(AP Photo/Tony Tribble)

Nothing like being able to watch Opening Day. I don’t work at KPFA on Mondays and the headlines editor at Free Speech Radio News did me a favor and turned down my pitch for today’s headlines. I am sure it won’t feel like a favor in a few days as I will have around $47 to see me through to next payday after the rent, credit card and MLB monthly subscription are paid and I definitely have to sell more work in April to make rent in May. (Working at the station doesn’t cut it). But I’ll think about that later.

Today is Opening Day of the 2008 Baseball Season! It should be a national holiday. Seriously. And if business interests argue that there are too many holidays already, tell ‘em we’ll trade Presidents Day for Opening Day. What makes for a better celebration, the seasonal start of our national pastime or guys like Millard Fillmore and Calvin Coolidge?

This part of this blog entry is being written just before the Diamondbacks tangle with the Reds. Webb vs. Harang. I’m changing procedures a bit this year: I am going to take notes during the game so I have the details down for a quick post after the game. I will do The Eric Byrnes Pitch Count Report after each game with the help of the archives and the MLB gameday pitch reports. The EBPCR will thus take another step forward in sophistication by taking a look at what Byrnesie did with what kind of pitch. This schedule will also encourage me to to the EBPCR for all the games. I got lazy after a while last year.

As far as I know now, the definition of True Elation will remain the same as last year: Multiple hit day with multiple RBI or the game winning RBI, however obtained.

I’m looking for 200 hits and 100 RBI from Byrnesie this year.

The Game:

There was a long rain delay. There’s a big low in the middle of the country and rain all the way from Oklahoma to New York. (The Yankees final home opener in The House That Ruth Built” was washed out.) Hail and possible tornadoes in some places. But they got it all in in Cincinnati. In fact, in the 8th inning, the crowd cheered as the sun finally came out.

For the introductions, the Reds all wore uniforms with No. 41 and the name NUXHALL in back, and their real numbers in front, to honor the late pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall. The Reds Hall of Fame at Great American Ballpark will have an exhibit about him all year and several permanent mementoes of him have been installed in the park. They’ve even renamed the part of MainStreet that runs in front of the park after him. The players changed into their regular uniforms for the game, but starting pitcher Aaron Harang wore the Nuxhall No. 41 shirt.

As usual, there was the military display to begin the game. Why is it the only way we can display patriotism is with representatives of the military marching around with flags. Is there nothing else in this country worth honoring? Why must we do this at all? Can’t we keep jingoism and politics out of events that they have nothing to do it. I mean, it’s a baseball game, for cryin’ out loud, not a Fourth of July parade. They even had the military plane flyover, though it could not be seen because of the cloud cover.

When they finally got around to playing baseball, the Diamondbacks got off to a quick start; with the help of a throwing error by 3B Edwin Encarnacion and a wild pitch by Harang, the Diamondbacks scored one run in the first inning. Conor Jackson, hitting clean-up, singled home Orlando Hudson from second base. Eric Byrnes, batting third, grounded out to short his first time up and Hudson, already on second, could not advance. Harang pitched him outside. Trying to pull that kind of pitching results in grounders to short. Jackson’s single was more up the middle, between the second base bag and the shortstop.

Chris Young hit a solo homer into the upper deck in left in the third inning. Two batters later, Eric Byrnes slammed an 88 mph cutter into the lower left deck. <Grin> It was thrown down the middle and sent bye-bye, unlike the pitch where he grounded out, which was more outside. The Cincinnati announcers said he is not the type of hitter to whom you should throw a “get me ahead” fastball because he’ll swing at it. Yes he will. <Grin>

Reds’ CF Corey Patterson robbed Hudson of a double in the 4th with a diiving catch after a long run. It was named the “Hot Dog Play of the Day.” Eric Byrnes sent a comebacker to Harang.

I lost my connection and lost over an inning due to the slowness of the MLB player reloading. Things have been poor in computerland in general lately. I had terrible buffering problems with weather.com today and for several days LiveVideo.com has been buffering and driving people crazy over that.

