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1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935</id><updated>2024-04-29T20:11:43.661-07:00</updated><category term="Analysis"/><category term="front office"/><category term="Derrick Hall"/><category term="Broadcasting and Media"/><category term="Attendance"/><category term="Chase Field"/><category term="Announcements"/><category term="Tickets"/><category term="other sports"/><category term="Arizona"/><category term="Tributes"/><category term="Gameday"/><category term="Josh Byrnes"/><category term="Kendrick"/><category term="Cactus League"/><category term="This Week&#39;s Hacks"/><category term="Andrew Hinch"/><category term="Politics"/><category term="Opening Day"/><category term="Polls"/><category term="Trades"/><category term="Hall of Fame"/><category term="fine dining"/><category term="road trips"/><category term="MLBlogs"/><category term="The Ladies"/><category term="About Town"/><category term="All Star"/><category term="Coaching"/><category term="PEDs"/><category term="Pitchers"/><category term="2001"/><category term="Bob Melvin"/><category term="Cards"/><category term="The Boy"/><category term="Eric Byrnes"/><category term="guest columnists"/><category term="Awards"/><category term="Bill James"/><category term="Books"/><category term="Chris Young"/><category term="AFL"/><category term="Music"/><category term="Randy Johnson"/><category term="Webby"/><category term="AdSense"/><category term="Intl Baseball"/><category term="Lists"/><category term="Quote of the Day"/><category term="Saudi Arabia"/><category term="WBC"/><category term="World Series"/><title type='text'>Diamondhacks</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>323</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-978115411260174020</id><published>2022-06-29T15:02:00.040-07:00</published><updated>2022-07-01T16:23:58.725-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Broadcasting and Media"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="other sports"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tributes"/><title type='text'>Yellow Blazer</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-obit-mckay&amp;amp;prov=ap&amp;amp;type=lgns&quot;&gt;Jim McKay&lt;/a&gt; was older, balding, neither charasmatic nor a &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlC17I4wE_eDX-gthzYPVby8_tTtKOYXiFPqtVw1q_-WodcCzBq58pC76boy3Grt3cbyi_YoUcLtY69kOnSmYhhK1P3nH2Hq9Qc2KL9s7f4EuXEDeKXv0h_HLuxNcXuH6k11Few/s1600-h/McKay+Munich.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209646722693022290&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlC17I4wE_eDX-gthzYPVby8_tTtKOYXiFPqtVw1q_-WodcCzBq58pC76boy3Grt3cbyi_YoUcLtY69kOnSmYhhK1P3nH2Hq9Qc2KL9s7f4EuXEDeKXv0h_HLuxNcXuH6k11Few/s320/McKay+Munich.jpg&quot; style=&quot;cursor: hand; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;particularly commanding orator. He knew horses, somewhat,&amp;nbsp; and did not exactly convey thick-necked masculine &lt;em&gt;duende&lt;/em&gt; in the anchor chair. Let&#39;s face it - a young Jim McKay today might not even land an entry level network sportscasting job. So, how could someone like that be, maybe, the greatest sports commentator in the history of television?
2.  
3. First, he didnt have much competition, especially early on. That's not a cut, it's just that when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFWt_Dt4ces">Wide World of Sports</a> debuted in 1961, it began to fill and expand an unsatiated, pent up demand for televised sports. Much of what's aired today doesnt fulfill that basic need so much as fight for market share with redundant subject matter. How many times, for example, were you "informed" yesterday of Big Brown's loss or the death of Mr McKay? ESPN's rotating tickers and much of today's "coverage" has become superfluous. <div><br /></div><div> Mr McKay wasnt superfluous. He brought to us, people and events from places that, back then, no one else was. Places a boy could barely imagine. My first memory of anything Mexican, before I ate a taco or saw a Mexican in person <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBx8XdxZPKoc4Yf759SDTCpIPsmMsQsj4DIz0wg-akOzUIyraFRbZ27KLr1y5JHUIWqZ3ssvFHvjxvhE9ZPu7CoO_MYkdaNwyfC_0sdW2jOcExCV1iPGq71CSWARp9J5GQbG7pw/s1600-h/Acapulco+cliff+diver.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209646455581441458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBx8XdxZPKoc4Yf759SDTCpIPsmMsQsj4DIz0wg-akOzUIyraFRbZ27KLr1y5JHUIWqZ3ssvFHvjxvhE9ZPu7CoO_MYkdaNwyfC_0sdW2jOcExCV1iPGq71CSWARp9J5GQbG7pw/s320/Acapulco+cliff+diver.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a>, or read about Mexico in school, was WWoS' black and white footage of cliff diving from Acapulco. The repetitive swan dives might bore today's attention spans, but it was riveting and exotic in its day. If McKay hosted wrist wrestling from Petaluma, CA, by Monday morning my elementary age classmates and I had fashioned tiny elbow boxes from notebook paper and tape, and were wrist to wrist at recess. Barrel jumping from Wisconsin inspired playground 'barrels' of tree limbs or anything we could find. He was positioned as an integral tour guide of our sheltered lives.
4.  
5. The second reason for his historical standing was the man. He seemed like an inquisitive but slightly reserved uncle from an earlier age, the kind who might take you out on the lake, point out interesting things and probably even let you bait your own hook. His cheerful good company often inspired a familial fondness amongst guys my age. He seemed smart and insightful, but like any good reporter, was more student than teacher, elevating his subjects, both the events and principals, by melting into the background, respectful and intrigued, letting their expertise and humanity preside.
6.  
7.  
8. *****************<div><br /> My mother purchased identical T-shirts for my eldest brother and me in the summer of '72, for the upcoming Munich Games. They were gold with <em>Munchen</em> in black letters over a red horizontal band across the chest, bisected by a stylized bavarian lion. I was eleven and this was the first Olympics I fully engaged. We sat on the sofa, in our marigold garb, and rooted on Americans in the opening ceremonies through the early events.
9.  
10. When the kidnapping occured, my initial concern was whether the Games would be suspended. An adult coach had been killed, but kidnappings and hijackings of the era were often bloodless affairs, leverage for the release of political prisoners. The extended seige was eerily gray and disquieting, but to an eleven year old the Olympics were still a symbol of American strength, sports' equivalent of Bonanza or Gunsmoke. Besides, the trapped athletes were worth much more alive, as collateral, so something would be worked out, with the whole world watching.
11.  
12. Everybody, I think, has a moment in their childhood when a horror, even a faraway horror, stops time and that childhood, for most intents and purposes, ends. For many, it was when JFK was shot. For younger folks, the first Challenger disaster or, certainly, 9/11. For me, it was when Jim McKay appeared a bit ragged, turned to the camera and <a href="https://vimeo.com/46393982">said</a>:
13.  
14.  
15. <blockquote><p>When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, <em>nine</em> were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."
16. </p></blockquote>Much has been made over the past twenty four hours about the expression "They're all gone" and that's what resonated at the time. Just prior, ABC had received an erroneous report that the hostages were saved, so McKay seemed as shocked as I was - that these young athletes, kids really, could be murdered - at the Olympics.
17.  
18.  
19. &lt;p&gt;A couple points about McKay&#39;s delivery that day. First, is the briefly personal intro about his dad. Today&#39;s newscasters are taught to separate world events from any hint of informality, but McKay eloquently braced viewers for the awful reality of his next sentence. Second, he doesnt cite any particular authority, like German police, as a source - it is simply &quot;they&quot;. That wouldnt fly today, but this initial, heartbreaking update isnt about the German, or any other, authority and McKay seemed to instinctively sense that. Third, and most chilling, is his emphasis on the word &quot;nine&quot;, as if even he didnt realize how many were truly at risk. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I doubt Jim McKay could ever land an anchor job today. He had none of the required glamourous attributes, but inside had all the right stuff - making the world smaller with honest wonder and a cultivated decency. A decency content with relating to the world that the young Israelis were victims, rather than commercially viable heroes. A decency that never strayed from the sense of human loss, by elevating graphic minutae or by falling into the depths of &lt;em&gt;schadenfreude.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Connecticut, I learned that young world class athletes, who I aspired to be, could die in an instant, that even after Hitler people were trying to kill Jews, and from the understated and dignified Jim McKay, that both of these revelations were painful to bear and announce to the world.&amp;nbsp; We folded the golden shirts ourselves, neatly into the bottom of a large bureau, never to be worn again. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvGtHPdg6ikkPkjQiOxIiAON6bQC3QTyxxoA&amp;amp;usqp=CAU&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;225&quot; data-original-width=&quot;225&quot; height=&quot;225&quot; src=&quot;https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvGtHPdg6ikkPkjQiOxIiAON6bQC3QTyxxoA&amp;amp;usqp=CAU&quot; width=&quot;225&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/978115411260174020/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=978115411260174020' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/978115411260174020'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/978115411260174020'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2008/06/yellow-blazer.html' title='Yellow Blazer'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjlC17I4wE_eDX-gthzYPVby8_tTtKOYXiFPqtVw1q_-WodcCzBq58pC76boy3Grt3cbyi_YoUcLtY69kOnSmYhhK1P3nH2Hq9Qc2KL9s7f4EuXEDeKXv0h_HLuxNcXuH6k11Few/s72-c/McKay+Munich.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-8339500746499105398</id><published>2018-12-15T22:00:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2021-01-12T20:50:56.712-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Play&#39;s The Thing: A Voice, A Song and A Memory</title><content type='html'>&lt;o:p style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;O&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white;&quot;&gt;ur favorite player, when we were
20. little, was Roy White. Disciplined and humble, he hit, ran and defended,  and
21. was often the best or second best fixture on some weak Yankee clubs.  There were far fewer televised player interviews back then, even in New York, and those were frequented by comparatively amazin' Mets and White's more garrulous teammates. It may be
22. hard for younger fans to believe, but even after regularly watching Yankee telecasts, and White making an All Star team or two, we had never actually heard his voice. </span><br />
23. <span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
24. <br />
25. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
26. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfnScD5hnr_l_R4MbGS6PLqQ1HZ66ibFUaMS4Y29LfvCrvhaS9tgXK54oybapxD-BQLurB21V1tMyJZxyEF2dQfC0hGJm2BOKffteF0_N17NWFHwfH9_FQoe0emVAm5N0rTGgeg/s1600/Roy-White.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1224" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfnScD5hnr_l_R4MbGS6PLqQ1HZ66ibFUaMS4Y29LfvCrvhaS9tgXK54oybapxD-BQLurB21V1tMyJZxyEF2dQfC0hGJm2BOKffteF0_N17NWFHwfH9_FQoe0emVAm5N0rTGgeg/s400/Roy-White.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
27. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
28. <o:p></o:p></div>
29. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
30. So we kids were surprised and jazzed
31. to learn in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TV Guide</i> that our quiet baseball
32. hero would actually appear later that week on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Merv Griffin Show</i>, a prime time gabfest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We anticipated it for days. About 2/3 through the show, Merv finally introduced
33. Roy to the audience, and to his other guests on the sofa. From memory: <o:p></o:p></div>
34. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
35. <br /></div>
36. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
37. Griffin (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smiling, through applause</i>):  Roy White! Yankees. Welcome! <o:p></o:p></div>
38. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
39. <br /></div>
40. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
41. White: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">politely</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">smiles, shakes hands and silently takes a seat <o:p></o:p></i></div>
42. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
43. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
44. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
45. Griffin: So...Roy, um, what position do you
46. play?<o:p></o:p></div>
47. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
48. <br /></div>
49. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
50. White: (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">long pause) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Outfield<o:p></o:p></div>
51. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
52. <br /></div>
53. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
54. His voice, it turned out, was quite
55. deep and resonant. We were almost startled by it and barely noticed when another guest, Zsa Zsa or Ann Miller or someone, interjected. Merv swiveled around, redirecting the entire conversation.  White never spoke again.<br />
56. <br />
57. Almost fifty years later, my now ancient brothers and I still use this ‘code’ for being talked over or ignored.  One of us will theatrically clear our throat and say, in an artificially deep voice, “<i>Out</i>-field”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  Ah, the silly things we remember and the </span>consequential
58. things that pass by.  </div>
59. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
60. <o:p></o:p></div>
61. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
62. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
63. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
64. ************************<o:p></o:p><br />
65. <br /></div>
66. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
67. When I started watching the Diamondbacks
68. in 1998, it had been a while since I’d attended a major league game.  We had
69. good seats, lowers off the plate, and some of the action made outsized
