Phoenix.BloggersPub

David Wells, LHP (2-5, 4.80)

Juan Cruz, RHP (5-6, 4.27)

What the…? Cruz starting? Bizarro. The opinion generally seems to be that this is a showcase move for a trade. Rumour has it that Phillies scouts will be in attendance - but if that’s the case, it’s weird that it appears Montero gets the start behind the plate today, given Estrada’s publicly-expressed desire to go there. Wild speculation time: Estrada + Cruz for… Lieber and Hamels? Yes, Mr. Byrnes: that would be a very nice present to find lying under the Christmas tree this year. Make it so.

It’s expected that Cruz will only throw two innings, but then, he’s only pitched three innings in September at all. I presume his shoulder has been being rested, and we’ve had no shortage of alternatives with the call-ups, so no point taking any chances. EdGon will probably come in after Cruz departs. It’s a very strange set-up, one more befitting an early spring training game, than one which could play a crucial role in determining the destination of the NL West.

Speaking of playoff spots, the Phillies and Cardinals are already under way, each currently clutching a one-run lead, in the sixth and eighth innings respectively. The latter would clinch their division with a win and a Houston loss, while the Phillies need to win both their games to have any chance at the post-season. For the Padres today, we see David Wells, who missed his last start due to gout. I thought that was a disease only suffered by 18th-century gentlemen of leisure, but I stand corrected there. Obese, untrustworthy pitchers are clearly equally at risk: be warned, Russ Ortiz.

It seems that the atmosphere at Chase is definitely building to a crescendo over this series. The current estimate is 35,000 plus for today, and very close to a full house for tomorrow. Should I ask where all these people were for the first 79 home games of the season? Not supporting Luis Gonzalez then, were they…

Record: 76-84. Change on last season: 0
Rookies in starting lineup: 3

Our offense was again subdued, with both fewer hits and fewer runs than during Thurday evening’s game. But the big difference is, its performance last night falls into the “good enough” category. That’s thanks to Livan Hernandez and the bullpen shutting down the Padres hitters, who were almost unstoppable on Friday. Saturday, they were held to one run on four hits over seven innings by Hernandez v2.0, and Slaten, Vizcaino and Valverde combined to retire the remaining six hitters. The net result: we scored three runs or less, but still won, for only the third time since July 2nd.

Props to Livan, who overall, has been pretty credible since coming over from the East Coast. In his ten starts for the D’backs, he had an ERA of 3.76, allowing 70 hits and 26 walks in 69.1 innings, with opponents hitting .266. In a year where only one NL pitcher has an ERA below three, those are credible #3 figures. I’d be happier if he would get those walks down a bit next year: that’d have a significant knock-on effect to his figures, I reckon. It continues our run of generally decent - Friday excepted, obviously - performances in pitching. The overall team ERA for September has been 3.74, good enough for 3rd in the National League. That clearly hasn’t been the problem this month. Our OPS of .756, ranked 10th in the league - that’s why we’re 12-15 so far.

Not much in the way of offense, as noted: Eric Byrnes’ 26th homer of the year, following a walk to Counsell, was all that we would need. We did add a useful insurance run in the seventh: Jackson doubled, but a failed bunt from Drew erased him. No matter: Quentin’s second double of the night sent Drew motoring all the way around from first. It was especially welcome as the Padres had mounted their major threat of the night in the top of the inning: a pinch-hit single by Klesko drove in a run and put the tying run at third. However, Roberts popped out to Counsell, swinging at ball four, and the door was barred thereafter, the Padres not having a base-runner. Tracy joined Quentin in having two hits, and also had one of our two walks.

30,700 at this one, which pushed our home total past the two million mark. There’s now actually a decent chance that the total for the season might not be an all-time low. Last year, we drew 2,059,424, so we still need about 25,000 for each of the last two games, in order to ensure we pass that total. Early in the year, when we were struggling to get twenty thousand, I’d have said that goal would be a stretch for two meaningless (to us) season’s end contests. But that now seems more than likely, given the circumstances and huge public awareness of this being the Last Hurrah for Luis - ironic that the boost might be Gonzo’s final gift to the franchise before he departs.