In the 7th inning, Jeff Salazar batted for Brandon Webb and sent a ball into the rightfield bullpen. (The D’Backs had 12 pinch-hit homers last season, including one Salazar hit in San Francisco in September to a place where Barry Bonds frequently hit them). Chad Qualls then came in to pitch a scoreless 7th for the D’Backs. Byrnesie grounded to short again in the 8th off David Weathers. It is going to be a very long, dreary season for him if he keeps having to reach for those outside strikes. MOVE IN CLOSER TO THE PLATE, BYRNESIE! (I’m now entering my fourth season of squawking at him over this issue).

Tony Pena pitched a scoreless 8th. Orlando Hudson robbed Ken Griffey, Jr. of a single by going into short right field to grab a grounder and throw him out.

Closer Brandon Lyon notched his first save with a 1-2-3 9th. The D’Backs staff struckout 10 Reds: winner Brandon Webb K’d 6, holders Qualls and Pena K’d 1 apiece, and Lyon K’d 2.

The biggest impression I got from this game was that the Reds did well to get Corey Patterson. He covered all sorts of ground in left-center, right-center and back to the warning track to rob the D’Backs of extra bases. Given the slowness of Adam Dunn in left and Ken Griffey, Jr. in right, they need a CF who can cover a lot of ground. Patterson does.

Off day tomorrow and then the season really gets rolling!

Go, Diamondbacks!

ByrnesBlogger1

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Two games in two nights against the Nuggets. First to 150 or so wins.

Ugh.

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The real thing in Cincinnati in the day light, not Japan at 3 am PDT. Not at night, blacked out to those who don’t own the proper cabal, uh, cable package!

In less than an hour, Eric Byrnes begins his quest for 200 hits and 100 RBI, and Brandon Webb begins his quest for 20 wins, and the Arizona Diamondbacks will begin the long march toward what we hope is the 2008 World Series Championship.

Go, Byrnesie!

Go, Snakes!

Diamondbacks in 2008!

ByrnesBlogger1 

 

 

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(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

03/30/2008 5:02 PM ET

MLB.com

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks today announced the 25-man roster that will open the 2008 season. The 11th Opening Day roster in franchise history will include 12 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders.

The final roster: PITCHERS (12): #37 Juan Cruz, #49 Doug Davis (L), #31 Edgar Gonzalez, #15 Dan Haren, #38 Brandon Lyon, #52 Brandon Medders, #44 Micah Owings, #56 Tony Pena, #48 Yusmeiro Petit, #50 Chad Qualls, #45 Doug Slaten (L), #17 Brandon Webb.

CATCHERS (2): #7 Robby Hammock, #19 Chris Snyder.

INFIELDERS (6): #2 Chris Burke, #6 Stephen Drew (L), #1 Orlando Hudson (S), #34 Conor Jackson, #11 Augie Ojeda (S), #27 Mark Reynolds.

OUTFIELDERS (5): #22 Eric Byrnes, #28 Alex Romero (L), #12 Jeff Salazar (L), #10 Justin Upton, #24 Chris Young.

The D-backs will open the season with LHP Randy Johnson (back surgery, retroactive to March 22), C Miguel Montero (fractured right finger, retroactive to March 23) and INF Chad Tracy (right knee surgery, retroactive to March 23) on the disabled list.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun) Amaré Stoudemire scored 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Suns past the Nets 110-104 Saturday night at the Meadowlands. With the win Phoenix (49-24) moves into a tie for first in the Pac5 with the struggling Lakers.

Leandro Barbosa, starting in place of Grant Hill out resting a couple of minor injuries, had 21 points while Shaq had points 17 points mostly out of some good (that one-handed shot is working) free throw shooting (7-of-10 for the Big Cactus at the line).

The Suns used only 7 players in the game despite Nash (10 points, 11 assists) struggling with his shoulder. It could be time to start decreasing some of his minutes before the playoffs.