70. impressions. One weekend that July, a polished crew flew in to Phoenix and hit multiple homers to left, homers and triples to right, doubles. Except it was just one guy, a sleek athlete not unlike Roy White. Only moreso. He circled the bases like a greyhound and was certified dope at short. He was  Barry Larkin.<br />
71. <o:p></o:p></div>
72. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
73. <br /></div>
74. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
75. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhjpYVJHLoXq07Z8e1CelBreAyvVPOGBk2jHKBa56dswGulhI4huxbzdFEBnImSuuheoaKVmQWoX1DhY2pzxZ5qx3YbD8Ff8eOAcUGwcS-57cJxLRIVwsfbx2B1xtvRads-AHqg/s1600/Larkin.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="401" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhjpYVJHLoXq07Z8e1CelBreAyvVPOGBk2jHKBa56dswGulhI4huxbzdFEBnImSuuheoaKVmQWoX1DhY2pzxZ5qx3YbD8Ff8eOAcUGwcS-57cJxLRIVwsfbx2B1xtvRads-AHqg/s400/Larkin.jpg" width="272" /></a>Foremost in mind when securing those inaugural season tickets was the novelty and excitement of an indigenous ballteam.  Our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">team</i> was the thing but that weekend, Larkin drove home something
76. besides runs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  I had also invested in individual virtuosity and athletic grace. </span> I thought of Larkin in terms I’d never really thought of a player, or a man, before. He wasn’t just a great
77. player. He was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">beautiful</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Like a ballet or a song.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
78. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
79. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
80. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
81. ************************<o:p></o:p></div>
82. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
83. <br /></div>
84. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
85. Paul Goldschmidt is a different kind
86. of beauty.  Not sleek like a decathlete. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Round features remind one more of a </span>big boned teen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he’s the most polished player on the field, which has been often, he seems
87. almost physically uncomfortable that anyone would actually say so.  Fellow Arizonans have reminisced about Goldy’s memorable home runs and cathartic playoff victories.  My lasting
88. impression is a little different, and apart from Larkin's aesthetic ideal. </div>
89. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
90. <o:p></o:p></div>
91. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
92. <br /></div>
93. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
94. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not a particular moment, but more a composite of a hundred routine games.  Maybe it's June. Or September, and like so many Sonoran summers, we’re already out of it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Late in another mechanical night.  A sliced pop arcs
95. down the right field line, well past the bases and bends toward mostly empty stands.  Our rightfielder <i>du jour</i> and nimble second baseman take perfunctory lines. And from just behind first base, a third,
96. larger body turns its back to the plate and sprints. His are peculiar, choppy
97. strides, tilling the ground with purpose, and they never quite stop.  He is the franchise player, but looks desperately over his shoulder, like an old wishbone wideout, intent on a rare, fleeting arc that could make or
98. break his name.<br />
99. <br /></div>
100. <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
101. Far from his station, Goldschmidt's  torso arches way back.   Like a locked in hound, he usually plucks it, with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">little reaction in either case. </span>He doesnt crash into the stands.  Too showy; poor risk/reward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The play’s the thing - and the play is done. He jogs back, almost sheepishly, to his
102. position. A camera lingers on him too long, like an old sentimental fan. He sets in silence, as a hundred thousand times. No voice, no song. The generative dance of a desert bloom, indelible, as Junes and Septembers dissolve around him.<br />
103. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
104. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fbxle-CZ1WV10qmdXBxjZ9eU2XqteOjNIlqeCAsr9clmDC-W7fd6liaCiXU5vp-Soo-JwklhTyVhGSAM3T1YfTSyGe9tpFi9HuIndA950f5kDYAN-cXw6eDW5gXyvNeiBGwDQQ/s1600/Goldy+sets.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fbxle-CZ1WV10qmdXBxjZ9eU2XqteOjNIlqeCAsr9clmDC-W7fd6liaCiXU5vp-Soo-JwklhTyVhGSAM3T1YfTSyGe9tpFi9HuIndA950f5kDYAN-cXw6eDW5gXyvNeiBGwDQQ/s320/Goldy+sets.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
105. </div>
106. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/8339500746499105398/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=8339500746499105398' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8339500746499105398'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8339500746499105398'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-plays-thing-voice-song-and-memory.html' title='The Play&#39;s The Thing: A Voice, A Song and A Memory'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfnScD5hnr_l_R4MbGS6PLqQ1HZ66ibFUaMS4Y29LfvCrvhaS9tgXK54oybapxD-BQLurB21V1tMyJZxyEF2dQfC0hGJm2BOKffteF0_N17NWFHwfH9_FQoe0emVAm5N0rTGgeg/s72-c/Roy-White.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-4480696115469780357</id><published>2013-11-01T19:38:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-12-30T11:07:18.002-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dbacks Roust, Sign Jackknife Jackson</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhJsniAquQga2Ok8WkALuP8wk9kiRarU7DC0wpY0F8YdMXHbqJWSIbd3b9YkZJiyBQp6bvWanY6wWrS22spp2NUzm-VpeZG4KBRPfuBICwd_cMtzmoaO3BmCP_i_t3v1LoK_P8A/s1600/JackknifeWalsh.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;219&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhJsniAquQga2Ok8WkALuP8wk9kiRarU7DC0wpY0F8YdMXHbqJWSIbd3b9YkZJiyBQp6bvWanY6wWrS22spp2NUzm-VpeZG4KBRPfuBICwd_cMtzmoaO3BmCP_i_t3v1LoK_P8A/s320/JackknifeWalsh.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #990000; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;W&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;ith a growler of gin and promised lodging close to Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks coaxed legendary gamer, Jackknife Jackson, out of a Wyoming boxcar and into an expected rotation slot this spring. &lt;br /&gt;
107. <br />
108. Asked about his 'makeup', Jackson explained,<br />
109. <i><span style="color: #990000;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
110. <i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>Them colored fellas from Havana.  I'll make em up real good.</b></span></i><br />
111. <br />
112. Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers defended the move:<br />
113. <br />
114. <span style="color: #660000;">"</span><b><span style="color: #990000;"><i>Jack's the pro we wanted.  </i></span></b><i><b><span style="color: #990000;">People say you should go after an ace, somebody still in the game. But we needed a strong character guy to come inside or double up in there. Or triple up, when better teams monkey around at my expense.  He'll make his mark on the Dodgers. Hopefully several.</span></b>"</i><br />
115. <br />
116. The fabled righthander began his career with the Cleveland Spiders and honed a reputation for "errant boneballs" with the San Diego Padres.  He last pitched for Wilkes Barre in 2007, allowing 33 hits in 47 innings, while walking 32.  He also hit sixteen batters, including four children.<br />
117. <br />
118. Most recently, Jackson barnstormed the mountain states carnival circuit and county fairs across the west.<br />
119. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
120. <br /></div>
121. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/4480696115469780357/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=4480696115469780357' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4480696115469780357'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4480696115469780357'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/10/dbacks-locate-sign-jackknife-jackson.html' title='Dbacks Roust, Sign Jackknife Jackson'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhJsniAquQga2Ok8WkALuP8wk9kiRarU7DC0wpY0F8YdMXHbqJWSIbd3b9YkZJiyBQp6bvWanY6wWrS22spp2NUzm-VpeZG4KBRPfuBICwd_cMtzmoaO3BmCP_i_t3v1LoK_P8A/s72-c/JackknifeWalsh.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-5872453849054738915</id><published>2013-10-25T14:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-11-12T15:20:45.181-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bloomberg to Earl &quot;Breakeven&quot; Kendrick: Club Worth $600M</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrAx47M2a_VeSn4ctHiuFS4rv7H8eUEI63UQmSLdLsAKi5iOAlYvk-DRKNM2-wxoV6xSw4boEX3dXArejrYDaGzAFHMGz_Hott0nGnHJPYF7wHgplULPAaFhipRCtGFmOfinlgQ/s1600/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrAx47M2a_VeSn4ctHiuFS4rv7H8eUEI63UQmSLdLsAKi5iOAlYvk-DRKNM2-wxoV6xSw4boEX3dXArejrYDaGzAFHMGz_Hott0nGnHJPYF7wHgplULPAaFhipRCtGFmOfinlgQ/s200/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg&quot; width=&quot;143&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #990000; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;M&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;uch to owner Ken Kendrick&#39;s &#39;dismay&#39;, the constrained small market club he deftly stewards into fiscal balance each season, earns more than one hundred million dollars above what it annually spends on major league payroll. &lt;br /&gt;
122. <br />
123. According to Bloomberg.com, the Diamondbacks are now worth approximately $600M,  roughly 250% more than when Kendrick assumed control in 2004, and now earns $195 million per year. Player payroll approached $90 million in 2012.<br />
124. <br />
125. <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-23/mlb-team-values.html">Breaking out</a> the $195M income, up to $79 million stems from attendance driven sales, incl gate receipts ($41M), sponsorships ($23M, some of which may not be directly attendance driven), concessions ($12M) and parking ($3M). <br />
126. <br />
127. Remaining income is derived elsewhere, primarily via media rights ($75M) and revenue sharing ($27M).  In other words, up to $116 million in income is realized before the Diamondbacks lure a single fan to Chase Field; which is also about $25-$30 million more than was expended on player salaries.  Keep that in mind the next time Mr Hall or Mr Kendrick suggest their payroll's squeezed by attendance and market constraints.<br />
128. <br />
129. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
130. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVgivpUj3ujmoghdOLFr6fnhyphenhyphen4PAmSUkjfqI85OEIvy1t_l8tnZme3aHUwN16k-jGGdoZSDkxyE_usMHftar60duTgZli3A6RvxQkto7Nq9PsPAkFMHdmc-f3zqGgxojljz1Ufw/s1600/hallspeak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVgivpUj3ujmoghdOLFr6fnhyphenhyphen4PAmSUkjfqI85OEIvy1t_l8tnZme3aHUwN16k-jGGdoZSDkxyE_usMHftar60duTgZli3A6RvxQkto7Nq9PsPAkFMHdmc-f3zqGgxojljz1Ufw/s320/hallspeak.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
131. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
132. <br /></div>
133. In terms of market, their $75 million in media income placed 17th among thirty mlb teams and was nearly as close to ninth place Detroit ($85m) as to 20th place Cincinnati ($66m). <br />
134. <br />
135. But they didnt rank middle of the pack in revenue sharing. Oh, no.  Only six genuinely small market outfits, some in crumbling stadiums, were funneled more cashola by the leagues, suggesting the Diamondbacks failed to realize <b>non</b>-media income commensurate with their middle of the pack market and venue.  This is consistent with franchise management whose attendance and stadium revenues lag its market capacities.<br />
136. <br />
137. Based on Bloomberg figures for gate, concessions, parking,etc. an additional 375,000 fans over this past season's 2.1M draw,  might generate $12-$15 million in additional income.  But that would also reduce the club's $27M shared revenue windfall. By how much, is unclear, yet any significant attendance spike would pull the club closer to mlb's net revenue sharing midpoint, closer to where the Phoenix market's potential - and pre-Kendrick history - suggests. This burgeoning theoretical fan base of 2.475 million attendees, would still be less than what Colangelo drew here in his worst season (2004) as owner - losing 111 games in what was then a considerably smaller market.<br />
138. <br />
139. In nine seasons since, occupying a relatively weaker division, Kendrick's clubs have exceeded 82 wins just twice - once being outscored by twenty runs in the regular season.  The club also claims to offer the most affordable experience in all of baseball, yet just within their five team division, Bloomberg's 2012 gate receipts divided by attendance imply an average ticket cost ($19.52) closer to the glittery Dodgers ($21.89) than to the Rockies ($16.43) or Padres ($15.45). This incongruous self promotion of undelivered value has steadily worn on fans.<br />
140. <br />
141. It's not that Diamondback prices are high, relative to mlb or other pro sports. They're not.  They're too high to draw half a million more paying fans to sit in the upper deck to watch mediocre teams in a lower income market.  This regime knows that, but instead of acknowledging their cold choice to reap shared revenues for pricing out the Valley's lower income fans, they have blamed almost a decade's worth of 'curiously' lower local attendance on fabricated market, inherited venue and fan shortcomings. They even once suggested that local fans, the same ones who came out in droves prior to Kendrick's money making mediocrity machine, dont<i> </i>really appreciate how baseball works.<br />
142. <br />
143. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
144. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrGgqSF8LSdF5xj7schx5DzKxSWMvwPJvohkGcVcs_ZqD4-XeHhUR1xUNXds8xlM44UIkqE11lFqUFJfywsySl34ZsXi_qV_gIR9MDG5R4KQvjRuBztSW6BejrvECFsrKtOSnPw/s1600/mooradkendrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrGgqSF8LSdF5xj7schx5DzKxSWMvwPJvohkGcVcs_ZqD4-XeHhUR1xUNXds8xlM44UIkqE11lFqUFJfywsySl34ZsXi_qV_gIR9MDG5R4KQvjRuBztSW6BejrvECFsrKtOSnPw/s320/mooradkendrick.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
145. <br />
146.  Well, that last part is all too true.<br />
147. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/5872453849054738915/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=5872453849054738915' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5872453849054738915'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5872453849054738915'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/10/bloomberg-to-earl-breakeven-kendrick.html' title='Bloomberg to Earl &quot;Breakeven&quot; Kendrick: Club Worth $600M'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrAx47M2a_VeSn4ctHiuFS4rv7H8eUEI63UQmSLdLsAKi5iOAlYvk-DRKNM2-wxoV6xSw4boEX3dXArejrYDaGzAFHMGz_Hott0nGnHJPYF7wHgplULPAaFhipRCtGFmOfinlgQ/s72-c/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-5968284552405816229</id><published>2013-09-30T11:41:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2013-09-30T12:43:23.178-07:00</updated><title type='text'>&#39;Fan Friendliest&#39; FO Flounders to 14th in NL Attendance</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;
148. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeBsBOK2uIQW1OOf1sVl15YYMo0lRavTqSQoI0chRlfaU34WTg3Pj4xMqgjiaZd6r0USyJpf9kVSMAEO7CDlNRE1ERCrve0IVEKjjcs9njFEf7Vv9YIeHPB-TXSU55oHIS2QeRA/s1600/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeBsBOK2uIQW1OOf1sVl15YYMo0lRavTqSQoI0chRlfaU34WTg3Pj4xMqgjiaZd6r0USyJpf9kVSMAEO7CDlNRE1ERCrve0IVEKjjcs9njFEf7Vv9YIeHPB-TXSU55oHIS2QeRA/s200/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg" width="143" /></a>Despite finding themselves in first or second place all year and not registering a losing season since 2010, the once popular Arizona Diamondbacks dropped to next to last in National League attendance, the Valley franchise's weakest comparative draw in its sixteen year history.<br />
149. <br />
150. <br />
151. <br />
152. <br />
153. <br />
154. <br />
155. <br />
156. <br />
157. <br />
158. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVjrdzOJPWVGy1RzGk0zs4W23n3rODfYQyyRvN2eUK87hiRXV_epzGdszZeWAo5ksxLSGNSj1bSjySWFSeUU-iizOYZtKrg5dIOMBZtSlNP_4ezxcNbDuFdVHG7Xn5DmKj_RggA/s1600/loriascowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVjrdzOJPWVGy1RzGk0zs4W23n3rODfYQyyRvN2eUK87hiRXV_epzGdszZeWAo5ksxLSGNSj1bSjySWFSeUU-iizOYZtKrg5dIOMBZtSlNP_4ezxcNbDuFdVHG7Xn5DmKj_RggA/s200/loriascowl.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
159. <br />
160. <br />
161. <br />
162. <br />
163. <br />
164. <br />
165. Only the Florida Marlins, owned by Jeff Loria, drew fewer fans in the fifteen team senior circuit.<br />
166. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/5968284552405816229/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=5968284552405816229' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5968284552405816229'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5968284552405816229'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/09/mlbs-fan-friendliest-fo-drops-to-14th.html' title='&#39;Fan Friendliest&#39; FO Flounders to 14th in NL Attendance'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeBsBOK2uIQW1OOf1sVl15YYMo0lRavTqSQoI0chRlfaU34WTg3Pj4xMqgjiaZd6r0USyJpf9kVSMAEO7CDlNRE1ERCrve0IVEKjjcs9njFEf7Vv9YIeHPB-TXSU55oHIS2QeRA/s72-c/kendrickgreyscowl.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-7463711059809451919</id><published>2013-07-02T15:46:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2013-07-02T15:46:19.232-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Kubel Loses Another Game</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
167. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneg3S0d_GoZEoMPybN_9aDwrao0nLw-1-TZFAnJSSEaIDRb4Skx8jTh5EJybMUV8hsFXh7WTUrxSwTtKgS1u9FMytmCcRdj_qiFHFzRpyjMT9C77maRphehm8RQIk-tCK4p1bXA/s1366/KubelByrd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneg3S0d_GoZEoMPybN_9aDwrao0nLw-1-TZFAnJSSEaIDRb4Skx8jTh5EJybMUV8hsFXh7WTUrxSwTtKgS1u9FMytmCcRdj_qiFHFzRpyjMT9C77maRphehm8RQIk-tCK4p1bXA/s640/KubelByrd.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
168. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/7463711059809451919/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=7463711059809451919' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/7463711059809451919'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/7463711059809451919'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/07/kubel-loses-another-game.html' title='Kubel Loses Another Game'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneg3S0d_GoZEoMPybN_9aDwrao0nLw-1-TZFAnJSSEaIDRb4Skx8jTh5EJybMUV8hsFXh7WTUrxSwTtKgS1u9FMytmCcRdj_qiFHFzRpyjMT9C77maRphehm8RQIk-tCK4p1bXA/s72-c/KubelByrd.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-5995023585360576501</id><published>2013-06-12T12:25:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-06-12T16:08:15.334-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dbacks&#39; Ace In The Hole</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;s if the 5.49 ERA wasn&#39;t enough, Dbacks&#39; ace-in-the-hole Ian Kennedy has discovered &lt;br /&gt;
169. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
170. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSY9J03tk9wmZVe-TMQDtrWRxxzvw6IeJ4EB68BYniYbFbWSPvTneWFJyRzJTAUy_M1n80TDwY_LfyxwltThE2jOcQk9oecMU1UV0lz4wNmU9ideRMg6qeUF4VqYG787gF0PR9w/s1600/ian-kennedy-31-mlb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSY9J03tk9wmZVe-TMQDtrWRxxzvw6IeJ4EB68BYniYbFbWSPvTneWFJyRzJTAUy_M1n80TDwY_LfyxwltThE2jOcQk9oecMU1UV0lz4wNmU9ideRMg6qeUF4VqYG787gF0PR9w/s320/ian-kennedy-31-mlb.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
171. other ways to compromise his teammates' well-being.   <br />
172. <br />
173. <blockquote class="tr_bq">
174. He hittin' folk in dehead!!!</blockquote>
175. <br />
176. <br />
177. <br />
178.  More to the point:<br />
179. <br />
180. <blockquote class="tr_bq">
181. He hittin' folk in dehead, tah-wyse!!!</blockquote>
182. <br />
183. <br />
184. Now, Ian and Miggy claim Ian wasnt trying to hurt anyone, which may be true. To which the Dodgers respond, after much deliberation: <br />
185. <br />
186. <blockquote class="tr_bq">
187. He hittin' folk in dehead!!! </blockquote>
188. <br />
189. That's really the problem, isnt it?  Intentional or not, at some point a professional pitcher has to take responsibility for fastballs that hit people in dehead.  Even if Zach Greinke is a bit of a doofus, for retaliating against what was probably an unintentional HBP, Greinke didnt hit anyone above the letters.<br />
190. <br />
191. That's a different animal, as the Diamondbacks should know.  They hit the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter below the neck <em>three times</em> in a recent game. While St Louis was red as a bird, their roster didnt storm the field.  <br />
192. <br />
193. But the Dodgers have every right to be upset.  This isnt acceptable in the modern game. Kennedy unleashed the most powerful drive his opponents have. Not to win a game, but self-preservation.  Livelihoods and all that. For <em>both</em> teams ultimately.  The notion that IPK is a decent guy is, at best, a secondary consideration at this point.<br />
194. <br />
195. <br />
196. <blockquote class="tr_bq">
197. He hittin' folk in dehead!!!! </blockquote>
198. Ian may not be a headhunter, but he's a head <em>finder</em>. There are consequences for pitching <em>that far</em> up and in. Twice. Beyond the suspensions. There's a blue collar price to pay for grazing the Dodgers' hottest hitter in the nose, <em>then </em>bouncing another fastball off the starting pitcher's earflap. As a Diamondbacks fan, who's relished watching Pat Corbin and Paul Goldschmidt propel my team into first, I'm  concerned the price for our Ace-In-The-Hole's thumping hits isnt yet paid in full.<br />
199. <br />
200. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t8eoA_1jQ">Paid In Full</a> - Eric B & Rakim<br />
201. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/5995023585360576501/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=5995023585360576501' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5995023585360576501'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5995023585360576501'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/06/ipk-pitches-dbacks-into-harms-way.html' title='Dbacks&#39; Ace In The Hole'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSY9J03tk9wmZVe-TMQDtrWRxxzvw6IeJ4EB68BYniYbFbWSPvTneWFJyRzJTAUy_M1n80TDwY_LfyxwltThE2jOcQk9oecMU1UV0lz4wNmU9ideRMg6qeUF4VqYG787gF0PR9w/s72-c/ian-kennedy-31-mlb.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-8177541844481466516</id><published>2013-03-31T11:47:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-03-31T20:04:24.152-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Alive</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsBuGZCOzd2jlk1QwmivtK5WDmGRvMmiK1HQeKCN5cgvZ5Zahf2VpoKt_yH_cYjNT5sN1j7U_J1_KL1yDUrHesiqFXc3QHf1VGoq_qZJDMYkdM647hCrxybUXHNhGxT3sDCkivg/s1600/april-fool.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsBuGZCOzd2jlk1QwmivtK5WDmGRvMmiK1HQeKCN5cgvZ5Zahf2VpoKt_yH_cYjNT5sN1j7U_J1_KL1yDUrHesiqFXc3QHf1VGoq_qZJDMYkdM647hCrxybUXHNhGxT3sDCkivg/s200/april-fool.jpg&quot; width=&quot;167&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #a64d79; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;A&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;pril Fools is as good a Day as any for the Diamondbacks to embark on their sixteenth &lt;br /&gt;
202. slate, because when it's all over someone will play the fool. Active payroll is higher than it's been in a decade, even adjusting for inflation, yet the roster somehow lacks a single bankable star. <br />
203. <br />
204. Instead, the Diamondbacks sport a few very good players and a few more good ones. Neither group, however, has garnered a fraction of the attention drawn by their most controversial and, by now, least secret weapon - a <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/20130325retooled-arizona-diamondbacks-designed-less-flash-more-dash.html">laboriously advertised</a> culture of gritty clutchness.<br />
205. <br />
206. So far, three of the grittiest Diamondbacks - Willie Bloomquist, Adam Eaton and Cody Ross - are unavailable due to a variety of dashing spring ailments. We'll keep you posted on their characteristically gutsy rehabilitations. <br />
207. <br />
208. <div style="text-align: center;">
209. ***</div>
210. <br />
211. I drafted those paragraphs a couple days ago, and this morning Nick Piecoro <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/20130325retooled-arizona-diamondbacks-designed-less-flash-more-dash.html">wrote basically the same thing</a>, only much better. I had even titled my draft "On The Cusp of Something". <br />
212. <br />
213. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
214. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8xxP7p9hTW__qJCqhb4Pne9_47ryLzlK2rwGSfGXSaEtpzvFlEr-mV-nRsVLTjRYpKzJu_YXKZS0fE_ixo2Y0VTCFnM_QEclblGkqDsYxUk9PyQCEiGBF8rcGWQI7UL4hsOUCQ/s1600/kevintowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8xxP7p9hTW__qJCqhb4Pne9_47ryLzlK2rwGSfGXSaEtpzvFlEr-mV-nRsVLTjRYpKzJu_YXKZS0fE_ixo2Y0VTCFnM_QEclblGkqDsYxUk9PyQCEiGBF8rcGWQI7UL4hsOUCQ/s320/kevintowers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
215. <br />
216. <br />
217. Today Kevin Towers <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/20130330arizona-diamondbacks-kevin-towers-kirk-gibson-create-type-team-they-want.html">guaranteed 90+ wins</a>. Good for him. I admire his balls, and frankly, his track record of extracting more with less. But now he's constrained by a lot less<em> less</em>, spending almost $100M and significant surplus talent, with three established Arb/Pre Arb starting arms (IPK, Hudson, Miley) and several more in the fold (Corbin, Skaggs, etc).<br />
218. <br />
219. What it all will result in, we're not quite sure. The Rockies and Padres still cant pitch, so it's hard to see the Diamondbacks bringing up the divisional rear.  The Dodgers and Giants have too much talent to do that either, but their reliable, underlying assets are really not all that different from our Sedona Reds.  The club that plays best in one run contests will probably win this division.  Call me a eunuch, but unlike <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/ranking-sexiest-gms-major-league-baseball-1-30-182715433--mlb.html">baseball's sexiest GM</a>, I have no idea who that will be. <br />
220. <br />
221. That is baseball's greatness, above other sports.  For all its familiar ritual, marking the seasons and years of our lives, it's the game's day to day - and even seasonal - unpredictability that gives it life.  The scalded liner nonchalantly turned into a rally destroying double play.  An unknown prospect who baffles a Murderers Row.  A fortuitous call or a bad hop.   <br />
222. <br />
223. Sincere observers just dont know any of that until it actually happens. Those seeking certitude or standing, predictably surrender to faith.  Others of us watch to discover, in what often seems an inevitable world.  To confirm that even the familiar can be beautiful and mysterious - and that we are ignorant and alive. <br />
224. <br />
225. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
226. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaU7ZeE3LxKpf99uthLif3joIAMiDo48meNgBU0yN34X872Nz8KcTs4y0NIS1MUINETZWZuZ7Owz5TjUuhrTy_xDLQDqzBnm8RMaqVysyS7FknKlO0TbsfIeZ0VSTIH-RAHSzo8g/s1600/avatar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaU7ZeE3LxKpf99uthLif3joIAMiDo48meNgBU0yN34X872Nz8KcTs4y0NIS1MUINETZWZuZ7Owz5TjUuhrTy_xDLQDqzBnm8RMaqVysyS7FknKlO0TbsfIeZ0VSTIH-RAHSzo8g/s320/avatar.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
227. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/8177541844481466516/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=8177541844481466516' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8177541844481466516'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8177541844481466516'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/alive.html' title='Alive'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsBuGZCOzd2jlk1QwmivtK5WDmGRvMmiK1HQeKCN5cgvZ5Zahf2VpoKt_yH_cYjNT5sN1j7U_J1_KL1yDUrHesiqFXc3QHf1VGoq_qZJDMYkdM647hCrxybUXHNhGxT3sDCkivg/s72-c/april-fool.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-3095820224568586516</id><published>2013-03-28T21:49:00.003-07:00</published><updated>2013-06-03T09:13:29.024-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Grit Leap Forward?</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #741b47; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;G&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;rit. We&#39;re&amp;nbsp;pretty sure it matters, but unclear&amp;nbsp;how much or even what it means.&lt;br /&gt;
228. <br />
229. The first problem with grit is that it's not reliably defined - at all.  It's more a subjective take on a player's perceived approach to the game and how he <em>looks, </em>than it is an objective accounting of what he <em>does</em>. Faced with a slump, for example, is it grittier to express anger in the clubhouse, be stoic, or upbeat and positive? That pretty much runs the gamut of human response, yet 'grit', determination or competitive focus could reasonably be manifested by any of those.<br />
230. <br />