Better attendance there than in the comments, where it was just me and suitsmetoATnT. Hey, it’s a Friday night, and this is now almost the time of year when it is actually pleasant to live in Arizona once more. I was tempted to skip it myself, it must be admitted. However, inertia set in, aided by the unusual consumption of significant alcohol on Friday afternoon: haven’t done that since my days back in London, where Friday lunchtimes occasionally turned into “go back to the office at 5pm, pick up your jacket (left on the chair-back to give the impression you’d just stepped away for a minute!) and go home.” Ah, I suspect my liver doesn’t miss those days very much…

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Today: Winning one for the Gonzo

With the Dodgers pulling out a ninth-inning win over the Giants, things get very, very tight: they and the Padres are now tied atop the NL West, with two games to go. Dilemmas now abound. Who do we want to win the division? Kneejerk reaction is probably the Padres, but that would likely boost Trevor Hoffman’s case for Cy Young glory. So it might be tempting to root for the Dodgers in their final two games, especially as they’re playing the Giants, who are currently half-a-game ahead of us. Neither team can clinch tomorrow either: the division is going right down to the 162nd game. Oh, and while the Padres will face Brandon Webb there, the Dodgers have to take on Jason Schmidt. Ouch.

Interesting story regarding Andy Green: “Green met with general manager Josh Byrnes on Friday to discuss his desire to have the organization sell his rights to a team in Japan.” It’s a somewhat different choice, but it’s fair enough: he hasn’t exactly been given much chance here (86 at-bats), and the prospects don’t look much brighter in 2007. Callaspo would seem to have the main back-up slot for the infield pinned down, with Robby Hammock as a super-utility guy. Perhaps Green is hoping going to Japan will have the same effect as the last player we sold there, first-baseman Alex Cabrera. He became a star, tying their single-season HR record with 55 in 2002 for the Seibu Lions.

The 2007 Diamondbacks’ schedule has been announced. We open and close the year against the Rockies on the road, April 2nd and September 30th respectively. Home opener will be Cincinnati on April 9. For interleague play, it all comes between June 8 and 24. We’ll get to see the Red Sox, Orioles and our nemesis, the Devil Rays, while we travel to play the Yankees and Orioles. Odd how we play Baltimore twice, but there’s no apparent mention of the Toronto Blue Jays at all. See here for the full program of games.

Woo-hoo! Another Diamondbacks fan-site has been discovered. We welcome Diary of a Die-Hard to the small, but enthusiastic, ranks of D’bloggers. And there’s no doubt about his enthusiasm, since the man is a season-ticket holder (Section 108, Row 14, Seat 20, as the site proudly proclaims), who makes it to every game. Well, almost: he missed three this year. As he said in an email, “My wife seemed to think that our 25th wedding anniversary was more important than a series against the Los Angeles Angels. I swear that woman needs to get her priorities straightened out.” That’s the kind of fan we could use more of. [He also told me an even better story about his grandmother’s funeral, but I’ll leave you to work out that one for yourself!]

His D’backs career may be over, but Miguel Batista’s alternative line of work moves on, with the release in English of his novel, The Avenger of Blood, which is a crime story set in Phoenix. See the publisher’s site for more information. Might see if I can pick up a copy: Batista has always had a good way with words, and is clearly an sharp mind. Not sure about the title though: I’ve a feeling it was originally going to be called Through the Eyes of the Law (that may have been the Spanish-language title - it’s already out in Puerto Rico and the DR), which strikes me as a title more befitting a crime novel. When I hear “The Avenger of Blood”, I imagine a book about a barbarian with a large sword, and probably a cover by Boris Vallejo, featuring said barbarian and women wearing nothing but a small amount of tin-foil.

