09 July 2010

About Town

  • Phoenix is implementing parking fees in its popular hiking preserves. Last fall, I started walking from home to my closest mountain range, partly to avoid parking issues, and will continue to, after the weather cools down. It's a better workout and a richer overall experience when I get out of the car.


  • Looking for a fresh new measure of bullpen badness? How about our best reliever, Aaron Heilman ( 11o era+; 30+ IP) is worse than the Padres worst reliever (Mujica 121 era+). Yeah, that's already park adjusted. Ouch.

  • Franchise low attendance last night -16664. Should we remind Derrick Hall that "school's out"? Seasonally, he's slightly ahead of 2005's attendance trough, but only because most windfall draws (ie Yankees, Cardinals twice, Cubs) have already visited. Maybe with Strasburg and some bobbleheads, they'll keep pace with the 05 nadir.


  • The Cubs barely drew 20K here recently, which reflects the local malaise, but also Cub fans' conditional support for their team at the turnstiles. Apart from an entrenched binge-drinking scene at Wrigley disguised as fan loyalty, Chicagoans are frontrunners pretty much like everywhere else.

  • Been out of town for a spell, so still havent witnessed a so called "Legends Race", but fans seemed turned off for several reasons. Mark Grace, who never placed in the NL MVP's top dozen finishers, is a "legend"? Why? Does he have a big dick or something? As if that mystery isnt enough to further shrink franchise prestige, Derrick's misguided marketers continue to exploit Steve Bartman for cheap laughs.

You may recall the nerdy Cubs 'superfan' who actually apologized to media fueled mobs for trying to catch a foul ball in the stands - and who absorbed mountains of unwarranted abuse (incl death threats requiring police protection for his family)? Any baseball club with an ounce of class would leave that guy alone.


  • Best Kirk Gibson quote, and I'm paraphrasing:

I'd rather have a bunch of bad ballplayers who win, than good players who dont.

Probably stole it, but a clever, effective way to convey priorities. I cant imagine a 'new school' development guy like AJ saying that. Alas, Gibson is 2-5

  • Chris Young snuck onto the All Star team as the Dbacks' required rep. Even though there are more deserving outfielders, Young's is still a nice comeback story. Congratulations on perservering, Chris. Just dont think you really deserved it.



  • Speaking of All Star Games, it's currently 110 degrees outside, in the shade. Can hardly wait for the glorious 2011 AS weekend Derrick and MLB have planned for "the fans". A hundred and thirty on the pavement. Angry protesters surrounding the venue. Reluctant players and coaches. This should be a huge boon for the city. Bravo to Bud Selig and Bud Lite. We can tell you have both the fans' and game's best interests at heart.

4 comments:

Diamondhacks said...

Two of our "legends" dont even make the Top Ten Diamondbacks list on my sidebar.

One could make a case for Williams, but the whole promo is just another window into Hall's selfishly absurd perspective.

Russell said...

Well I saw the "legends' race last night and I don't really think that it's going to turn around the attendance numbers.

Don't agree with you about the "All Star Game'. Today I managed to walk nearly 30 yards before I needed to call for paramedics, and nothing says a great time like searing hot concrete.

Diamondhacks said...

Russell,

Based on your convincing life expectancy data, I'm rethinking my tiresome anti-ASG position.

Anonymous said...

I say we put that idiot that runs the snakepit in the legends race. I like his most recent post "snakepit hits are up 40% this year", even if the post just says +1. What a retard this jim character is. It's the same 12-15 people that have no life that follow his stupid lame gameday threads.