Okay, time to get crackin. Spring Training is almost over, and I only got to see one game...but in that one game, I met a legend.. Randy Johnson? nope....Mark Grace?....nope....none other than Fin Fan in Cali- Big Brother John Pics of the team to follow...
Time to resurrect this thread A few updates. The D-backs pitching staff took a couple of hits going into the regular season Doug Davis will make his first 2 scheduled starts 4-3 against the Reds and 4-8 against the Dodgers, then will undergo surgery for Thyroid cancer... Hope that speeds up his delivery some .....just kidding. Hope he makes a full recovery from this Also, Randy Johnson will miss some time with a bad back...and in related news, the sun WILL rise in the East and set in the West yet again today..
Well. After the first week of the regular season, we have seen pretty much what we saw last year. Gritty, close games with these kids hanging tough and letting their pitchers end the games on a positive note After going in and winning against the Reds opening day, the Dirty Reds then pulled out the next two. On to NLC Colorado Rockies. This is a series sweep that really might be important at the tail end of the season. It certainly was last year. In fact, it was a series just like this that helped the D-backs become the regular season NL Champs....too bad the rockies beat them in the playoffs So, after one week with ZERO games at home, we see the D-backs right at the top the NL-west alongside the Pads for the division lead Sidenote, good chance I get to go see "The Big Unit" pitch in the next night or two. He is in Tucson on assignment as his back is giving him fits. His last outing for the Tucson Sidewinders was NOT good as he gave up 5 runs in 4.2 innings..with no strikeouts.
Wow, My first look at Danny Haren..Now I know what all the talk is about. This kid can flat out pitch Now then. On to the Dodgers Bullpen....what bullpen. Man I love this kid Scott Proctor. First three batters he faces: Chris Young* hits one out of Phoenix.... Eric Byrnes hits a single Orlando O-Dog Hudson Hits one into the pool Oh and somebody needs to tell Joe Torre that Chan Ho is Korean for "Out of the"... Good to see this home-opener turn into a laugher for the D-backs. They have struggled badly against the Dodgers since becoming an expansion team. Hopefully they can keep this up till the Big Blue leave town.. *The club signed Centerfielder Chris Young to 5 year 31 Million dollar contract extension. As Mark Grace eagerly pointed out, for a kid with this much upside, that is an absolute STEAL. **The club is leading the Majors with 17 Homeruns now. They are on a blistering pace and are getting them from EVERYWHERE. Justin Upton is the first 20 year old to hit 3 bombs in 3 consecutive games. Last night Chris Young had one (4th of season) Mark Reynolds had 2 (4 of season) and Orlando Hudson had 1 (1st of season)
Well, Just found out I get to make the 10 mile drive out to watch the Tucson Sidewinder tonight (Box seats courtesy of a guy at work) No big deal you think...just another Triple A club...well The Big Unit Randy Johnson will be toein the rubber tonight. This is his second "Rehab" start.
Well, I was there last night and witnessed one of the great wonders of the world.. I saw Randy Johnson up close and personal...and I can say "Man that dude is REALLY UGLY"...also as he was leaving the field, there were MANY kids trying to get his autograph...he had a little time, but maybe signed for 1/2 the kids there...and my daughter Jennifer missed out ...what a bum EDIT: Also, looks like Johnson might spend another week or so in Tucson. He spent part of the night playing catch with the Backstop. Poor Catcher was doing all he could to corral the errant pitches, but tough to do when they are coming at you 97 MPH and WAAAAYYYY out of the strike zone.
Well lets catch up a little Two nights back, it was a gutsy performance by Doug Davis. He walked to the mound knowing it would be his last start for the better part of a month as he is headed to surgery for thyroid cancer. He DIDNT disappoint going 6 SOLID innings and only giving up 2 runs. Brilliant start, and hope all goes well with his surgery. We will need his left arm in the rotation The D-backs backed him by scoring the good old fashioned way. Hits and more Hits. They score 10 runs, with only 1 Homerun (Mark Reynolds his 5th). Last Night Micah Owings took the mound and was also stellar going 7 innings and giving up 3 runs. Brandon Lyons came on for the save as the D-backs sweep those Pesky Dodgers winning the last game 3-2.... I honestly cant remember the last time we even won a series with the Dod-gers much less a series sweep.
At this point, the D-backs are picking up where they left off last season. Quick recap: Open season at Cincinatti, win game 1 then lose next two going 1-2 They then go to Colorado and sweep the division foe and World Series contender Rockies 3-0 4-2 They then come home and sweep Division Rival Dod-gers 3-0 7-2. They will take a pitching hit as Doug Daviswill be out until at least mid-May. I think the FO was planning on Randy Johnson to be able to come up and help with the rotation, but from what I personally saw Tuesday night, Johnson is NOT ready. In his two starts in Tucson Johnon went 4 innings and gave up 5 runs (Sidewinders opening day) then went 6 innings and gave up 4 more runs...but was very erratic We will see...
