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The guy straight brings the wood, and always has. We apologize for the video quality, but you gotta see this hit…
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Record: 45-35. Change on last season: +7. Pace: 91-71

Quote of the Day: “I’m not going to get all worked up about it. I pitched poorly, and I’ll get my work in between now and my next start. I haven’t pitched in a while, and I’m reaching for something, so there you go.” — Randy Johnson

Well, at least Randy won yesterday. The bad news is, it wasn’t our Randy. Indeed, as our one limped off the mound after a highly-ineffective outing, you might have been forgiven for wondering if we’d have been better off sticking to the original plan and going with Livan today. Four runs on six hits and two walks, in only three innings is not the grand return of our other Cy Young winning pitcher.

The good news is, Randy refused to blame his back for the poor results, saying he simply failed to execute. I’m not convinced, given his stoic silence on the matter when he was in New York - he refused to blame his back for his struggles there either. It’s definitely a warning sign: though I take comfort from the fact that, by this point last season, Johnson already had six games with a lower Game Score than the 33 he posted last night, his worst of the season for Arizona.

He was not helped by a woeful performance in the field, with four errors committed, leading to four unearned runs - which just happens to be the margin of victory for the Dodgers. Young was responsible for two, giving him five for the year in total - that’s trailing only Bill Hall of Milwaukee among all major-league center-fielders. Now, that’s not the most reliable of measures, but these weren’t hard plays. Things are little better in other fielding metrics either: Young is second-last in Range Factor and sixth from bottom in Zone Rating.

The bullpen were particularly hurt, with the majority of the five runs they allowed being unearned. But Nippert gave up three hits and a walk in one inning, and Slaten struggled again, retiring only four of the nine hitters he faced. There was some good news, however: I just saved some money on my car insu… I’m sorry: I mean, Randy Choate was designated for assignment. His stellar performances here (three hitters faced, three hits) mean, even in a market always happy to throw money at any left-handed pitcher, Choate will likely make it through unscathed and end up back in Tucson.

We were forced into emergency measures thanks to Johnson’s early departure. Tony Pe�a, fresh from thigh surgery, was pressed into action for 1.2 innings, and we even ended up having to use starter Micah Owings for an inning. He should still be okay for his scheduled Sunday start, however, since it was his day to throw in the bullpen anyway. Brandon Lyon mopped up in a 9-3 blowout. With no rest to the All-Star break, don’t be surprised to see some fresh arms being rotated in from Tucson between now and then.

Plenty of patience at the plate, with walks only just out-numbered by hits, 9-7. Byrnes, batting leadoff, reached safely four times, with two hits and two walks, while Hudson and Snyder each had a hit and a walk. Byrnes and Hudson drove in two runs apiece, meaning Eric just keep his lead over Orlando at the top of the AZ RBI chart, 46-45.

Just time to touch on the GameDay Thread, and thank oklahomasooners, tabe1978, hotclaws, Wimb, drodd1039, Diamondhacks, singaporedbacksfan and Ben for their contributions. It was a disappointing day for AZ, dropping us back to third in the division - albeit only half-a-game back.

Gameday Graph

[Click graph to enlarge, in new window]
Master of his domain: Eric Byrnes, +8.7%
God-emperor of suck: Randy Johnson, -22.8%

And finally, here’s a challenge for Joseph Reaves. Try and write an entire article on the Diamondbacks without mentioning their record against winning teams. He seems entirely incapable of doing so, going by the reports in this series:

• “The truth is the Diamondbacks are 9-18 when the team they are facing has a winning record.” — June 28th
• “At least the Diamondbacks know now they occasionally can beat a winning team when their backs are against the wall.” — June 27th
• “The hometown lads are playing well. (OK, maybe not against winning teams…)” — June 25th

Ok, Joe, we get it. But here’s a memo: you don’t get double points for beating a team with a winning record. Defeating the Mets is worth exactly the same as beating losers such as your beloved Cubbies. It. Doesn’t. Matter. Now, move on. Thank you for your attention in this matter. At least it might be a while before he gets to trot it out again, as our next three series are against teams who’re eleven, seven and nineteen games below .500.

At some point in the season this is bound to happen, the Diamondbacks will leave for a road trip. Usually this means that I will not be going to Chase Field for a few days. This time the road trip is a little more extensive. After an abysmal series where the Dodgers took three of four leaving the Diamondbacks looking up at both the Dodgers and the Padres in the standings; the team is now out of town until after the All-Star break. The mere typing of that makes my blood run cold and causes me to break out in a cold sweat. It is not just the thought of no home games that leaves me breathless; it is the fear of what Trina may have me do with this many days between home games. I’ve seen the way she wields a honey-do list. No good can possibly come from nearly two weeks without going to a Diamondbacks game.