The Nets, trying to make the post season, came out determined to win the game, while the Suns were a bit flat early on as this was the fourth game in six days. New Jersey led 31-21 after one but Phoenix came back to take the lead. The game remained closed until the last few minutes, anyway. Diaw and Nash made key plays in the end to secure the victory.

“We obviously had a much better second half; I thought we played much better both defensively and offensively” according to coach D’Antoni.

New Jersey had 32 points from the excellent Vince Carter and 20 by Richard Jefferson. The Nets are missing Jason Kidd of course but their new backcourt of Jefferson and Harris is very good.

The Suns have only nine games left in the regular season and a legitimate shot at a Division Title, that, before that 7-game win streak looked like almost out of reach.

The Suns completed the four game trip East at 2-2 with a “good” loss in Detroit, a “bad” loss in Boston and a couple of solid performances against Philadelphia and New Jersey to confirm what we already knew. Phoenix won’t be denied by those middle of the pack teams like the Sixers and the Nets but will struggle against the elite teams in the League.

The game also was the last of the regular season against the East with the Suns finishing the year at 24-6.

Phoenix will now play its final March game on Monday night (7 PM) against Denver, the first of a 2-day home and home series against the Nuggets (45-28) riding a 5-game winning streak and with last night’s victory over Golden State trying to hold eight place in the West.

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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As we do every Saturday morning, AZ Sports Hub represented during the weekly roundtable discussion with Mike Grose and Glenn Clark on 1060AM The Fan. This week, Troy made the rounds with the guys and to discuss:

The Wildcats’ expectations in regards to Kevin O’Neill and Lute Olson
The Diamondbacks pre-season proclamation
Concerns with the Diamondbacks that could hinder a successful season

Tune into the segment every Saturday morning at 10:20 only on 1060AM The Fan.

Subscribe to In The Zona - Your Arizona Sports Fix by Email or by RSS

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(AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Pitcher Doug Davis was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which apparently runs in his family - his mother and sister had it. He will undergo surgery on April 10, but wants to make his scheduled starts on April 3 & 8.

This type of cancer has a very high cure rate, and though Davis will need thyroid replacement medication for the rest of his life, there should be no disability. Davis expects to be pitching again 4 to 6 weeks after the surgery.

Dustin Nippert’s wife gave birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter, and a few hours later, Dustin got traded to the Texas Rangers for a prospect pitcher who pitched A ball last season. Mother and daughter are doing well but father’s head must be spinning right now as he absorbs the major changes in his life. Texas really needs pitching so this can be a great opportunity for Nippert. He and Brandon Medders were vying for one bullpen slot. Both were out of options and Medders had the better spring.

Best of luck to both Doug Davis and Dustin Nippert!

ByrnesBlogger1

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(AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.) Stoudemire scored 22 points, Bell added 20 as the Suns beat the Sixers 107-93 last night in Philadelphia.

Raja playing back in the city where is NBA career begun (and home to the other well known Bell) had a very good game, shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Diaw and Barbosa had 17 points each off the bench for the Suns.

The Suns started the contest really well, playing a solid overall game and making shots, to take a 38-19 lead after the first period or, as summarized by Coach D’Antoni “Tonight it wasn’t like we are suddenly the best defensive team in the league. The Sixers couldn’t make shots, missed foul shots, and flat out started out slow”

The 19-point lead was more or less safe throughout the game as the Suns responed with an 11-2 run when the Sixers closed within 10 points in the third quarter. As usual, these days, the third quarter makes the difference as the trailing team tries a come back. It didn’t work and both teams went into the “Energy saving” mode. Even Strawberry and Skinner had a couple of minutes in the game.

Philadelphia, one of the hottest team in the league (11-3 in March), turned cold last night (39.3 percent in the game) while the Suns played a good game, shooting the ball well (51.2 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range).