231. Is it gritty to play through injury?  Chris Young and Justin Upton did that in 2012, yet apparently neither were seen as especially gritty by Kevin Towers. Perhaps Upton did (or didnt do) something else that displeased the GM.  Maybe he didnt join Bloomquist and the coaches in the weight room at 6AM? It's hard to say. What's old news, however, is that an unsettling share of so-called gritty overacheivers tend to be older white players. Is it because the class of African American players lack an objective work ethic or dedication to sacrificial team principles, or does it reflect the fact most player evaluators (fans, pundits, GMs) are also white, which may bias attitudinal expectations and evaluations?<br />
232. <br />
233. Grit is a subjective input, not an objective result.  Even if connected, the results themselves are more <em>independently</em> apparent now anyway, rendering any hidden benefits of grit relatively moot.  In other words, we can now <em>measure</em> fairly accurately how Eric Chavez performs Late & Close, or makes productive outs or whatever, regardless of whether he's<em> perceived</em> as gritty or not. We can evaluate actual results, rather than rely on subjective inputs.  This applies especially to established veterans. The work ethic or grit of a youngster with a less established record, however, could reasonably alter subjective projections.  It logically flows that a good work ethic leads to a more promising upside, etc  But most of the time, this annointing of grit applies to older players and it's harder to argue they have much hidden upside. Their makeup and professionalism have presumably been reflected in their career results to date - baked into the statistical cake.<br />
234. <br />
235. Is there another <em>hidden</em> benefit to grit? Something we cant readily see in the new, more granular stats? There very well may be, like an ability to make teammates better.  Rigor requires we remain open to that possibility. But a more practical question, for Diamondbacks fans, is whether Kevin Towers can  identify and exploit grit as a market inefficiency. Has Towers identified a hidden competitive benefit to these so-called gritty players that his GM counterparts cannot?<br />
236. <br />
237. Some of Towers' easily contradicted assertions this offseason - for example his lauding Martin Prado's rather mediocre batting record Late & Close - either suggest he has little special insight as to the value of resolute grit and clutchness. Or perhaps he does, and the erroneous platitudes are some brilliant subterfuge. <br />
238. <br />
239. The view of Towers, here, essentially splits the difference. I think he understands a great deal about professional baseball that I dont. When you're around something a long time, you can often intuit what works and what doesnt, even if you cant always articulate why. It's a feel and I think Towers has a feel for chemistry, in game leverage and certain aspects of roster construction. <br />
240. <br />
241. But&amp;nbsp;when he or Gibson go on&amp;nbsp;about grit, they can sound&amp;nbsp;more enamored with idealized personal attributes than they are with&amp;nbsp;real competitive results.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;They almost sound like they prefer&amp;nbsp;players who they can&amp;nbsp;lift weights with at six in the morning, or hunt with in the offseason.&amp;nbsp; Perhaps younger, idealized&amp;nbsp;versions of themselves, in their own image. Instead of&amp;nbsp;a more talented group of diverse personalities,&amp;nbsp;who need to be professionally managed and assimilated - and who might&amp;nbsp;also be more objectively equipped to help them win. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/3095820224568586516/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=3095820224568586516' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/3095820224568586516'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/3095820224568586516'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/grit-leap-forward.html' title='Grit Leap Forward?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-8070622392729930813</id><published>2013-03-25T21:21:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2013-03-29T08:01:11.969-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Thank You For Mowing My Rather Expansive Lawn For A Quarter Century....Now, Go Away</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #a64d79; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;L&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;ed by an unidentified &quot;small market owner&quot;, baseball&#39;s Lords of the Realm are &lt;a href=&quot;http://mlb.si.com/2013/03/19/mlb-eliminate-non-playepensions/&quot;&gt;trying to dismantle&lt;/a&gt; collectively bargained pension plans currently protecting non uniformed personnel.&amp;nbsp; Of course, &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; Diamondback personnel are uniformed, sartorial advocates for The Organization,&amp;nbsp;but&amp;nbsp;you get the idea. Scouts, groundskeepers, the widow working the Will Call window.&lt;br /&gt;
242. <br />
243. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
244. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnJ3wh68j583s2YgAqbSsws1hto0XWrqEwlPiIwpjd63FTYKPfOvZln3KHYOLjGTJvfs40fIKampEgiT9ZYoIzn_rTMyidF7zFrp7o5M1ss0Osamzah3cJWSPL92zJ_YROpBkzg/s1600/groundskeepersaz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnJ3wh68j583s2YgAqbSsws1hto0XWrqEwlPiIwpjd63FTYKPfOvZln3KHYOLjGTJvfs40fIKampEgiT9ZYoIzn_rTMyidF7zFrp7o5M1ss0Osamzah3cJWSPL92zJ_YROpBkzg/s400/groundskeepersaz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
245. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
246.  </div>
247. Were MLB publicly traded, its (conservatively estimated $8 billion) annual revenue would position it as a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/full_list/301_400.html">Fortune 300 firm</a>, neighboring boutique mom and pops like Visa and Campbells Soup.  <br />
248. <br />
249. Bear in mind, too, that MLB's most salient business distinction - its federal antitrust exemption -  enables this often collusive bevy of baseball owners to orchestrate an advantageous network of regional monopolies, and mark up their prices devoid of direct competition. Unlike Campbells and Visa, there's no Progresso or American Express cutting into baseball's consumer demand and bottom line.  <br />
250. <br />
251. More generally, MLB competes for the sports or entertainment dollar, but that's tangential competition, similar to the way Campbells "vies" with Sara Lee for the food dollar or Amazon "battles" Visa as transactional clearing houses that really arent all that similar.<br />
252. <br />
253. Not only is baseball's operational profit margin thus legally protected, but those profits and rising franchise values are concentrated among just thirty ownership groups. Compare that to the nation's true corporate behemoths, whose revenues dwarf mlb's, but whose profits are distributed among hundreds of thousands - and in some cases, millions - of shareholders. Even in an era of diminishing pensions, that a cottage industry this profitable - <em>and</em> concentrated - would dick around with the pensions of low level scouts and groundskeepers is another stained window into the sort of people running mlb.<br />
254. <br />
255. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiKVJeK1ZPUdMtK3yL_vtJpgxhBPX7MlIgCutFISAi5AJGKUGJr_MAc4QrX9twSTLxwmMKdKu6hHlypNxztZEHVaXI6P3vP8gErtDTToz49symDPRPPuBcnte5ey9GVufxRa0Pw/s1600/earl_kendrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiKVJeK1ZPUdMtK3yL_vtJpgxhBPX7MlIgCutFISAi5AJGKUGJr_MAc4QrX9twSTLxwmMKdKu6hHlypNxztZEHVaXI6P3vP8gErtDTToz49symDPRPPuBcnte5ey9GVufxRa0Pw/s400/earl_kendrick.jpg" width="311" /></a>Who is the pension-smashing small market owner most responsible?<br />
256. <br />
257. I cant say it's Kendrick. For one thing, Phoenix isnt a small market (although it's often mistaken as such). Secondly, mlb has never lacked for slimeball owners. The Dolans in Cleveland. Pohlan in Minnesota. Loria. My (uneducated) guess is it's one of them, and Ken is laying low, with a big smile on his mug, as others do the dirty work.<br />
258. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/8070622392729930813/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=8070622392729930813' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8070622392729930813'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8070622392729930813'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/thank-you-for-mowing-my-rather.html' title='Thank You For Mowing My Rather Expansive Lawn For A Quarter Century....Now, Go Away'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnJ3wh68j583s2YgAqbSsws1hto0XWrqEwlPiIwpjd63FTYKPfOvZln3KHYOLjGTJvfs40fIKampEgiT9ZYoIzn_rTMyidF7zFrp7o5M1ss0Osamzah3cJWSPL92zJ_YROpBkzg/s72-c/groundskeepersaz.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-1648393443176176769</id><published>2013-03-11T18:22:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2013-03-11T18:22:08.444-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Slim Shady</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;H&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;ere&#39;s some photos from today&#39;s SRFest against the Cubs. &lt;br /&gt;
259. <br />
260. First, the leaner Cahill, warming up in the outfield grass.  Not sure if you can make him out, but he's the red and white blade, center.    <br />
261. <br />
262. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
263. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU253u5is5A_0KPDc1lIRoY1Dtd7rFHStfw3FmK-qn_0wb-KuFgT5zN_w2sCkGQEF8UxckT-WM-attGIudmppB9-9eJpArOAeqVDn_YlygGUTc2egHnnHsETHvhyKxJSWug3DLg/s1600/Cahill+Warmup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU253u5is5A_0KPDc1lIRoY1Dtd7rFHStfw3FmK-qn_0wb-KuFgT5zN_w2sCkGQEF8UxckT-WM-attGIudmppB9-9eJpArOAeqVDn_YlygGUTc2egHnnHsETHvhyKxJSWug3DLg/s320/Cahill+Warmup.JPG" width="317" /></a></div>
264. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
265.  </div>
266. <br />
267.  Here's the right field berm about a half hour before game time.<br />
268. <br />
269. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
270. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GCvf08n5PiOojNgn6gD8DOx7uw7Lw9Hn6_n_Pl8JBFq0DgGTvQhB6qr9rVerfYMSDx1dxrbFvs3DMN8pRzUKfdBFBrFFMcp5K577y3NzUk3R6d80id1KbLhUFfcaJJwPo9ZKPg/s1600/RFBermPregame.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GCvf08n5PiOojNgn6gD8DOx7uw7Lw9Hn6_n_Pl8JBFq0DgGTvQhB6qr9rVerfYMSDx1dxrbFvs3DMN8pRzUKfdBFBrFFMcp5K577y3NzUk3R6d80id1KbLhUFfcaJJwPo9ZKPg/s640/RFBermPregame.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
271. <br />
272. <br />
273. ...and at first pitch<br />
274. <br />
275. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
276. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZc8iBjcmm-cp5Cn5eJPmL8V9BaTLFTNgukPZbvPz2d28Osg6k9JJ-X1oLYtqyZJTIJPnTQ71cZxT53JKub8iWaHA1tgIMkuoF4nJJwEYD4oa-1LeEuND5v5PeXM-EhGhoWTtaAg/s1600/RFBerm+First+Pitch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZc8iBjcmm-cp5Cn5eJPmL8V9BaTLFTNgukPZbvPz2d28Osg6k9JJ-X1oLYtqyZJTIJPnTQ71cZxT53JKub8iWaHA1tgIMkuoF4nJJwEYD4oa-1LeEuND5v5PeXM-EhGhoWTtaAg/s640/RFBerm+First+Pitch.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
277. <br />
278. My son and I sat out here for a couple innings. With hordes of squatters on blankets and a cultural disregard for personal space, it was a little like India. The shirtless drunks and mundane food - closer to Indiana.   <br />
279. <br />
280. Here's Cahill preparing to bounce another swinging strike to Alfonso Soriano. Just get it over (with), Trevor.   <br />
281. <br />
282. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHoAV3Xb8_vswOxkJHSQyJIWa_SCS4uLiEFBMZtGlq_8BSNgZMuOyLkUK2FrPujnDJchES4mXYxiIEJkEOUU6T-K56pmJRyMwS5XyGDmDcnhwG7STDd54zV-2OvssgyIhY_oLTw/s1600/Soriano+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHoAV3Xb8_vswOxkJHSQyJIWa_SCS4uLiEFBMZtGlq_8BSNgZMuOyLkUK2FrPujnDJchES4mXYxiIEJkEOUU6T-K56pmJRyMwS5XyGDmDcnhwG7STDd54zV-2OvssgyIhY_oLTw/s400/Soriano+2.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
283. <br />
284. <br />
285. <br />
286. <br />
287. <br />
288. <br />
289. <br />
290. <br />
291. <br />
292. <br />
293. <br />
294. <br />
295. <br />
296. <br />
297. <br />
298. <br />
299. <br />
300. <br />
301. <br />
302. <br />
303. <br />
304. Finally, here's the 85% shade Derrick Hall brags about, an hour into the game.  This was snapped an hour and twenty minutes from first pitch, and one can see it's still not 80-85%.<br />
305. <br />
306. <br />
307. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YKXyOuU435qX2ARh1axXwa1t5ndxG9LrIPvsyKNUd3OS8TEHW8AsyRHeWEpphsh9iL94s9Idev50YYv7oJIz3bAUg8kzOM4-tZ6pLEX0EDKAadDCBFeym-touNjDzKPLsexSuw/s1600/230pm+shade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YKXyOuU435qX2ARh1axXwa1t5ndxG9LrIPvsyKNUd3OS8TEHW8AsyRHeWEpphsh9iL94s9Idev50YYv7oJIz3bAUg8kzOM4-tZ6pLEX0EDKAadDCBFeym-touNjDzKPLsexSuw/s320/230pm+shade.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
308. <br />
309. <br />
310. <br />
311. <br />
312. <br />
313. <br />
314. <br />
315. <br />
316. <br />
317. <br />
318. <br />
319. <br />
320. <br />
321. <br />
322. <br />
323. <br />
324. Salt River is shaded better than any Cactus venue,  but clearly a third of the fixed seats are still in bright sun well into the contest.  And unlike Scottsdale Stadium, there's no shade trees on the berms here. The clubs should be proud of their design accomplishment, but there's no need to mischaracterize the reality that most patrons are still baking in sunlight most of the time.<br />
325. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/1648393443176176769/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=1648393443176176769' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/1648393443176176769'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/1648393443176176769'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/slim-shady.html' title='Slim Shady'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU253u5is5A_0KPDc1lIRoY1Dtd7rFHStfw3FmK-qn_0wb-KuFgT5zN_w2sCkGQEF8UxckT-WM-attGIudmppB9-9eJpArOAeqVDn_YlygGUTc2egHnnHsETHvhyKxJSWug3DLg/s72-c/Cahill+Warmup.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-6982885804462101513</id><published>2013-03-06T21:45:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2013-06-03T09:43:32.567-07:00</updated><title type='text'>With Friends Like This...</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;O&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;n Saturday, &#39;fan friendly&#39;&amp;nbsp;Dbacks&#39; brass&amp;nbsp;yet again tackled&amp;nbsp;curiously soft stadium attendance the only way they know how:&amp;nbsp;by&amp;nbsp;raising prices with a smile.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
326. <br />
327. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifobldjhuc9n_HIUYtpFHUKpAnVBUCfeHGfLnVq-dv9R-uBb-d8ueTGAvzdkgtgFpS46IXSCBflfjpGEehXHQio7zl4GI3L9qH_Kae5441tK8JKCCpmW278vVrWg1PZoLqknYQg/s1600/HallAct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifobldjhuc9n_HIUYtpFHUKpAnVBUCfeHGfLnVq-dv9R-uBb-d8ueTGAvzdkgtgFpS46IXSCBflfjpGEehXHQio7zl4GI3L9qH_Kae5441tK8JKCCpmW278vVrWg1PZoLqknYQg/s400/HallAct.jpg" width="382" /></a>For 56 of 81 home games, the<strong> least</strong> expensive ticket now allegedly ranges from $12-16, which conveniently excludes mandatory convenience charges to impulsive outliers purchasing seats 'online' or at the park on 'gameday'.  Not surprisingly, these Outfield Reserve seats, located in the corners of the top deck, are generally regarded as the least desirable at Chase Field. Prices, of course, ascend from there.  <br />
328. <br />
329. Bleacher sections, for example, are 26% more expensive than they were just two seasons ago (2011).   Today's mean average bleacher price is $21.22, excluding fees.  As recently as 2004, under previous management, these individually purchased seats sold for $11.50... and $11 during the championship 2001 season.  But for next month's home opener against St Louis?  $33 a pop.  <br />
330. <br />
331. For 25 lower demand games, the club offers $9 Outfield Reserve seats, which is <em>still </em>more expensive than the lowest priced points of entry offered by most divisional rivals. The megamarket <a href="http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ballpark/seating_pricing.jsp">Dodgers</a> and enormously successful <a href="http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/ticketing/pricing.jsp?c_id=sf&layout=gameflow&">Giants</a>, for example, both offer $8 uppers for assorted low demand games, and tickets to Colorado's popular centerfield bleachers, <a href="http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/col/ballpark/seating_pricing.jsp">The Rockpile</a>, are just $4 across the <em>entire</em> 81 game schedule.  Including Opening Day.  <br />
332. <br />
333. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
334. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQip7_lFyawGDaKrQ2uhcAdaPEjoKq151D36cemCACirn9t6GScKQEwzuTINq32MkI5XL4Q8xblY8IzX0GDrOVXeUNQeVUETTafAz2eVs_TrV4p9U9x_yo0BLabei8fx3XFdm5A/s1600/HallClap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQip7_lFyawGDaKrQ2uhcAdaPEjoKq151D36cemCACirn9t6GScKQEwzuTINq32MkI5XL4Q8xblY8IzX0GDrOVXeUNQeVUETTafAz2eVs_TrV4p9U9x_yo0BLabei8fx3XFdm5A/s640/HallClap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
335. <br />
336. <br />
337. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/6982885804462101513/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=6982885804462101513' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/6982885804462101513'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/6982885804462101513'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/with-friends-like-this.html' title='With Friends Like This...'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifobldjhuc9n_HIUYtpFHUKpAnVBUCfeHGfLnVq-dv9R-uBb-d8ueTGAvzdkgtgFpS46IXSCBflfjpGEehXHQio7zl4GI3L9qH_Kae5441tK8JKCCpmW278vVrWg1PZoLqknYQg/s72-c/HallAct.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-2478272565560795189</id><published>2013-02-28T00:01:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2013-03-29T08:13:12.914-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Puttin&#39; On The Pits</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;T&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;here were five or six reasons why this page lay dormant&amp;nbsp;for ages&amp;nbsp;and none of them are all that interesting. But there&#39;s two reasons why I&#39;m back. To talk Diamondbacks&#39; baseball and bear witness to&amp;nbsp;the horrors&amp;nbsp;metastasizing at azsnakepit.com.&lt;br /&gt;
338. <br />
339. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
340. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65uscEhNGQXxnuERoG-8v3TcrB-0PZt-0Yt55Fbm6v6H6HA5nU2Oxpvb5r_NU83rXro17GLRDTPQkVF9nxIIMSFdEVthbw8HacO6V1vExoPl6HInUspxcTUj1OKp-1Urrfc9UOQ/s1600/phantommenace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65uscEhNGQXxnuERoG-8v3TcrB-0PZt-0Yt55Fbm6v6H6HA5nU2Oxpvb5r_NU83rXro17GLRDTPQkVF9nxIIMSFdEVthbw8HacO6V1vExoPl6HInUspxcTUj1OKp-1Urrfc9UOQ/s400/phantommenace.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
341. <br />
342. <br />
343. The horrors, I tell you. <br />
344. <br />
345. The Pit's set forth a <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/2/21/4015816/snakepit-protocol-a-reminder">sweeping censorship campaign</a> disguised as some civility overhaul, and I got taken off guard - and offline - during a pomp and circumstantial <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2BDj34c7YA">Changing of The Mods</a>.  This adolescent and uncivil power grab they dub "A New Hope" more closely resembles "The Phantom Menace" with hints of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI">The Spanish Inquisition</a>. Mainstream remarks magically disappear, sometimes <em>en masse</em>, and the funniest part is sinister warnings are issued<em> after</em> you're punished and your comment is killed.  <br />
346. <br />
347. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYIZsxoH8BvysIWiqapYB_RuhlYFA1y1JGAr16wil_C4ym14Au6F7AGBEaX_NW6o3k_W0esDEWqkDRoMg3y-QF7DdpJ8WtjuPXhR1ft6-3P3HgUdpjWA3xe8TfOmCMoYqnsfdfrw/s1600/Caution-Iceberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYIZsxoH8BvysIWiqapYB_RuhlYFA1y1JGAr16wil_C4ym14Au6F7AGBEaX_NW6o3k_W0esDEWqkDRoMg3y-QF7DdpJ8WtjuPXhR1ft6-3P3HgUdpjWA3xe8TfOmCMoYqnsfdfrw/s320/Caution-Iceberg.png" width="213" /></a>These after the fact "warnings" or chilly online icebergs, lock up one's screen with all the inherent charm of pop up malware, except there you might at least momentarily glimpse something useful, like an indecent girl or decent mortage rate, instead of being laboriously told what you already know isnt true: that YOU HAVE BEEN ISSUED A WARNING!!!<br />
348. <br />
349. <div style="text-align: center;">
350. **************************</div>
351. <br />
352. In club news, somehow this <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/insiders/kaytechristensen/2013/02/25/diamondbacks-fans-wont-want-to-miss-this/">free postgame storytelling confab</a> completely eluded the Pit's <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/masthead">paltry eight man editorial staff</a>.   Bound to happen, I suppose, when they're up to their epaulets, restricting all speech requiring restriction.  <br />
353. <br />
354. <br />
355. One thing I <em>did</em> see over there was this<a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2013/02/25/jeff-moorads-15-million-paradise.html?s=image_gallery"> magnificent slideshow</a> of Jeff Moorad's 16,100 sq foot house in PV.  Apparently, it's up for sale again. You may remember Moorad. He was Kendrick's partner, whose mlb ownership application here was a long, drawn out, contentious struggle. When he finally two timed his way out of Phoenix, he and Kendrick squabbled for two more years over Moorad's outgoing share. Then his failed attempt to buy the Padres took another couple years. Now he's trying to dump his Queen Mary of the Desert for the second or third time. <br />
356. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
357. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXls2Crv4STg3UkvZtpRFnfFvBGo7CbLtyfErz2xGEa3RoEO47R5p-ZbujIO4nfwmaFq45FVX9rm3WKyPwetqwA4e-vc0hA9hQC6rDeQXzJZKiIIBycmWTcfdA64N1eqUxBiptlw/s1600/mooradkendrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXls2Crv4STg3UkvZtpRFnfFvBGo7CbLtyfErz2xGEa3RoEO47R5p-ZbujIO4nfwmaFq45FVX9rm3WKyPwetqwA4e-vc0hA9hQC6rDeQXzJZKiIIBycmWTcfdA64N1eqUxBiptlw/s1600/mooradkendrick.jpg" /></a></div>
358. <br />
359. I cant find evidence Moorad's tried to actually kill any of his adversaries, but it seems reasonable to conclude from this litany that one of his negotiation strategies is hoping some of them will simply die of old age.<br />
360. <br />
361. And take a look at that house!   Maybe if he had downsized a tad, to nine or ten bathrooms, he'd have saved just enough to buy the Padres.<br />
362. <br />
363. &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IMPORTANT  UPDATE&lt;/strong&gt;:  Turns out the Pit &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/2/25/4026404/diamondbacks-spring-training-round-up&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;did note the storytelling bit&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, in the ninth paragraph of one of their roundup columns. And I missed it. One of their typists was kind enough to bring that to my understandably sporadic attention ;-).&lt;/em&gt; </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/2478272565560795189/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=2478272565560795189' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/2478272565560795189'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/2478272565560795189'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2013/02/puttin-on-pits.html' title='Puttin&#39; On The Pits'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65uscEhNGQXxnuERoG-8v3TcrB-0PZt-0Yt55Fbm6v6H6HA5nU2Oxpvb5r_NU83rXro17GLRDTPQkVF9nxIIMSFdEVthbw8HacO6V1vExoPl6HInUspxcTUj1OKp-1Urrfc9UOQ/s72-c/phantommenace.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-5104833647740547279</id><published>2012-10-07T01:30:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2012-10-07T08:54:11.622-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Available For Purchase!  Hacks&#39; Proven Betting System - Now Just $19.95!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
364. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSJINle3EpmOdslVlFxDsbNevVRScimHwevvq0ig816iP2nvXKF6upiWtTB8LOHg9KHb6i5bXQtkvWNdQWFlTr0B80TU8JnaUQHHObTmBpGDGmT0VPNy0idch71gX5__yVJAaVg/s1600/sportsbook1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSJINle3EpmOdslVlFxDsbNevVRScimHwevvq0ig816iP2nvXKF6upiWtTB8LOHg9KHb6i5bXQtkvWNdQWFlTr0B80TU8JnaUQHHObTmBpGDGmT0VPNy0idch71gX5__yVJAaVg/s640/sportsbook1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
365. <br />
366. <br />
367. The plain, hard <strong>fact</strong> is most sports gamblers lose money.  The reason for
368. this is <strong>simple</strong>: a lack of knowledge about the <strong>secrets</strong> of sports betting success! <br />
369. <br />
370. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
371. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc4SMtQjehrQ4-g1XmYVJCxGIUVWR1Rugm8LJJZMDIbCbs7bnf0NwAoxI00oVnuO3jr-d7cH8nG0IBFpIrKsvPEpFIiKVh7jw9DPUnp1m8f0VlcQp6TVpWbq0LF5WeGmk_IFo7A/s1600/CharlesBarkley03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilc4SMtQjehrQ4-g1XmYVJCxGIUVWR1Rugm8LJJZMDIbCbs7bnf0NwAoxI00oVnuO3jr-d7cH8nG0IBFpIrKsvPEpFIiKVh7jw9DPUnp1m8f0VlcQp6TVpWbq0LF5WeGmk_IFo7A/s320/CharlesBarkley03.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
372. <br />
373. <br />
374. This is why <span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;"><strong>Hack's Sports</strong></span> was the <strong>first</strong> to develop the heralded <a href="http://www.tech-faq.com/wp-content/uploads/images/random-number-vulnerability.jpg">spinning gypsy unit system</a>
375. for sports betting, over fourteen years ago.  To provide <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/i/sized/1/F/A/e298/j350/PHP48CAE432E6AF1.jpg">chronic losers</a> the necessary secrets to<strong> win</strong> at sports betting!  <br />
376. <br />
377. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
378. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5pqiBJsTZCu1kEMtE7IbZ4ETQmpu68k3bk-nioktLcsqfBnsnprVdX56L9YSuEa63PYGntDMf-5sxxWGhprcV_ukemCqAXaWpM1YHvTRucfsuq2IS6mcMhPxhZuU36yyrGdJrQ/s1600/sports-book2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5pqiBJsTZCu1kEMtE7IbZ4ETQmpu68k3bk-nioktLcsqfBnsnprVdX56L9YSuEa63PYGntDMf-5sxxWGhprcV_ukemCqAXaWpM1YHvTRucfsuq2IS6mcMhPxhZuU36yyrGdJrQ/s400/sports-book2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
379. <br />
380. <br />
381. Many "services" now use a "system" <strong>similar</strong> to
382. mine. I know from shopping <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2012/4/6/2929091/predicting-the-nl-west-arizona-diamondbacks">the competition</a> that <strong>none</strong> of them have had the
383. <strong>success</strong><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">*</span> I've had over the years. As with many things in life, experience
384. matters. Whether you're a doctor, auto mechanic, lover or sports handicapper; the longer you <strong>do </strong>something the more
385. you learn and the fewer mistakes <strong>you </strong>make! <br />
386. <br />
387. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
388. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQOvIprbyM-6E1gB1lfgyrxGt117Q9IjnA8dXhz_WaUJyvp9X8ZkPlZkXpvPjU5N16tVj-0GbyV8dNh9AcgGL554RgwYs5w1Kr476ZQWBpsLYNBs1wAD-thipxRnM4hyphenhyphenOQSJr1Q/s1600/important-things-that-should-never-done-during-making-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQOvIprbyM-6E1gB1lfgyrxGt117Q9IjnA8dXhz_WaUJyvp9X8ZkPlZkXpvPjU5N16tVj-0GbyV8dNh9AcgGL554RgwYs5w1Kr476ZQWBpsLYNBs1wAD-thipxRnM4hyphenhyphenOQSJr1Q/s640/important-things-that-should-never-done-during-making-love.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
389. <br />
390. <br />
391. <br />
392. <br />
393. This is what I<strong> do</strong>. I am the sole founder, owner and prognasticatory professional at <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><strong>Hack's Sports</strong></span> </span>since it opened in 1998. I have more experience and applied knowledge about the <a href="http://watchdog.org/files/2012/07/SpinningNumbers.jpg">spinning gypsy unit system</a> <strong>than</strong> anyone in our industry!  And I can make it work for <strong>you,</strong> on your road to financial independence.<br />
394. <br />
395. <br />
396. <br />
397. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
398. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj28y_u65CSQAerSnNNDKWIStJDiAu3IbxagzCsyeqZcd-5wrLi-KkOeyu-ivP-66su7baYEYi-9d4aE8GnhKqnpbpZnHOgNlQ8rNztfQR6XXBa02_foOFb_CuPqRpei5Vz6AcPlA/s1600/6a00d8341bf80c53ef00e5519bfda08834-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj28y_u65CSQAerSnNNDKWIStJDiAu3IbxagzCsyeqZcd-5wrLi-KkOeyu-ivP-66su7baYEYi-9d4aE8GnhKqnpbpZnHOgNlQ8rNztfQR6XXBa02_foOFb_CuPqRpei5Vz6AcPlA/s400/6a00d8341bf80c53ef00e5519bfda08834-800wi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
399. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
400.  </div>
401. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
402.  </div>
403. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
404. <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, YOU POOR IMPOTENT BASTARDS?</span> </span></div>
405. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
406. <span style="font-size: large;"></span> </div>
407. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
408. <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><em>ANOTHER </em>SPORTS BETTING SMACKDOWN???</span></span></div>
409. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
410.  </div>
411. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
412.  </div>
413. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
414. <span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><strong>CALL TODAY !!!</strong></span></div>
415. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