The 13th installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential or favorite hip-hop albums (read intro) comes to us from neither an artist nor a blogger, but Adam Farrell, head of marketing for Beggars Group, proves to be a pretty damn good writer. (Also, he calls me […]

When JK Grence mentioned a creperie in Flagstaff it got my attention because Lynn loves crepes and I’m pretty keen on them too.

For the second time in eight days the Arizona Diamondbacks played host to an afternoon game at Chase Field. Most of the time games begin at 6:40 PM allowing fans a chance to get home from work before traveling to downtown Phoenix to attend a game. Sometimes we find ourselves with an afternoon game when it is “getaway day” and teams are flying out for the east coast. This is the first time that I can remember when that has occurred in just over a week. I had to check my surroundings and make sure I had not somehow been teleported into an alternate universe where the Diamondbacks were now playing in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

While some of the biggest names in the NBA have yet to change teams today, there have been a couple pretty significant trades.  Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal and Shawn Marion all stayed in place, as did Kobe Bryant, but Zach Randolph, Steve Francis, Jason Richardson and Ray Allen were moved on draft day.  There were a couple of minor trades that took place (for cash or late picks); I’m going to pass on mentioning those since you probably wouldn’t care anyway.

Celtics Trade 5th Pick & Players to Sonics for All-Star Ray Allen
I’m not sure how Allen and Paul Pierce will get along in Boston, but together with Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo and Gerald Green, things are looking up for the Celtics. 

The Sonics on the other hand, now have Kevin Durant (#2 pick) and Jeff Green (#5 pick) to start rebuilding their team.  With Allen now out of town, the Sonics will be pushing hard to re-sign forward Rashard Lewis before another convinces him to leave - he’s rumored to be going to the Orlando Magic.  The Sonics also acquired Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West in the deal.

Trailblazers Trade Zach Randolph & Players to Knicks for Steve Francis & Channing Frye
This one is pretty significant, since it rids New York of a horrible contract for a player who’s not performed to-date (Francis), and it gives them a low-post player to compliment Eddy Curry in the middle.  While the Knicks had to give up a good player in Frye, getting Randolph and Dan Dickau was definitely worth it.  New York should be right back in the playoffs with this move.  Also exchanged was Fred Jones (from Portland to NY).

Portland had a crowded frontcourt after drafting Greg Oden #1 earlier in the day, so the move was somewhat expected.  With reigning Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge developing quickly, Portland made the move to open up room for Oden to join these two as the core of the franchise.

Warriors Trade Jason Richardson & 36th Pick to Bobcats for Brandan Wright (#8 Pick)
This one is a little puzzling to me, although the Golden State backcourt was quite crowded w/ Monta Ellis, Matt Barnes and Baron Davis playing so well; Richardson was the odd-man out in this case.  The Warriors get a decent big man in the deal, which is something they really could’ve used in the playoffs against the gritty Jazz. 

The pick of Wright by Charlotte looked a little weird at first, since he was the 3rd North Carolina player drafted by Michael Jordan since he took over (can you say bias?).  The trade changes that and puts Richardson in a good spot w/ Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, Sean May and hopefully Gerald Wallace.  Wallace could leave as a free agent, which could be the reason for the trade.

After trading away the 24th pick, the Suns have chosen forward Alando Tucker from the University of Wisconsin w/ the 29th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft.  The former Badger won the Big 10 Player of the Year award, and is the 2nd leading scorer in Wisconsin history… so the guy isn’t a slouch by any means.

He averaged a career-high 19.9 points and added 5.4 rebounds per game this past season. Makes up for his lack of size with exceptional athleticism.

These stats are about equal to Shawn Marion’s, but the NBA is different from college, so that’s as far as I’ll go w/ that comparison.  League experts are giving the Suns credit for picking up Tucker this late in the draft - many are comparing it to the Mavs selection of Josh Howard several years ago.

He’s an extremely poor free-throw shooter at 63.6 percent for his career, and doesn’t have much of an outside shot. Not big enough to be a forward in the NBA, and doesn’t have enough of a perimeter game or the ballhandling skills to be consistently effective at guard, so teams may have trouble figuring out how he would fit. Doesn’t seem to possess much range as a player other than his ability to score. His athleticism, though, should make him attractive to a team that could use help off the bench.

It’s a little surprising that the Suns would draft someone who can’t shoot from the outside, isn’t big enough to battle in the paint, and is a poor free throw shooter.  I guess they figure the athleticism will allow him to be successful in the Phoenix run n’ gun system.  Tucker will most certainly come off the bench and will be lucky to break into coach Mike D’Antoni’s short 7-9 man rotation.  He should get some good looks throughout the season, but if he can’t perform, he’ll end up riding the bench just like Marcus Banks and Jalen Rose this year.

You can see more of these guys on their new show, Flight of the Conchords, on HBO. It’s suspiciously very similar to the Tenacious D episodes on HBO, but still very funny.

(HT: Andrew Sullivan)