Philadelphia controlled the boards much of the game (22 offensive boards for the Sixers) while Shaq patrolled the paint for the Suns grabbing 13 of the team’s 39 rebounds. When you shot 39 percent, not to mention 12 percent on 3-pointers you tend to lose games in this League anyway, good rebounding or not.

Andre Miller led the Sixers with 16 points while Iguodala had 13 points but shot 3-of-12 from the field. Worthy of notice were also 15 rebounds by Dalembert including 8 on offense, most of them when the game was over anyway.

The Suns (48-24) avoided a 3-game losing streak, the only team in the League without one so far, and won a game without having to spend too much energy.

“A winning streak’s about to start,” Stoudemire said in his post game comments in The AZ Republic.

That’s good news since they’ll play again tonight in New Jersey (4:30 PM).

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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photo courtesy of azcardinals.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this weeks Voice of the Cardinals podcast, Eli and Mark talk about the NFL Draft and the potential draft picks that will be available for the Arizona Cardinals with the 16th pick. You will also here their opinions on the recent signings and other Arizona Cardinal news.

If you have any comments or questions for Eli and Mark, email them at voiceofthecardinals@gmail.com

 
To listen to the show click here

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Not a good week thus far for the Suns. Brutal, overtime loss to the Pistons with awful officiating? Check. Painful, embarrassing loss with guys just not showing up? Check.

A win in a revenge game against a suddenly red-hot Sixers team followed with a solid practice against the Nets will go a long way in getting this team back on track and ready for a home and home next week with a Nuggets team who just got a shot in the arm.

Some links from this week:

-GREAT post from TrueHoop on the rules for timeouts and how technical fouls are tied in. See the update for how the Suns/Celtics triple-overtime thriller helped rewrite the rules.

Still can't believe Westphal is coaching with Avery.

-pretty rare, but the Suns as a team made Basketbawful's worst of the night for their performance against the Celtics. Couldn't agree more. They STUNK.

-also via Basketbawful, video of Charles Barkley dropping 56 points on the Warriors in Game 3 of their '94 playoff series. I encourage you to watch the whole video, I really do.

It's every point Barkley scores and its incredibly fun to watch. Note Chris Gatling being prominently involved and the complete lack of defense played by both teams. Also note that was a great, great Suns team and Mario Elie can burn in hell.



-Jack McCallum sees the Suns with a first-round matchup against the Jazz. It's usually at this point where I say how scary the Jazz are and that Deron Williams and Boozer's eyebrows give me nightmares...but every team in the West has something that scares the hell out of me.

Point is, there's no way to predict what will happen and how the cards will fall. No one wants to play anyone.

-Simmons also weighs in on the Western Conference and how he sees things shaking out. He does a damn fine job (I wish he'd just write NBA all the time, I really do) and hits the nail on the head for the Suns, especially with this:

Biggest weakness: Other than the obvious defensive deficiencies with Nash (and to a lesser extent, Barbosa and Amare), you know what's weird about this team? They never, ever, EVER seem to get calls in big moments. You'd think with good guys like Nash, Shaq and Hill that the refs would be falling all over themselves to favor Phoenix, but it's actually the opposite -- for instance, in that Detroit game this week, the Suns lost in overtime because of three indefensibly horrible calls in a row. We might see Mike D'Antoni pistol whip a referee before everything's said and done this season.

(Follow-up tangent: It's incredible to me that Shaq, one of the 12 greatest players of all-time, doesn't get any respect from the refs at this stage of his career. Remember the way Kareem was treated from 1985 to 1989? You couldn't breathe on him without getting a foul, which made no sense because nobody liked Kareem! Meanwhile, everyone loves Shaq and he gets called like he's Jamaal Magloire. It's legitimately bizarre. Even Reggie Miller was getting every call at the end of his career, and he wasn't one-fourth of the player that Shaq was. I don't get it.)

I'm not so sure I'm prepared for losing in the playoffs but if it's at the hands of the Lakers in the Conference Finals as he predicts, I will completely derail.