Peeps should note that it’s an afternoon game today. An unusual event for a Saturday, but one I’m happy to handle, since it means I should get to be around for most of the game, before heading out to Big Daddy’s North later. GameDay Thread to follow shortly.

So yes, today was my big day. The day on which I became a US Citizen.

The process was much like air travel; hurry up and go slow. And that’s just talking about todays proceedings at the US District Courthouse down on Washington Street, Central Phoenix. The route from foreigner to the courthouse is much slower. And I had it easy; about as easy as it’s possible for anyone not an active member of the military.

The public ceremony was scheduled for 1:30 PM but we candidates were instructed to arrive no later than 11:45 AM. Arrived, we went through the usual security gauntlet though it’s rather less restrictive than that required to board an aircraft.

Then some milling about waiting; Sonya and I played the ‘pick the candidate’ game. We guessed it was about one quarter to one third candidates and the remainder friends and relatives.

A few minutes late and they opened the doors for candidates only. Now we come to a curious oversight with a process that’s usually highly efficient. You have to understand that we’re inside a large modern court building architected on the ‘awe the hell out of em’ principle. Ie, the building is about ten times larger than it needs to be and nine tenths of the space is taken up with a huge hall with terrible acoustics. The poor bugger trying to instruct us has no electronic augmentation and I’d reckon most of us couldn’t hear what she was trying to announce! Certainly I was having problems, and remember I’m the guy who can tell, at dinner, that Andrew’s left his TV on when he shouldn’t have!

So in we marched, candidates only, taking seats at the back of the courtroom. Then followed a long process of checking each of us in. Hand over our appointment letter, answer the litany of questions. I touched briefly on what questions here[^] but they surely did quiz every one of us. From there to another line where we handed over the letter and our green card (farewell old friend!) and thence to a third line where we were shown our naturalisation certificate, to verify that all the details were correct. Only then were we allowed to take our seats in the front of the courtroom, in the same order that our certificates were stacked.

That last part was amazing. Understand that we were processed in random order and yet there was no fumbling through a pile of certificates when it came time to examine them. They just had the right certificate waiting. I still can’t imagine how they were able to pull that trick off!

Given that there were 99 of us (one candidate was a no show) you can imagine this all took some time. Fortunately we were provided with reading material to fill in the time; a rubber stamped welcome letter from President George W Bush, a map of the route from the court house to the US passport office over on West Jackson Street, an Arizona voter registration form and the words to The Star Spangled Banner.

Check in finished with about 20 minutes to spare and we were allowed a break after being enjoined to be certain we returned to the same seat; they really wanted us in the same order as our naturalisation certificates. Why will become clear later!

Of course I took the opportunity for a smoke! Two if the truth be told!

Back in the courtroom we were shown a patriotic video replete with images from Ellis Island fading in and out against a background of the flag flying proudly in the breeze and finishing on a long shot of Liberty in New York Harbour. Then an awkward gap. According to the programme (yes, they distribute a programme) the judge was supposed to start proceedings but she was a trifle late. *shrug*

The usual palaver when she did arrive. Respect for the court and all that. Then the USCIS (INS) officer made a motion that we candidates for citizenship be accepted. Which motion was graciously accepted by the court. Uh huh. As though, having got this far, the court is going to say no?? Yeah, I know it’s ceremony but it did feel a trifle silly.

Then we’re on our feet taking the Oath of Allegiance. Quite the emotional experience. Can’t speak for anyone else but what starts out as an almost whispered response builds in volume as confidence increases.

Oath taken and suddenly we’re citizens! We were told to sit and almost immediately we’re on our feet again, to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. This blindsided me. The Oath of Allegiance, as the form of words which confers citizenship, is read out, piece by piece and we repeat it piece by piece. The Pledge wasn’t read out; we were assumed to have learned it. Uh huh, I haven’t memorised it yet.