416. <span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><strong></strong></span> </div>
417. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
418. <span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><strong></strong></span> </div>
419. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
420. <span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">* </span>"He got three out of four. What can I say?" - Nate Silver</span><strong></strong></span></div>
421. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/5104833647740547279/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=5104833647740547279' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5104833647740547279'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5104833647740547279'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/purchase-hacks-proven-betting-system.html' title='Available For Purchase!  Hacks&#39; Proven Betting System - Now Just $19.95!!!'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSJINle3EpmOdslVlFxDsbNevVRScimHwevvq0ig816iP2nvXKF6upiWtTB8LOHg9KHb6i5bXQtkvWNdQWFlTr0B80TU8JnaUQHHObTmBpGDGmT0VPNy0idch71gX5__yVJAaVg/s72-c/sportsbook1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-3346912614009506984</id><published>2012-03-05T23:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2012-03-05T23:09:10.103-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Rockies Bring B Game</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
422. &lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdAsr39GyWRdLiQdSgDM5DDbXu4ktffKfKXVBSSoRDg_yzgB0ZFFKFGAL-X_7ZPX4rEylp3QKAFBZeRkpbBZVBi3wZcxkEb3Tx5d74wOXgzqPf66TWFRaqOWBa7hPejT6wUHojQ/s1600/Rockies+3512+001.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdAsr39GyWRdLiQdSgDM5DDbXu4ktffKfKXVBSSoRDg_yzgB0ZFFKFGAL-X_7ZPX4rEylp3QKAFBZeRkpbBZVBi3wZcxkEb3Tx5d74wOXgzqPf66TWFRaqOWBa7hPejT6wUHojQ/s400/Rockies+3512+001.JPG&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/3346912614009506984/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=3346912614009506984' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/3346912614009506984'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/3346912614009506984'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2012/03/rockies-bring-b-game.html' title='Rockies Bring B Game'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdAsr39GyWRdLiQdSgDM5DDbXu4ktffKfKXVBSSoRDg_yzgB0ZFFKFGAL-X_7ZPX4rEylp3QKAFBZeRkpbBZVBi3wZcxkEb3Tx5d74wOXgzqPf66TWFRaqOWBa7hPejT6wUHojQ/s72-c/Rockies+3512+001.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-6195079228409685003</id><published>2011-10-16T23:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2014-01-03T21:19:01.915-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Phoenix &#39;Small Market&#39;, Per Derrick Hall</title><content type='html'>&lt;em&gt;Gem&amp;nbsp;from &lt;a href=&quot;http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111013&amp;amp;content_id=25643166&amp;amp;vkey=news_ari&amp;amp;c_id=ari&quot;&gt;Thursday&#39;s CEO Chat&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
423. <br />
424. <b>Derrick Hall:</b> <span style="color: #660000;"><strong><em>We are defined as a small market based on pricing and revenues. </em><em>The larger markets have the greater revenues, and thus the larger payrolls. Despite our population, we are defined as a small market club</em></strong>.</span> <br />
425. <br />
426. A characteristically deft and misleading statement. Let's break it down:<br />
427. <br />
428. <em></em><br />
429. <em></em><br />
430. <blockquote>
431. <em>We are defined as a <strong>small market</strong> based on <strong>pricing and revenues</strong>. </em></blockquote>
432. <em>
433. </em>
434.  
435. No. The Diamondbacks are more accurately defined as a small <em>franchise, </em>by way of discretionary spending and a thinly veiled corporate disregard for what customers actually want. Resulting gate revenue is a nexus of market and how artfully Hall's tiered prices enable and drive customer utility, which evidenced by a perennially half empty stadium, isnt too artful.
436.  
437. <br />
438. <br />
439. By contrast, the adjacent Suns levy some of <a href="https://www.teammarketing.com/public/files/2010_NBA_FCI.pdf">the NBA's higher prices</a>, and regularly realize <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2011">above average attendance</a> (and corresponding revenues). Only eight NFL teams charge less than the <a href="http://seatgeek.com/football-nfl-ticket-prices/">Cardinals' $87.58 average ticket</a>, yet the Cards <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance/_/year/2006/sort/homePct">have sold out (99%+ capacity)</a> five consecutive seasons (2006-10). Even our newly challenged "little" baseball franchise on Jefferson exceeded NL average attendance seven consecutive years - under previous ownership - but has mysteriously lagged league average draw for seven straight years under Mr Kendrick. <br />
440. <br />
441. This isnt to suggest Phoenix is a notable hotbed of rabid fandom, but rather to expose Hall's contrary implication that daunting demographics or economics resign Phoenix sports franchises to an inevitable consequence of half empty stadiums and measly revenue.
442.  
443. <br />
444. <br />
445. Market <strong>size</strong> is best defined by market <strong>size. </strong>Refining it with per capita<strong> income </strong> to better approximate potential market <strong>demand, </strong>is appropriate. And assuming that the recession eats into ticket sales sounds reasonable. But to imply that some overarching <em>theoretical</em> market ceiling, looming over local sports demand, is inevitably or primarily responsible for the Dbacks' <em>actual and specific</em> "small market" revenues is a deductive fallacy that smacks of artifice.<br />
446. <br />
447. For years, Hall has spread a narrative that his front office is "doing everything right" off the field, despite the club's poorest extended attendance record coinciding with his leadership. Blame for spotty attendance is lobbed anywhere but there. First he blamed baseball ops for not winning enough games. Then when Byrnes won the most games in baseball between 2007 and early 2008 and still didnt draw much, Hall implicated Jerry Colangelo for the franchise's "lack of identity and continuity". In March 2008, I sat in Hall's office where he posited that this "lack of identity" went back four or five years, which is amusing given five years prior to our meeting, Colangelo's Dbacks were coming off a 98 win playoff season witnessed by 3.2 million paying fans. Or just a tick under 40 thousand per game.<br />
448. <br />
449. <br />
450. By 2009, excuses planted by Hall and his broadcasting minions about local fans not grasping the game's competitive vicissitudes, or appreciating his efforts to build a "championship style team" under AJ Hinch, were well established. When that narrative died on the vine, he started blaming "the economy". When the team "on the field" inexplicably won another title in 2011 and Hall still drew barely 2 million, now apparently we're a "small market" in "the economy". Who knew. <br />
451. <br />
452. <span style="color: black;">The unaccountable logic Hall is trying to pass off is the same code language he's crafted for years, and it's the same con game Bud Selig and his daughter tried to pass off in Milwaukee for two decades: </span><br />
453. <br />
454. <strong><span style="color: purple;">Fans arent coming to our games, <em>but it's not our fault</em>. </span></strong><br />
455. <br />
456. <strong><span style="color: purple;">It's somebody else's fault. </span></strong><br />
457. <br />
458. <strong><span style="color: purple;">Yeah, we own the business and set the prices and provide the entertainment, but it's basically the people's fault. </span></strong><br />
459. <br />
460. <strong><span style="color: purple;">The fans. Customers. The market. </span></strong><br />
461. <br />
462. <span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="color: purple;">Believe me, we're doing everything humanly possible to attract fans to the ballpark. I dont honestly see how another owner could do more under these circumstances.</span></strong> </span><br />
463. <br />
464. Until a Jerry Colangelo or Mark Attanasio or Mark Cuban comes along. Someone who delivers reliable value instead of insisting that a market respond to empty embellishments.<br />
465. <br />
466. <span style="color: #660000;"><strong><em>The larger markets have the greater revenues, and thus the larger payrolls. Despite our population, we are defined as a small market club</em></strong>.</span> <br />
467. <br />
468. For now, I wont quibble with the payroll chain of reasoning because there's something more subtle and interesting here.... and quintesentially Hall. Notice how more lucrative markets are described rather expansively - he doesnt say "large" markets, which tends to limit our focus to behemoths like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. He says "larger" markets, with "greater" revenues. He's trying to evoke as many markets over Phoenix as possible. Which is fine, until....<br />
469. <br />
470. ...he abandons that rhetorical standard by repeatedly labeling Phoenix as a "small" market. Not "small-<b>er</b>". Not slightly below average. Not ahead of eleven (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/33/baseball-valuations-11_land.html">count em, eleven</a>) franchises in 2010 revenue. And god forbid! Not "middle third".  No, no, no. Dont you see? We're just "small".  You know, like Pittsburgh and Florida and so on. Poor "small" us.  There are, apparently, no "mid market" franchises in Derrick Hall's breezily manipulative lexicon. Only "larger" and....<br />
471. <br />
472. "Small". <br />
473. <br />
474. One irony of this 'deft' salesmanship, of course, is that Mr Hall, Chief Information Operator, has now presided over five of the seven lowest attended campaigns in franchise history. So he's intimately familiar with the concept of small, even if he cheerfully refuses to own up to it.<br />
475. <br />
476. A final irony, perhaps, is while Mr Hall toasts 2011 by deflecting responsibility for subpar attendance with &quot;small market&quot; fabrications, fifteen years ago his effective predecessor, Colangelo, began selling millions more tickets than Hall in a Valley comprised of one and a half million fewer residents than today. To put that population gap in perspective, one and a half million is the current population of the nation&#39;s fifth largest city - which happens to be Phoenix. &amp;nbsp;Or the population of Milwaukee&#39;s entire statistical metro.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/6195079228409685003/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=6195079228409685003' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/6195079228409685003'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/6195079228409685003'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/10/phoenix-small-market-per-derrick-hall.html' title='Phoenix &#39;Small Market&#39;, Per Derrick Hall'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-4048391254345261958</id><published>2011-10-10T00:08:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-10T16:15:18.619-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Surely and Slyly</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;S&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;uppose I need to say &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt;, if for no other reason than to&amp;nbsp;finesse &lt;a href=&quot;http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/09/hall-eyes-elective-surgery-as-employees.html&quot;&gt;Derrick&#39;s prostate&lt;/a&gt; off my front page. While others confirm our brick red battalion&amp;nbsp;lost an evenly matched NLDS, and before that, won an awful lot, and generally seem pretty happy about it, I&#39;m disillusioned. Not with the club or Gibby or even with Nyjer &quot;Not So &lt;a href=&quot;http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2009/01/lovely-morgan.html&quot;&gt;Lovely&quot; Morgan&lt;/a&gt;. I&#39;ve lost&amp;nbsp;confidence and trust in Major League Baseball, specificially its arbitration&amp;nbsp;of balls and strikes.&lt;br /&gt;
477. <br />
478. Before you <em>assume</em> I'm a misguided poor sport, let me assert that the Diamondbacks were robbed in Milwaukee, as surely as Jesse James robbed banks and as slyly as banks robbed this country.  And the disturbing part is, these games really were pretty well adjudicated, by MLB standards. At least to the naked eye.  So well, in fact, that no one to my knowledge is complaining about it.<br />
479. <br />
480. But thanks to TBS displaying PitchTrax in an offset window throughout the series, we were able to track the subtle shenanigans of just how one sided umpiring has become. To the naked eye, Game 5 started really well. Unlike Game 1, when Gallardo was visibly gifted with called strikes on the bottom edge that were consistently denied IPK, the Dbacks patiently took many close pitches <em>just</em> off the plate - and the umpire here was resolute before the din of the Milwaukee throng.  He called one outside pitch on Hill a strike, early in the count, but other than that was rock solid.  The Dbacks worked Yovanni's pitch count and the home crowd was not pleased.   <br />
481. <br />
482. When IPK took the hill, it was clear from PitchTrax that he was painting the edges of the zone better, or at least more aggressively, than Gallardo. IPK was, for the most part, throwing strikes, towards the edges, whereas Gallardo tended to miss one, two or three inches off the outside corner. The umpiring accurately reflected that. <br />
483. <br />
484. Things fell apart, though, during Justin Upton's second AB in the third inning. The first two pitches were clearly outside to Arizona's most celebrated hitter - yet both were called strikes. Neither was an "edge" location that could be called "either way", less so given the pretty tight zone established over the frst couple innings. So instead of 2-0 to your 30 home run dude, it's 0-2 against a strikeout pitcher. Yovanni preceded with care and Upton worked the count. Justin then got his team's biggest gift, when a high but clear strike on PitchTrax was missed by the ump, and JU later lofted a solo home run in the at bat. <br />
485. <br />
486. There were three umpire errors in that one PA. Brewer fans were understandably ticked by the missed strike, but the whole AB was messed up and the fact is most of the breaks in it went the Brewers way. <br />
487. <br />
488. It got worse after the Dbacks took the 1-0 lead on the road. By midgame, I'd tallied eight or nine gifts for Gallardo, one for Kennedy and the one for Upton. Saito relieved and got a couple calls. But the worst was Frankie Rodriguez, who transformed his appropriately French-named battery mate, LeCroy, into an NHL goalie, with an assortment of 55 foot sliders, jerked fastballs soaring over the opposite batters' box and what may have been a couple wrist shots.<br />