-Shaq thinks KG doesn't play defense. I know he's trying to prop up Amare and give him more confidence every day, but this is ridiculous. Apparently he didn't watch Amare whimper through the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th against the Celtics the other night.

KG clearly got in Amare's head and rearranged some furniture. He completely shut him down.

-big surprise, Pat Riley can't keep his mouth shut. The bitch of the entire situation is that if Shaq had done just that, none of this would be going on in the first place.

Shaq, we love you, but there's a time and a place for dirty laundry.

-Doc Rivers is happy for his former player.

-the guys at Hardwood Paroxysm were good enough to link to the blog. Thanks again, guys. Via their site comes David Stern being a sarcastic dick and dropping another "help me out."

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(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

of the kind of performance we can expect from Dan Haren this season, then figure this kid will get 18 wins…at least. Of course, the Diamondbacks were playing the Chicago White Sox, and beating them 8-4, in the last spring tuneup in Tucson; the Oakland A’s, Haren’s former team, seemed to have the Pale Hose’s number even in 2005, Chicago’s championship season. Still, it was great to see a quality start at the end of spring training from a pitcher not known for scintillating springs. In seven innings, Haren gave up two runs on solo homers and walked only one while striking out 6. Way to go!

In other pitching news, manager Bob Melvin has named his rotation to open the season: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Doug Davis, Micah Owings, and Edgar Gonzalez. Randy Johnson will start the season on the DL. Johnson was pain-free in a recent minor league appearance, but he was rocked for 5 runs. He’s working on endurance and offspeed pitches, and will probably make at least two minor league starts before joining the big club.

Closer-designate Brandon Lyon pitched the eighth inning yesterday, giving up an unearned run on two hits while striking out 2. He has a spring ERA of 14.09, which is about 13.00 runs higher than one would like to see from a closer. He’s attributed the lousy ERA to mechanical problems but thinks everything is coming together now. He’ll pitch today then have the weekend off to get ready for Monday’s Opener.

Alex Romero beat out Trot Nixon for the last roster spot. He has a very good spring, better than Nixon, but I still don’t understand it in light of Bob Melvin’s stated preference to have young players playing everyday in the minors rather than gathering dust on the bench in the majors. Romero was unable to learn to play first base, whereas Nixon picked it up. If one thinks about the need for a backup to Conor Jackson in the absence of Chad Tracy–and we’re not sure when he’s coming back–one wonders what help Romero will be as the fifth outfielder and occasional pinch hitter.

Robbie Hammock, a utility infielder/catcher made the team since Miguel Montero is still recovering from a broken finger.

Speaking of Conor Jackson, he had a double, a homer and 3 RBIs yesterday hitting cleanup. Good! That’s where he needs to be.

Eric Byrnes was first run driven in by Jackson as the D’Backs peppered Chicago’s starter Nick Masset yesterday. Byrnesie was on second after driving in a run of his own with a double. Later on, he reached on an error and was driven in by CoJack’s homer. EB’s batting average is a disappointing .264 this spring. Part of that, I think, is attributable to Melvin’s decision to play him every other day most of the spring, as opposed to getting him a couple of AB’s every day. But I think part of it is also attributable to pitchers already starting to make adjustments on him that he hasn’t caught up to yet.

I don’t get to see the Diamondbacks very much during spring training, but yesterday and the time before that showed me pitchers throwing him low and away, and Eric stands too far from the plate to be able to do anything with strikes in that area. C’Mon, Byrnesie, fix that or we’ll find that Bob Melvin will have Alex Romero shaking off the dust by playing left field.

That’s it for me on spring training. See you all after they start counting on Opening Day.

ByrnesBlogger1

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Gotta love this video from Suns.com. Little known facts about Shaq…this guy is just sick…

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I began writing a post about Boris Diaw and his mysterious ability to turn it on and off, with a primary focus on the switch being cemented in the off position this year. The title was “Strange Case of Boris and Doris.” For all you literature majors out there, you’ll recognize my clever nod to Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.” Not all that funny, I know.

