Diamondbacks Spring Training Round-Up: Florida Pinches Our Booty

Post-game(s) quotes

• "Parra tried to get (Bloomquist) over, but he ended up hitting it out of here. It was a good day. Was a good game. We're out here just trying to get our work in, that's all it really is."
  -- Diamondbacks bench coach Alan Trammell
• "I'm just trying to take good swings right now. "I'm seeing the ball good. I caught one out front. It's not something I've done a whole lot in my career but I'll catch one from time to time... Anytime you play your friends in anything there's always a little extra on it and I've got a lot of buddies over there. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little bit sweeter."
  -- Former A, Cliff Pennington
• "He's going to have a better year this year than he did last year. How much, I don't know. We've been working on some things. Obviously he executed properly today. ... We're trying to shorten him way up, trying to get his bat short to the ball. He can wait and see and recognize the ball longer. He's a really good ballplayer, you can tell that. He's a baseball player."
  -- Kirk Gibson

The strange case of Miggy's thumb

Miguel Montero missed another day today. as his thumb continued to give him grief. It started swelling up over the weekend and really began to hurt on Sunday night. The original diagnosis by Kirk Gibson was a splinter, but when the team's medical staff opened it out to drain it, there was apparently nothing to be found. Although, going by the report from MLB.com, as screenshotted below, it sounds like Miggy is suffering from a highly-aggravated case of cat-scratch fever...

Fear the beard

Nick Piecoro covers the vital topic of Josh Collmenter's beard, undeniably an epic creation, one that has been in the making since last November, though it sounds from the report that it may not last into the regular season. It will, however, survive through Saturday, when he is booked to take a bunch of rookies on what has become a regular spring trip, to the Renaissance Fest. He first made the trip as a rookie himself in 2010, and did such a good job organizing the 2011 version that he's been told to do it again. And the beard?. "I almost have to because it fits right into that time period. They’ll probably think that I’m part of the routine that travels around and puts these things on."

Last year, it was a series of contests, with the winner - Patrick Corbin - becoming a knight. "This year, I’ll probably go another direction with it and see what other different things we can get them to do, get them outside of their comfort zone and kind of get them to make a fool of themselves. Some are (willing)... Some guys are because they know that they have to so they’ll do it. Some guys almost make a mockery of being overeager to do it. I don’t think anybody has quite really taken it on as, ‘This is going to be awesome.’ It’s either begrudgingly or ‘I’m just going to be overly sarcastic to make it look like it’s fun.’ That way they don’t have to embarrass themselves quite as much."

Josh Booty = Marlin

Well, so much for Josh Booty being any help to the Diamondbacks. Ken Rosenthal reports that if he's going to pitch for anyone, it will be the Florida Marlins. They "agreed to release Booty off their retired list, but only under the condition that they could reclaim him if the D-backs planned to add him to their major-league roster at the end of spring training, sources say. Even if Booty only wanted to resume his career as a minor leaguer, the Marlins would get the first crack at him — they are the team that gave him a $1.6 million bonus after selecting him with the fifth pick of the 1994 draft." While it's still unlikely either will happen, they would get to take him back without any compensation to us.

But is it art?

Our new Class-A short season team, the Hillsboro Hops, are getting a new stadium with a $60,000 piece of art on the concourse called 'Barometer'. The piece is "Equipped with LED lights that will respond to noise," and is 15 feet high. It consists of "three stainless steel painted columns, bridged together by a laser-cut baseball diamond-inspired shape adorned with LED lights. The diamond will have baseball bats, balls and other sports equipment cut into its exterior. Designs include a variety of steel musical instruments – a horn, rattle, drum sets, and a handle that will activate chimes inside one of the three columns."

Around baseball

• It was the Giants turn to stage a late comeback today, scoring four in the ninth to recover a 8-8 tie against the Dodgers, in a game they once trailed by five. But Timmeh had a rough outing, allowing four hits and three earned runs in 1.1 innings.
• Speaking of those we love to hate, Manny Ramirez will play in Taiwan for the EDA Rhinos, if no-one in the US wants him. "My agents called almost every team in the AL with apparent needs -- a veteran to use as a designated hitter and [with] occasional pop, but nobody was interested," Ramirez said.
• And speaking of has-beens, Jose Canseco is still playing pro ball.