I was able to watch most of the game last night against the Rockies (Anybody else think it strange that we are in our fourth searies of the season, and it is already the second against the Rockies?) Anyways, Brandon Webb was ON. Man I forgot how great it is to watch this guy when his stuff is working. Its almost as if he has strings to change the trajectory of the ball at times. He was STELLAR and the rockies gave up 8 including three 2 run shots (O Hudson, Eric Byrnes and Jason Upton) as the D-backs win their 8th inter division game in a row. As Mark Grace pointed out, Nobody is gonna win the division in April, but many are gonna lose it........
Yep, cmon back when your HIGHLY overpaid Yankees of the West actually start winning games there Sam...
And its ON. The D-backs take another W..and that makes 8 straight against NL-West foes. Danny Haren once again was steller in going 6 solid innings, giving up 1 run and two walks.. Meanwhile, the long ball, and Justin Upton is showing why he is often referred to as "The Phenom" Not a bad start for this kid...and for the D-backs who are leading all of the Bigs with a 9-2 mark.
Congrats Brother Kenny! I can't watch anymore. It is very painful to watch my Padres right now. Again congrats.
Wow, Gonzalez ends up with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out....and comes away with no runners crossing home...
Thanks brother. Wifey suggested I call you about the time that Kalil made that VERY uncharacteristic error that opened the flood-gates...I refrained. I would say the Fatigue factor played a huge part. It was obvious your skipper wasnt gonna jeapordize the arms of your bullpen this early in the season. That 22 inning game finally did indeed take its toll. Your skipper made the right move as it is still a LONG LONG season. Hope we get to share Barley pops at another outing this season before its over bro. Either in Phoenix or out your way... BTW: Its a little ironic I type in your name to cheer you..
Kenny you are not a Padre hommer like me, what do you think of Edmonds in Center? I think he is a huge liability. I have lost track of how many balls have went over his head already this year. You see his number on his jersey way too much. We never had that problem with Cameron. We will have more Barley pops for sure bro in September at least.
Thanks for taking it easy on me. I think I am the HD Sleprock. Last year I spent the money and got HD tv's and receivers for the Dolphins and we go in the tank. This year I get a HD box from Cox for the games in HD, and we are in the tank.
I personally think Edmonds was a HUGE mistake, but hindsight is always 20/20. He still has lots of time to turn it around as does the rest of the squad bro. There is WAAAAYYYY too much talent in your clubhouse to get so far down on them yet, and the NL West is by far the best division in the league. Wait till you get out of the inner-division play, pick up some wins and get healthy. You's guys will be fine... Every year the D-backs start out pretty hot. Some years they keep it up, many they don't. Once again, I wouldnt get too caught up in it yet bro... Perfect example is the Skankees. It seems like every single year, they are all but eliminated by the All-Star break, and every single year, they end the season in the post season.
I am just very disappointed with Edmonds. I am trying to stay positive about the team bro, it is hard right now. The real sad part is we are a small payroll team, and we paying Edmonds 7 million this year.
You know...I remember the D-backs bringing in a big name, big pay guy every year for a couple in a row. We had Troy Glaus, Richie Sexton..and a couple of others. Now almost EVERYBODY has come up through the organization (Which is a double treat cause I have seen quite a few of them here in Tucson before they go to the bigs ) and I think it is really paying off. Not only are they playing lights out, and loaded with talent at every single position...but it is an incredibly young team. Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson are the Old kids on the block, and I dont think either are even 28. BTW: You talk about low-salary, last year we were 4th from being lowest in the league at like 51,000,000
All I can say to this point is WOW. I had a feeling the D-backs would continue having some of the success they had last year, but there is NO WAY I couldve seen this coming. All they have done is won 8 of 10 series, the only two that werent "WON" was the opening series in Cincinatti, and a 2 game series split with the Dodgers in LA. The hitting is still coming from every single direction. Mark Reynolds has been knocking the leather off the ball consistently. and has 7 homers. Chris young has 6 and the 20 year old "Phenom"-Justin Upton has 5. Connor Jackson is hitting .341 with 4 homers and he and Mark Reynolds are behind only Pat Burrel in RBI's with 24 apiece. The D-backs are out scoring teams nearly 2-1 through the month of April, and that is an incredible stat. Ptiching has been nothing short of spectacular. Brandon Webb is very well on pace for a 20 win season as he has started 6-0...and we are just through April Danny Haren has proven why he started the All-Star game for the American league last year and is a SOLID 4-1. Both of these two have also had timely at bats, something neither is really known for. Third on the National league leading Pitching line is non other than Micah Owings. This kid is quiet, and doesnt get much pub (Cept for his hitting of course, but I will get to that in a second) but has been very solid, and in 5 starts is 4-0. Yesterday in Houston, Owings, was called upon, not to pitch but actually has a pinch-hitter....all he did was knock it into the seats for a two run dinger. Key in the D-backs come from behind victory over the Astros...here is a snippet from CBSSPORTSLINE Many regular guys would love to be able to hit like this kid Last but not least heres a kid that was called up from Single A a day before, was called upon to relieve a really bad Edgar Gonzalez..and all he did was RETIRE ALL 13 BATTERS HE FACED (A new record) STRIKE OUT 7 OF THOSE 13 THROW 47 PITCHES, 36 OF WHICH WERE STRIKES He is now replacing Gonzalez in the starting rotation http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/teams/report/ARI/10807766 So after a torrid month of April the D-backs lead not only the NFC West, but the enitre league with a very impressive record of 20-8, and that includes a nice road record of 9-5 and even more importantly a division record of 17-5 Stay tuned folks..
