SnakeBytes, 8/17: Red Scare Edition

New series, new team.  We've had some success lately, can we continue it?

Previews:

• [cbssports.com] Reds-Diamondbacks Preview - "The arrival of Daniel Hudson (3-0, 1.59) is one reason the Diamondbacks are faring better." Or is it because of Kirk Gibson and his fierosity?

• [miamiherald.com] Cincinnati Reds (67-51) at Arizona Diamondbacks (47-72) - The Reds have taken 13 of their last 16 against the Diamondbacks? And I thought Milwaukee consistently owned our team.

• [wcpo.com] The Tuesday Morning Rush for August 17, 2010 - Plus the Reds come into town with the second best road record in the National League.  This could be rough.

• [azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks' Ian Kennedy seeks a strong finish - "I'm just not as sharp as I have been." Learning to adapt to a 162 game schedule is just as much a necessary skill as a good fastball for a starting pitcher.

• [espn.com] Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals have favorable schedules for hitters down the stretch - According to their projections? The Diamondbacks have the worst schedule for the rest of the season. Seriously? Because we haven't suffered enough?

• [bleacherreport.com] Playing Spoiler: Five Non-Contending Teams That Will Affect the Playoffs - With the rest of the division still in the playoff hunt, and plenty of in-division games left in the season, the Diamondbacks definitely deserve a spot on the list.

• [dbacks.com] Three prep stars complete D-backs' class - A look at who the DBacks signed in the last few hours before the deadline.

• [Scout.com] LaRoche Hot in the Second Half - Again - Hitting .315 with six homers after the All Star break. This is pretty much what we expected from him.

• [The D-blog] Minor League Report - Some more updates from the minors. I wonder who we'll see called up in September.

Around Sports:

• [sfgate.com] BLUE JAYS 3, A'S 1 / No offense, but this is a troubling trend - The Oakland As were held to just one hit last night, a solo home run by (former DBack) Conor Jackson. CoJack's comments after the game: "Listen, I've been on a team that got no-hit, and a one-hitter is pretty similar."

• [si.com] Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball - A lot of players get nominated for the title- is Josh Hamilton truly worthy of it?

• [Cincinnati.com] Tough Break: Thom Brennaman Update - We won't be seeing Thom Brennaman in the Reds booth this series. A broken leg and Fox NFL meetings will keep him from making the trip to Arizona.

• [deadspin.com] Concussions Killed Lou Gehrig, Killing NFL Players - A study in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology talks about a tie between concussions and a condition very similar to ALS. Any fan who pays the slightest attention knows that concussions are a big problem among football players, but they happen in baseball, too.

• [mercurynews.com] Lincecum’s velocity dilemma: Either it’s simple (worn down arm) or it’s complicated (anything else) - It's the question of the hour- is Lincecum in trouble or not?

• [yahoo.com] A Giant is gone: Bobby Thomson dies at age 86 - Bobby Thomson, Scottish baseball legend and the man who hit The Shot Heard 'Round The World, passed away last night.

• [deadspin.com] Last Night's Winner: Dodger Stadium's Landlord, The Dodgers - I found this interesting: Of the Dodgers expenses, "$14 million-plus goes to rent; an order of magnitude more money than most teams pay. Did we mention that the Dodgers own their own stadium?"  Are the Dodgers using this loophole to get around MLB restrictions?

Go DBacks!