489. <br />
490. After Aaron Hill led off with a walk and Upton took a pair of balls nowhere near the plate, F-Raud was presented with a strike two or three inches outside, per Pitchtrax. It's one thing when you give a pitcher a 2-0 strike when he's more or less hitting spots or if you've established a wide zone for both sides, but neither applied here. No Diamondback pitcher got that call, let alone anyone that wild, begging the question if Frankie's uniform influenced the call. Milwaukee's setup showman followed up with terrific 2-1 slider, eventually whiffing Upton and the Dbacks failed to score, despite a Montero single and a couple walks in the inning.<br />
491. <br />
492. <br />
493. We'll never know what would've happened if Upton went to 3-0, late in a pressure game with men on, but as this whole series, and particularly the finale, was so evenly contested, one cant help but wonder if one team getting a dozen or more 'breaks' and the other receiving three or four didnt effect the overall outcome.<br />
494. <br />
495. The big takeaway isnt that Milwaukee got breaks at home. Or any implication their sterling record at Miller Park is more or less tainted than other home marks. And to be fair, I didnt see Pitch Trax for the games at Chase, because I attended both - who knows what transpired, on and off the corners, those nights. The revelation, for me, was <em>the size</em> of the discrepancy between what my naked eye told me was the extent of favoritism - and what PitchTrax objectively exposed it as. <br />
496. <br />
497. When I say objectively, I dont mean objective balls and strikes. The grid is just a superimposed image over the plate and can be positioned poorly, as in the DET/NYY NLDS, where fastballs in the dirt regularly registered as low strikes on PitchTrax .  I mean that PitchTrax objectively exposed<em> identical pitch locations that were assigned different values</em> by the umpire, and those values correlated quite a bit with the pitcher's uniform. It doesnt really matter if individual pitches were in or out of a "true" zone. What matters is that identical pitch locations were called inconsistently, and that the inconsistency appears somewhat predictable (ie not random).<br />
498. <br />
499. That's what PitchTrax helps clarify and quantify. Without it, you'd watch a game and say, geez that "looked" a little outside and that pitch looked "about the same" as the one the ump called differently earlier. You get a sense one team's being favored, but you're not <em>sure</em>. Especially on the plethora of borderline pitches, where good teams and pitchers live.<br />
500. <br />
501. Until Frankie Rodriguez waltzed into the eighth, the naked eye (along with ambient crowd noise) told me this was a well officiated zone, if anything favoring the Diamondbacks. Gallardo's pitch count was up. The crowd was mad about a bunch of called balls from Gallardo that looked close. The pitch before Upton's homer looked darn good. Ian Kennedy didnt struggle much with balls and strikes. A few called strikes to Dbacks looked a little outside, so overall it looked pretty even handed to the naked eye, after discounting the crowd's wrath.  Certainly not a home job, as in Game 1 or the Dbacks final visit to AT&T Park.  But PitchTrax still exposed a litany of more subtle discrepancies that generally favored the home team.  <br />
502. <br />
503. Concerns are obvious. A decade ago, people snickered at the thought NBA games were "fixed", but now we know better. The potential financial benefit to any league ensuring home teams win as often as possible is large.  Local fans have a good time and return. The well established disparity between NBA home and away records is alarming, to a point where home status has a higher correlation with game outcome than the relative strengths of the teams. Baseball, where the relative strengths of starting pitchers often drive daily results, tends to mitigate this home/away effect. <br />
504. <br />
505. But I wonder if it's getting worse. I'll have to look into that. We know from steroid and free agent history that baseball's barons slyly collude at the expense of competition on the field, and it might be in their perceived (and notoriously shortsighted) interests to once again do so. Make every home team a "winner". Fans will surely love it.<br />
506. <br />
507. Oh, and congratulations, Milwaukee. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/4048391254345261958/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=4048391254345261958' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4048391254345261958'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4048391254345261958'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/10/surely-and-slyly.html' title='Surely and Slyly'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-5909772779062364800</id><published>2011-09-25T00:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-09-25T00:37:07.057-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Hall Mulls Elective Surgery, Dbacks Clinch</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #990000; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;D&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;backs CEO and Chief Information Operator, Derrick Hall,&amp;nbsp;declared&amp;nbsp;in a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/09/20/20110920arizona-diamondbacks-pittsburgh-pirates-sights.html&quot;&gt;declared&amp;nbsp;press conference&lt;/a&gt; that he has declarative early stage (I or II) prostate cancer and is &quot;thinking about&quot; a November surgery to remove the malignancy.&lt;br /&gt;
508. <br />
509. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
510. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JVUkfGBa8gCT1wRHklI6jWf2RSq8gt6J0LMBl2R_ZJDg_bhcHGjIEpIylCWlNKdyuSFgy4-VkcyJUjxrIDmPjkRmVviQHnH72_ap47Gyv9ECny5dv4nuKS5GLxbGJ5-z0bxR9w/s1600/prostate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JVUkfGBa8gCT1wRHklI6jWf2RSq8gt6J0LMBl2R_ZJDg_bhcHGjIEpIylCWlNKdyuSFgy4-VkcyJUjxrIDmPjkRmVviQHnH72_ap47Gyv9ECny5dv4nuKS5GLxbGJ5-z0bxR9w/s320/prostate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
511. <br />
512. The five year survival rate for most prostate cancers (including Stage III and many Stage IV diagnoses where cancer has spread to nearby tissue) is <a href="http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/prostate-cancer-survival-rates">nearly 100%</a>. The ten year survival rate, which includes these later stage, regional malignancies, and reflects higher historical mortality due to subsequent medical advances, is 91%. Most diagnosed prostate cancers, however, are Stage I or II and Hall's is presumed to be such. If so, his mortality prognosis is essentially the same as a 46 year old male with no cancer at all.<br />
513. <br />
514. In other news, his players won the NL West.  <br />
515. <br />
516. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8P8jld7sEjl4OXX_Tst4LJO09Isw-ou9mYDgnzlmpIH946P3nGDTMctjRgv6kzvLvuIAmUKke-ZzyIJm1XKX8YmBkaXlFBMMHiovR10I3ydFcIgIsoUQFNnW-C-e3JiXViVpJw/s1600/NLW+Champs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8P8jld7sEjl4OXX_Tst4LJO09Isw-ou9mYDgnzlmpIH946P3nGDTMctjRgv6kzvLvuIAmUKke-ZzyIJm1XKX8YmBkaXlFBMMHiovR10I3ydFcIgIsoUQFNnW-C-e3JiXViVpJw/s320/NLW+Champs.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD9yqVdICeJMbxP-G6rw478bUx2HLrlz5IkXoo8xXu6xI35RxVcB6651O0XNLcC-TSG2fhpcczEv15qEQQTkRkrqmjOxUv558nuNhq6o7PzdeY10DNIsCrycn-hHhZCKLEkIorQ/s1600/Celebrate.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD9yqVdICeJMbxP-G6rw478bUx2HLrlz5IkXoo8xXu6xI35RxVcB6651O0XNLcC-TSG2fhpcczEv15qEQQTkRkrqmjOxUv558nuNhq6o7PzdeY10DNIsCrycn-hHhZCKLEkIorQ/s320/Celebrate.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
517. <br />
518. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoO4RB8XKo-aETnH0q9qOeMjOhV2qfNFn6F6yBJMxnAHNDAF36JRzzk6Vh7jr337e2dTwXotxLsswWHVvQ0Er1W3s-WHcUnMsIHw-aL7at560b9dqvfpoozEP3Jxj5lNT2s3vchw/s1600/Celebrate2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoO4RB8XKo-aETnH0q9qOeMjOhV2qfNFn6F6yBJMxnAHNDAF36JRzzk6Vh7jr337e2dTwXotxLsswWHVvQ0Er1W3s-WHcUnMsIHw-aL7at560b9dqvfpoozEP3Jxj5lNT2s3vchw/s320/Celebrate2.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
519. <br />
520. <br />
521. <br />
522. <br />
523. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkojhFe8JHsnHJJ2EI-2IR2Jq2FsIY3lBP7E81Ab7qun401giqlaR4KDGf9mbKX8ty6bR-5UqwBsfDX6vzlqXfvuet0rqOabaH6BfHqYPZwnmXcNJC0o1JxncRndCqvwKlktyYA/s1600/GibsonPile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkojhFe8JHsnHJJ2EI-2IR2Jq2FsIY3lBP7E81Ab7qun401giqlaR4KDGf9mbKX8ty6bR-5UqwBsfDX6vzlqXfvuet0rqOabaH6BfHqYPZwnmXcNJC0o1JxncRndCqvwKlktyYA/s320/GibsonPile.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
524. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
525. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NGLvZ37U7_etpLVZI8P8W5ycvXLPwth4ke7DUCZWleVDAu3p9iso8T9J4_0qNNNTHyU4TngJj_7pKll4ZwizClGHZwawHAlwa3239WIAa-rULxrAgDqu8cTzJ0ZLptp0SWxqmQ/s1600/Roberts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NGLvZ37U7_etpLVZI8P8W5ycvXLPwth4ke7DUCZWleVDAu3p9iso8T9J4_0qNNNTHyU4TngJj_7pKll4ZwizClGHZwawHAlwa3239WIAa-rULxrAgDqu8cTzJ0ZLptp0SWxqmQ/s320/Roberts.JPG" width="201" /></a></div>
526. <br />
527. <br />
528. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
529. Ryan Roberts, above</div>
530. <br />
531. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
532. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAU9-Z6-7_DCFMuwhNmarFGY-4ZuyyS_0ruZU-0EnoamytmhlJcOp71w2VEi1sgKobJ_T-x0kJrfMw3S13HrIpEeiaT09zFYwl8Ga-hXecn-Tq8vpR2UIqzItTdyfLIIu2gDMRVg/s1600/Poolfencehop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAU9-Z6-7_DCFMuwhNmarFGY-4ZuyyS_0ruZU-0EnoamytmhlJcOp71w2VEi1sgKobJ_T-x0kJrfMw3S13HrIpEeiaT09zFYwl8Ga-hXecn-Tq8vpR2UIqzItTdyfLIIu2gDMRVg/s320/Poolfencehop.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
533. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
534. <br /></div>
535. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
536. </div>
537. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/5909772779062364800/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=5909772779062364800' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5909772779062364800'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/5909772779062364800'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/09/hall-eyes-elective-surgery-as-employees.html' title='Hall Mulls Elective Surgery, Dbacks Clinch'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JVUkfGBa8gCT1wRHklI6jWf2RSq8gt6J0LMBl2R_ZJDg_bhcHGjIEpIylCWlNKdyuSFgy4-VkcyJUjxrIDmPjkRmVviQHnH72_ap47Gyv9ECny5dv4nuKS5GLxbGJ5-z0bxR9w/s72-c/prostate.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-2297183653173041527</id><published>2011-09-09T14:08:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-09-20T00:33:24.793-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Amazin&#39; ???</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
538. <span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><span style="color: orange;">A</span><span style="color: blue;">M</span><span style="background-color: white; color: purple;">A</span><span style="color: purple;">Z</span><span style="color: #990000;">I</span><span style="color: #990000;">N</span>'</strong></span></div>
539. <div style="text-align: center;">
540. <br /></div>
541. <div style="text-align: center;">
542. <br /></div>
543. <div style="text-align: center;">
544. <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phIqfuiJAVE&feature=related">CAST</a></span></div>
545. <div style="text-align: center;">
546. <br /></div>
547. <div style="text-align: center;">
548. <br /></div>
549. <strong><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;">Gerry Grote</span>.....<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">portrayed by</span></em>......<span style="color: #990000;">Miguel Montero</span></strong><br />
550. <br />
551. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Donn Clendenon</span>.....Paul Goldschmidt</strong><br />
552. <br />
553. <strong><span style="color: blue;">Ken Boswell</span>.....<span style="color: #990000;">Aaron Hill</span></strong><br />
554. <br />
555. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Bud Harrelson</span>......John McDonald</strong><br />
556. <br />
557. <strong><span style="color: blue;">Ed Charles</span>.......<span style="color: #990000;">Sean Burroughs</span></strong><br />
558. <br />
559. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Cleon Jones</span>....Justin Upton</strong><br />
560. <br />
561. <strong><span style="color: blue;">Tommie Agee</span>.....<span style="color: #990000;">Chris Young</span></strong><br />
562. <br />
563. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Ron Swoboda</span>.....Gerardo Parra</strong><br />
564. <br />
565. <strong><span style="color: blue;">Ed Kranepool</span>.......<span style="color: purple;">Lyle Overbay</span></strong><br />
566. <br />
567. <div style="text-align: center;">
568. <em>-featuring-</em></div>
569. <br />
570. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Tom Seaver</span>......Ian Kennedy</strong><br />
571. <br />
572. <strong><span style="color: blue;">Jerry Koosman</span>......<span style="color: #990000;">Daniel Hudson</span></strong><br />
573. <br />
574. <strong><span style="color: orange;">Tug McGraw</span>....JJ Putz</strong><br />
575. <br />
576. <div style="text-align: center;">
577. <em>-and introducing -</em></div>
578. <div style="text-align: center;">
579. <br /></div>
580. <div style="text-align: center;">
581. <strong><span style="color: #990000;">Josh Collmentor</span> </strong>as<strong> <span style="color: blue;">Don Cardwell</span></strong></div>
582. <div style="text-align: center;">
583. <br /></div>
584. <div style="text-align: center;">
585. <em>-and-</em></div>
586. <div style="text-align: center;">
587. <br /></div>
588. <div style="text-align: center;">
589. <strong><span style="color: #990000;">David Hernandez</span> </strong>as<strong> "<span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRDW_0goM-Q">The Young Nolan Ryan</a></span>"</strong></div>
590. <div style="text-align: center;">
591. <br /></div>
592. <div style="text-align: center;">
593. <br /></div>
594. <ul>
595. <li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Watch the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=k2DRdoM7tmU">trailer</a> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">of the 1969 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE0Yqz_SuOE">film</a> on which the play is based.  </span></li>
596. </ul>
597. <br />
598.  <br />
599. <div style="text-align: center;">
600. <br /></div>