Then came some welcoming comments and applause, followed by another video, this one featuring the President welcoming us. I have to admit, not being a fan of the current incumbent of the office, that I thought the speech was well done. Lots of inclusive commentary and many reiterations that we are now, officially, Americans.

Three or four of our number gave short speeches. We all had the opportunity to volunteer but I’m not much of a one for public speaking so I gave it a miss. Besides, how could my story compare with that of the young lady from Kosovo who had passed through a refugee camp before being rescued by Lutheran volunteers? How compare with the Sudani escaping that conflict? Or the Tongan guy who’d been here 30 years and was finally, on his fourth try, successful at gaining citizenship?

Then it was time for the judge to give her speech. She started out by asking what countries were represented. In some ways it was like pulling teeth; most people seemed reluctant to volunteer any information. I was about the third to stand and announce my country of origin. She, the judge, seemed nonplussed when I said Australia and I (and Sonya) had the distinct impression that she really didn’t know where Australia was!

And what countries were represented? Australia of course! Great Britain, Italy, Somalia, Sudan, Korea, The Philippines, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, Peru, Kosovo, Bosnia, Norway and Congo.

Our judge, being from immigrant parents, was justly proud of how far she’d come and boy did she give a speech about it. Sonya, afterwards, said she wasn’t sure of the relevance of the speech but I thought it was just right.

And now you’re going to discover why it was important that we be seated in the correct order, for the conclusion was the judge coming down to the floor and handing us each our naturalisation certificate and shaking us by the hand. Actually the Sudanese guy wasn’t content with a handshake; he wanted a full on hug. Good luck to him! And who knows, I may be the only Australian our judge has ever met. *shrug*

Naturalisation certificate safely in my possession we retired outside for a smoke. My friend Vern[^] had taken the trouble to attend the ceremony, something I greatly appreciated. We disappeared across the road for a coffee and some shyacking. I fear I’ll never manage the American accent (which accent would that be anyway? California? Mississippi? New Jersey?) but Vern was forced to admit that I can say ’screw you!’ with the best of them. He acknowledges that I also have a smooth technique with the middle finger ‘bird’.

So now I’m a yank! Yeeehaaawwwwwwwww!

I haven’t converted nearly enough tracks from my constantly growing vinyl collection around here in recent months. My recent jaunt to LA, where I scored a load of 7″ gems, is reason to get back in the habit.This selection from a 7″ by Trunk Federation …

Currently Listening: “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” from “Kill Bill, Volume I,” “Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis” by Brand New, “World Is Static” from Jimmy Eat World, and “Winds of Angels” from June Carter Cash.
The lesser light to govern the night has provided the perfect temperature and atmosphere to enable me to spend a night […]

A while back in an earlier post of mine, I linked to the “Slice of Laodicia” website and it’s commentary on the band I play in. It was pretty funny and also a big relief that the author doesn’t like my band. I would be much more troubled if she had a […]

Clay Hensley, RHP (11-11, 3.73)

Livan Hernandez, RHP (12-13, 4.95)

Let’s hope Part II of the Gonzo Farewell Weekend goes a bit better than the first act, shall we say. Not immediately optimistic, seeing that Hensley has been lights-out for the past couple of months. However, Hernandez v2.0 has been pretty solid of late, and so there might be some hope for us. First pitch is looming, and not much time to write more, as I had a fun, but kinda weird afternoon. It was the 6th birthday of Brain Damage Films, so we celebrated that down at The Sets, with beers, food and an appropriately horror-themed cake.

Bizarrely, when we were at the supermarket, picking up the cake, some guy, entranced by it, came up and introduced himself as the nephew of Tod Browning, director of 1932 horror classic Freaks. Strange world… But contrary to suitsme’s fears, I should be around for most of that one, so comments will follow. Please feel free to join me. Though I might skip the margaritas tonight.

PS. Can William K drop me an email (trashcityman@aol.com)? Tried to find an address on BBTNG, but had no luck. Nothing crucial.