Unfortunately, writing about Boris Diaw’s performance the last few years is as much, if not more frustrating, than watching him play. Also, it turns out, I remember next to nothing about Stevenson’s book but the batshit craziness of Hyde and began to feel like a jackass using it as a recurring theme in something I’d be writing about.

Thankfully, while flipping channels and racking my brain for some kind of an idea, I found High Fidelity on one of the movie channels I pay too much for every month and eureka! An idea and cure for writer’s block!

Throughout the movie John Cusack is going over his top five ______. Music, girls, dream jobs, etc. Quick side note: I really hate Catherine Zeta Jones in this movie. She really nails her character and I’ll never like her in anything I see her in again. Same goes for Tea Leoni in Spanglish and the blond girl who shall not be named (that’s how much I despise her) in Rounders. Oh how I hate these women. Anyway, since I need a pick-me-up after attempting to write about the most frustrating basketball player I’ve ever seen, a fun top five is the ticket.

Top Five Suns Benchwarmers (1988-present):

5 - Horacio Llamas

Trust me, he belongs on this list. Llamas was the first Mexican-born player to appear in the NBA, paving the way for Eduardo Najera and countless other Mexican players like…ummmm…Daniel Santiago?

Also, he was tubby.

4 - Tim Kempton

Somehow, he parlayed 167 minutes played in just one year with the Suns into a broadcasting gig alongside the great Al McCoy. Mind. Blown.

3 - Ed Nealy

Not one, but TWO stints as a Suns benchwarmer, he absolutely belongs on this list. He’d be higher if it weren’t for his ownership of a Chicago Bulls championship ring.

I’m guessing he’d love to anchor Coach D’s bench. This guy was made for the DNP-CD.

2 - Paul Shirley

Arguably the most well-known benchwarmer of all time, his old blog and book give him automatic entry to the top five.

1 - Pat Burke

Pretty obvious choice for number one on this list. Exhibit A for the human victory cigar.

I was there when he hit three 3-pointers in the waning moments against the Kings and almost made Eric Musselman’s head explode. Good times indeed.

Honorable mentions - Yuta Tabuse (see Llamas, Horacio,) Steve Kerr, Jerrod Mustaf (wait, he’s going straight to hell.)

Who’d I miss? Also, don’t the Suns deserve some kind of diversity award for employing the first Mexican, Japanese and Irish players in the NBA?

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photo courtesy of azcardinals.comHey everyone, Eli here. Mark and I are going to be doing an off season podcast on Friday. Kind of a pre draft podcast to discuss possibilities for the Cardinals draft and where they're likely to go with the 16th overall pick. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to submit them and will do our best to answer those questions on the show.

It looks like we may be getting some more Arizona Cardinals players and coaches to come on the show soon. So pay attention for those updates as they come in. If you have any suggestions for the show, don't be affraid to yell at us. Thanks Everyone!

 

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Well Saturday we were left all cold and hungry at the Job. Promises of Duck soup went unfufilled as the boys ignored our Oliverian pleas for more. 2 - 1 Ducks final. The Hanson Brothers were signin autographs and apparently picked up another member of the family.

As Carci shows Sutherby a rousing old fashioned desert Hanson welcome.

The Ducks didn’t have many sogs (15 total for the entire night… ugly, especially when added to the fact that the Sharks held them shotless for the entire 3rd period the night b4). We doubled that at 31 but unfortunately 5 of those were Teemu’s and 2 of them went in. The first one was an especially ugly moment for me as my baby boy gave up the puck to Bertuzzi (who ranks really high on my list of ick factor players) Big Bird sent Tee on a tearing breakaway to beat Bryz! on the backhand.

 

The second one was one of those shots that make Selanne… well Selanne. A PP goal that I’m sure Breezy would love to have back. Our PP lit Hiller up only once on the Jovo boomer. (1 for 5 just sucks, but at least it kept us from having duckegg on our face).

Without Jiggy, Perry and Getzlaf the Ducks should have been an easier meal… but they stayed ahead of us in puck possession/f