, if you pay quality players big money then that's OK but if you pay sucky players (Ortiz) big money then that sucks.

Bam Bam is a very solid LF.

Fire away.

Looking Way to Far Ahead

Augie's Army — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:58:00 -0000

What does everyone think about Bench Coach Kirk Gibson? Seems to me that if the D-Backs keep winning he would look like an awfully good hire for a team needing a manager next year.

Chip Hale as well but I think Gibson's days as a ball player give him a distinct advantage. I think Gibson would be a great manager.

Would Kirk Gibson be a good hire for a team needed a new manager next year? Perhaps the Mets?