Record: 75-84. Change on last season: 0
Rookies in starting lineup: 3

Starring Luis Gonzalez
Also with Craig Counsell

I suspect that didn’t turn out quite the way the script was written, as a glorious send-off for the face of the franchise. We were hammered, there’s no other word for it. What might also have been Miguel Batista’s last appearance in a Diamondbacks jersey turned into an embarrassingly early exit for him. He slunk off the mound after being yanked before the end of the fourth, having allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

Perhaps it was the spanking we received, but the atmosphere at the park seemed subdued. While I did notice a smattering of Gonzo shirts, like mine, there was really nowhere near as much in the way of signage as I expected. And while he did receive a standing ovation his first time at the plate, the second and subsequent times were definitely sit-down affairs, though the applause was still long and loud. [Peavy, unlike Kim, apparently experienced no trouble with his shoe-laces…] Perhaps things will warm up as the weekend goes on.

Not a very satisfactory game at all, with only two of my eight expectations being met: Conor Jackson did have a multi-hit game, and there were three rookies in the lineup. No Drew, but got to see Montero instead, which was nice. Otherwise: disastrous. I had to leave in the middle of the eighth (though did catch Robby Hammock’s at-bat as I headed round towards the exit), because the game ran long. The closest Gonzalez came to a home-run was a deep fly to left-field, and neither Batista nor our bullpen performed to expectation. I suppose I could claim Drew didn’t strike out, but since he wasn’t seen at all, that would be a bit of a cop-out.

Batista came out throwing strikes, and retired the Padres, 1-2-3, in the first. That was, however, the last time Arizona would manage it until the ninth inning… Batista completely lost it in the second frame, at one point throwing nine consecutive balls, resulting in back-to-back walks, the second with the bases loaded, and still nobody out. A ground-out scored another run, and after Batista retired Peavy, he had a chance to escape only two down, but Roberts’ hit then doubled that lead.

The shape of things to come in 2007?

The Padres scored again in the third, and two more in the fourth before Batista was, mercifully, removed from proceedings, with the score at that point 7-0 to San Diego. Arizona tried to come back; we scored two runs in the bottom half of the fourth, and had two men on for pinch-hitter Johnny Estrada. He almost made it a 7-5 game with a long drive that just tailed foul, but in the end, he was just a harmless out. By the next time the Diamondbacks scored, we were ten runs behind, and I was on my way out of the ballpark.

Things weren’t going much better for the bullpen. Enrique Gonzalez got the last out in the fourth, but our abortive comeback, and his replacement by Estrada, meant that was all the action our “long reliever” saw. There was a rare Greg Aquino sighting, as he saw action for the first time in eleven days: he pitched two innings, and allowed only one hit. However, that one left the park. He walked two and struck out three: he looked to have a great breaking ball, and I’m wondering why he doesn’t use it more, and seems so in love with his fastball.

After a scoreless seventh from Medders, Tony Pena(rio) destroyed any chance of a comeback, facing five Padres and allowing hits to four of them. Though he wasn’t helped by Melvin “relieving” him - quotes used advisedly - with Randy Choate, who allowed two more hits before escaping the inning, and the Padres piled four more runs on. Finally, Jorge Julio pitched the ninth and, as mentioned, retired San Diego in order. Hooray! All told though, fifteen hits and five walks in nine innings of work by our pitchers. Yuk.

Long time no see, Robby

Not that our batters really have much to crow about. Two hits for Jackson, and a pair for Counsell, who was also hit by a pitch. Quentin, too, got hit but the umpire said it hit his bat. I think the best solution is for Quentin to dip his arms in fluorescent green paint before coming to the plate, since officials appear to be incapable of telling the difference between cowhide hitting timber and flesh. Robby Hammock came in as a late-inning replacement, as we used a total of 22 players, turning it into a spring-training contest. He got a double in his first at-bat of the year.