Don't look now, but the Dodgers are starting to come on strong. Looks like a race may occur afterall!
the lead is 5 and 6 straight wins with a sad sack Colorado team up next. Which, by the way, we already swept once this year. I wouldn't get too ****y just yet big boy, this seaosn is still in its infancy.
Its only 5, but...the huge differnces is that we are 17-5 in the West whereas you are 9-8. And head to head is 5-1 D-backs
Hence why I stated it is a long season. Catching teams when they are down on their luck and high on their horse are two different animals. Clearly. I mean, one is a horse and the other is luck...which isn't even really an animal... see? different.
I've been saying it for a couple of months. What this FO has done is amazing. The amount of talent and youth on this team is incredible. We very well might have the youngest team in the league, even with Randy "I'm 102 next week" Johnson aboard. Thanks for the credit brother
Brother I am very impressed with your farm system, and I give you all the credit. I just want to see the Padres get to that level. I just want to see if the front office is going to take there share of the blame for this year. I am all for bringing up the kids now, because we don't have the offense to make a serious run at you guys. Best of luck the rest of the way Kenny.
azfinfanmang, sorry about the game last night, my A's sure came out of nowhere, they don't usually get 15 runs in a week. But if there is one team i think has a ton of talent in the NL, its the Dbacks. Your FO has done a great job there. You have hitting, fielding, starting pitching is sick, relief pitching is solid. The dbacks are going to be very competative for a long long time. I just hope they don't get back at the A's over the next two games, facing Haren and then Doug "I own Oakland" Davis, I'll be suprised if we can pull another one out. Should be a good remainder to the series.
Thanks bro, but unfortunately they are in a SERIOUS slump right now. Funniest thing is that our local announcer is none other than Mark Grace (He is absolutely priceless). Anybody ever heard him talk about "Slump Busters"...he is starting a family oriented version of it now.... Hats off to the A's Our only saving grace right now, is that he Dodgers suck just as bad as we do
Ahh mark grace, yeah i heard him in the game last night, extra innings had the dbacks feed. I actually didn't mind the dbacks announcers too much. The angels, rangers and anything on fox irks me as they don't know anything about a small market team and mess stuff up worse than a plate of spagehetti. I didn't know it was mark grace who was doing it last night. Cool stuff. Well i think a lot of teams not named the cubs or angels go through slumps. Espcially younger teams like the dbacks, but they will right the ship soon. Way too much talent in Jackson, Upton, Drew not to get the bats rolling again. Same with the pitchers, stuggling with command a bit but that won't last long. Young teams i guess tend to lose focus from time to time. And your right, as long as Furcal is no where near the Dodger lineup, the dbacks should be safe n sound. And i have furcal in my fantasy pool, so he won't be back anytime soon.
Yeah, Gracie and actually Don Suttons son Darren are the announcers..and they are indeed on AZFOXSPORTS. It is half the fun just listening to those guys The D-backs actually went 6-13 for a span last year about this same time. Of course, they righted the ship and ended up with the second best record in all of the MLB (Behind only the Red-Sox). So there is still time. Love me some A's when watching the AL btw...and tonight is your old Ace Danny Haren
Darren sounds a little more objective than his dad was for the Braves. Im a fan and I found that guys' homerism annoying.
I actually got to see Haren pitch against the cards last year at my first MLB game ever in oakland. They guy is solid. It really hurt seeing him depart, but as an a's fan were used to that. I wish haren all the best in AZ, he's a class act and one hell of a pitcher