GAME NOTES

• 50% off everything in the team shop, except for autographed/game used memorabilia. They’re clearing out the old stock: buy now while stocks last, though I suspect you’ll see even deeper discounts after the end of the season. I browsed, but nothing appealed. I like T-shirts in light shades (that don’t absorb heat like a solar panel) and with logos which look like they’ll last more than two washes. This eliminated about 3/4 of the inventory, right there.

• Okay, this is getting ridiculous: three “first” pitches were thrown out, by four people. I missed the first, but the second was delivered by one of the Harlem Globetrotters. The third was a tandem effort by heavyweight boxing champ Sergei Liakhovich…and Don King, basically shilling for his fight at Chase Field in November. Of course, the boxer did all the work, King just stood there looking smug. Way to go, D’backs: just the kind of classy, honourable person we want to open the series bidding farewell to Gonzo. If you want details of what I mean, here’s the first part of Wikipedia’s entry on King:
  

  Prior to entering the world of boxing, King was a con man and numbers racketeer in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1954, King shot and killed a man attempting to rob one of his gambling houses; the death was ruled a “justifiable homicide,” despite the fact that King had shot him in the back. In 1966, King was convicted of stomping to death an employee who owed him $600. Although he then embarked on a campaign of hush money payments and witness intimidation, he was convicted of second degree murder and given a life sentence. The judge reduced the conviction to nonnegligent manslaughter. Some found this ruling suspicious, as it was made during an ex parte meeting with King’s attorney in the judge’s chambers, without the presence of the prosecutor or a court stenographer. King served four years in prison for the murder.

  
  A killer with reported ties to organized crime takes the mound.

• It was “Take the field with the players” day, so each D’back position player had a kid who got to jog onto the park with them. That is, save the poor child assigned to Eric Byrnes, who was left trailing in Eric’s wake, as he whizzed out to center-field at his usual hypersonic velocity. I could almost hear a plaintive “Waaaaaaiiittt…” drifting across Chase Field, from the waif abandoned by Byrnes.

• Praise to Little League Announcer Chad Miller, who was kept busy when we sent seven men to the plate in the fourth. In the hopes he was some kind of lucky charm, he was sent to the mic again in the fifth, but was unable to repeat his encouraging performance.

• I wonder if, when we change our logo, they’re also going to change the style of the A’s which dangle over the outfield, marking our division titles, to reflect the new one?

• The irritating blonde now wears her own shirt, with her name, Lauren, on it, rather than that of a player she absolutely hasn’t slept with, no, sir. [That sentence comes to you courtesy of the AZ SnakePit lawyers] It’s number 6; I wonder how Stephen Drew feels about that? Speaking of which, I wonder how Hudson feels, sharing his number with Baxter?

• When the D’backs threw the ball around after a strikeout, it went 3B-SS-2B-3B, missing Jackson out at first entirely. I thought he’d done something to offend the rest of the infield, but a little research reveals it seems general tradition. The only reason I could find claimed, was that the purpose of throwing round the ball is, “to keep those players warmed up in case someone tries to steal a base. No one is going to be running toward first.”

• I blame the wave, attempts at starting which broke out in the left-field corner at the start of the eighth. Though they never came to much, they did trigger the Padres into scoring four runs. It’s cursed, because the baseball gods hate the wave: just you watch, bad stuff follows whenever it happens…
  

  
  Will this be Gonzo’s new career?
  Or, hopefully, Baxter’s…

Thanks to VIII, azdb7, Devin, William K and suitsmetoATnT for their comments. A poor performance on almost all fronts from Arizona, and not quite what I wanted for my last memory of Chase Field in 2007. Still, it was a fun time at the ol’ ballpark as ever, with the roof open and the panels too. Though I’d forgotten just how that makes the place become a convention for months during night games in September!

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Today: So that’s why everyone left after the 5th…

For the past four years, the hottest hip-hop night in the Valley apparently has been at the Blunt Club (hosted by Hollywood Alley in Mesa). I say “apparently” because I’ve yet to drag my sorry butt down there. That’s gonna change soon (I swear), es…