601. </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/2297183653173041527/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=2297183653173041527' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/2297183653173041527'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/2297183653173041527'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/09/amazin.html' title='Amazin&#39; ???'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-8360416723362721300</id><published>2011-06-19T12:29:00.016-07:00</published><updated>2011-06-20T00:57:13.021-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Analysis"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Josh Byrnes"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tributes"/><title type='text'>Young Man River</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;T&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;his Father&#39;s Day may be an apt&amp;nbsp;historical marker&amp;nbsp;for Phoenix ballfans to finally acknowledge that Justin Upton&#39;s our daddy. The four year, hyped wait&amp;nbsp;appears just about over for our oft-maligned superstar-in-training.&lt;br /&gt;
602. <br />
603. It's not just the<em> result</em> that he's <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=uptonju01&t=b&year=2011&share=3.76#474-493-sum:batting_gamelogs">smashing .434 over the past twenty games</a>, thrusting the not quite 24 year old among <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/league_leaders.jsp?statType=1&timeFrame=1&sortByStat=OPS&baseballScope=NL&timeSubFrame=2011">seasonal NL leaders</a>.  It's the visibly obvious, long wished for <em>process </em>leading up to the result that's so exciting.<br />
604. <br />
605. It's the swing, Stupid. <br />
606. <br />
607. Excuse me. "Daddy."<br />
608. <br />
609. He's shortened his swing, especially with two strikes, reaping ridiculous results. Pundits claim he is quicker to the ball, and he seems to be using that extra "time" to both select and square up better pitches to hit. Ironically, "being quicker and shorter" means he's pulling the ball <em>less</em> than ever. Everything's left center/right center, except for an occasional sharp grounder in the shortstop hole. <br />
610. <br />
611. He's spoiling tough two strike pitches, that used to march him back to the dugout.   It seemed as if Justin worked a lot of full counts, but then often came up empty with big overanxious swings. He's now earning more pitches, by fighting off foul tips and eventually "settling" for line drives and singles. <br />
612. <br />
613. He's shortened up on the back end too. His follow through was notable for tremendous upper bod twist and torque. Now, it almost looks like a relaxed, more compact check swing, dare I speak it - "<em>lazy</em>" - like he's just tapping the ball.  It visually reminds me of the way Luis Gonzalez tapped his way to 57 home runs in 2001. <br />
614. <br />
615. Justin is hitting just about everything on the button, which further incents pitchers to spot with care - and get behind. He is no longer one of the guys in this lineup. He has emerged as The Man, the daily center of attention in the box, who rival managers and pitchers wake up with on their minds and with sweat on their brow. <br />
616. <br />
617. This metamorphosis doesnt just get fools off his back and bolster clubhouse morale.  The transformation from one of too many big swinging 'sluggers' to a line drive-spitting OBP machine is precisely and objectively what this Kegger batting order Kraves. Josh Byrnes' nuclear Kore has more untimely power surges than APS. It has always lacked a reliable, daily source of direct current and contact, more like the current of a river. Like SRP.  A river that stays within its banks and both steadies and propels this powerful team.<br />
618. <br />
619. The Diamondacks arent quite as solid as they look and may be slowly dissolving as we speak. Justin Upton is stemming that tide. The fellas are finally floating on his muscular back, and we'll see how long he can keep them afloat.  He is not the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s">Father of Waters</a>, not yet, but has grown into a river and a man. <br />
620. <br />
621. Young Man River. If this team sinks, it wont be his fault.<br />
622. <br />
623. ** Happy Fathers' Day<br />
624. <br />
625. *** Justin Upton Poll &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; top right</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/8360416723362721300/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=8360416723362721300' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8360416723362721300'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8360416723362721300'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/06/father-of-waters.html' title='Young Man River'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-4364179595135839256</id><published>2011-06-05T13:30:00.004-07:00</published><updated>2011-06-08T13:46:59.573-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Analysis"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pitchers"/><title type='text'>Ferdinand Fandungo</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;A&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;fter endless waiting, nagging doubts and discouraging false alarms, finally. &lt;br /&gt;
626. Finally! Someone broke the tie in our "Rename Melvin Mora" poll. Thank you!<br />
627. Your choice: <br />
628. <br />
629. <strong><span style="color: #990000;">Ferdinand Fandungo</span></strong>.<br />
630. <br />
631. My choice was Solomon Salmone. Mora just looks like a Solomon<em> someone</em>to me, but cherished readers have spoken. From now on, or as long as we feel like it, we'll refer to our ancient third sacker as <strike>Solomon Salmone</strike> <strong><span style="color: #990000;">Ferdie Fandungo.</span></strong><br />
632. <br />
633. *****<br />
634. In other news, Kevin Towers' mesmerizing <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/arizonas-secret-no-scrubs/">balancing act</a> has defied logic, levski and low expectations, catapulting to the divisional lead on the magical trajectory of eighteen wins in three weeks. What's not to like? <br />
635. <br />
636. Well, the schedule's been about as <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi/_/sort/sos">strong</a> as Xavier Nady's arm, and pitching's been as sustainable as Charlie Sheen in a monastery. Chuck Nagy's nurtured a gaudy <em>five</em> pen men sporting sub-2 ERAs. Their low BABIPs wont collectively stand and may only be mitigated by tightening up the rotation's rear, which appears underway with the relative stabilization of Joe Saunders and swapping out Galarraga and Enright for Collmentor and Duke.<br />
637. <br />
638. Batsmen currently stand third in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2011-standard-batting.shtml">NL runs</a>, ahead of Philly, Colorado and Milwaukee, and it's encouraging there's at least some probable individual regression ahead in <em>opposite</em> directions. Even with inevitable dips,it's <em>harder</em> to envision this group in their collective primes falling, say, below NL average, than challenging towards the circuit's runs scored lead.<br />
639. <br />
640. But how good, really, is this team? Any doofus can discern it's better than it's been the past two years.  They're not going to lose 95 games. But that doesnt tell us how <em>good</em> they are, only how bad they're not. Just over a third of the way home, Arizona sports the NLW's best run differential. So this isnt exactly 2007, either.<br />
641. <br />
642. But the looming, latent worry is the nexus of pitching and schedule. As Diamondback fans, we're excited to be leading as late as early June, but that's just late to us, given our recent history. There are almost twice as many games left to play, over 900 innings to be pitched, by a group almost sure to erode and decline, perhaps significantly. Collmentor, Paterson and Hernandez are way over their heads. Kennedy, Vasquez and Demel will be very hard pressed to sustain results to date.  The closer is good but fragile. Of the entire staff, perhaps only Hudson can reasonably be expected to improve on his April and May.  <br />
643. <br />
644. The Diamondbacks may appear to be a contending MLB outfit, but are probably closer to an average/slightly below average squad, riding a crest of premature promise. Early hints of a mundane NL West may or may not roll all the way to September&#39;s shore, but an unexpectedly favorable early schedule followed by a more representative one, and anticipated random variation should prove to be as inexorable as the tides.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/4364179595135839256/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=4364179595135839256' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4364179595135839256'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/4364179595135839256'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/06/ferdinand-fandungo.html' title='Ferdinand Fandungo'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-1367043127580335478</id><published>2011-05-28T10:41:00.011-07:00</published><updated>2011-06-18T01:34:36.877-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="fine dining"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Politics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="road trips"/><title type='text'>Mr Hacks Goes To Washington</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;A&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;fter a week visiting &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm9qaEJ3MBc&amp;amp;feature=related&quot;&gt;Washington&lt;/a&gt;, we submit Diamondhacks&#39; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z00CUH_B31w&quot;&gt;State of the Union&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;br /&gt;
645. <br />
646. <ul><li>Regrettably, the Nation finds itself at war. Not with Islamofascists or methodical Chinese workers. The heart of our Republic, the one Frank Capra <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWyEc7FAMTg">fictionalized</a>, is under imminent threat from middle schoolers. From morn to midnight, this fructose addled horde swarms Mall museums and sticks to District monuments like lichen. We must mobilize to thwart this audible army of <a href="http://thumbs2.modthesims.info/img/1/7/7/5/6/8/MTS2_Barcelonista_248508_Braces.jpg">metallic teeth</a>, in order to establish a more perfect union. Or at least relaxed Capitol vacations for the restuvus.</li>
647. </ul><br />
648. <ul><li>Here, at home, it's <a href="http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2011/all_star_tickets.jsp?affiliateId=5U2421-9IBK8">still unclear</a> whether the <a href="http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2009/02/dbacks-toast-2011-all-sear-game.html">All Star Roast</a> is sold out, after <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/05/12/20110512mlb-all-star-game-tickets-on-sale-may-16.html">a dozen days</a> of <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DanBickley/128492">"unbundled"</a> opportunities, following <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/02/27/20110227mlb-all-star-game-tickets-sale.html">two and a half months</a> of sluggish strip sales, which followed private account purchases, so called "lotteries" and MLB's internal allotments. Ticketmaster "explains" seats are available, in fact I apparently have several "on hold" but they cant tell me where they are or how I can purchase them. </li>
649. </ul><br />
650. <ul><li>On the field, the Snakes are evolving from a hapless basement fixture to a respectable also ran.   Our <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/05/27/20110527arizona-diamondbacks-houston-astros-series-opener.html"><em>shortsighted, Sonoran version</em></a> of the <a href="http://www.algonquinroundtable.org/">Algonquin round table</a> is delirious. Through late May, runs scored are down 12% from last year, but runs yielded plunged more than 40%, sufficient to hiss and slither into the NL West's "place" position, between <a href="http://www.examiner.com/arizona-diamondbacks-in-phoenix/posey-de-la-rosa-injuries-could-influence-diamondbacks-fortunes">suddenly lame</a> division favorites.</li>
651. </ul><br />
652. <ul><li>Speaking of "lame", "slither" and "hiss", Jim McLennan's <a href="http://www.azsnakepit.com/2011/5/26/2191846/buster-posey-and-the-joy-of-schadenfreude#comments">trollish treatment</a> of Buster Posey's career threatening injury reinforces a petty mindset and online tactics we've documented and disparaged for years.  The Pit does some things well and hopefully this represents a last vestige of its founder's embittered insecurities.  Kudos to some of his invested lieutenants for calling him out. </li>
653. </ul><br />
654. <ul><li>I favor the initiative to <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2011/05/22/20110522kendrick23-mlb-prohibit-tobacco-sale.html">rid MLB of smokeless tobacco</a>, but find Ken Kendrick's public health rationale <a href="http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-whispers-from-kendrick.html">characteristically selective</a>. Like every owner, Kendrick reaps millions from volume pumping lucrative alcohol - a far broader threat to the general welfare than Skoal or Copenhagen. Unlike alcohol (<a href="http://www.statisticstop10.com/Causes_of_Death_Older_Teens.html">the nation's largest contributor to youth deaths</a>), Mr Kendrick isnt beholden to tobacco, and demonizing it poses zero risk to his portfolio. His selective zeal and parsed essay suggest that he's more passionate about marketing a squeaky clean - and largely illusory - image of players than he is with wholesale improvement in public health or safety. </li>
655. </ul><br />
656. <ul><li>Predictably amusing, also, how KK's moral justification for spending more than $2M on a baseball card casually inserts its way into his ostensible essay on health policy. Kendrick's reportedly tried to dump this card for years, but it's <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2007/06/24/2007-06-24_just_cant_cut_it.html">allegedly trimmed</a> better than<a href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0eSm4Yc1PvgIn/338x245.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000"> he is</a> and worth a fraction of what <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2010/04/15/20100415arizona-diamondbacks-owner-ken-kendrick-honus-wagner-card.html">he foolishly paid</a>. All Star Weekend is, among other things, his shiny mega stage to broker the <a href="http://463.areavoices.com/files/2010/09/The_legendary_T206_Honus_Wagner_baseball_trading_card.jpg">T-206</a> and sucker some equally undiscerning magnate to mercifully take it off his hands.</li>
657. </ul><br />
658. God Bless America !<br />
659. <br />
660. *********************<br />
661. <br />
662. Some DC Recommendations: <br />
663. <br />
664. <a href="http://www.ebbitt.com/main/home.cfm?Section=Main&Category=About_the_Ebbitt">Old Ebbitt Grill</a> - one block east of <a href="http://www.topnews.in/files/obama-white-house.jpg">Barack's Place</a>, bustling, historic, delicious, surprisingly affordable<br />
665. <br />
666. <a href="http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/index.shtm">National Gallery of Art</a> - few if any showstopping masterpieces, but no glass or ropes either, and a breathtaking array of top artists. Look into the eyes of a Rembrandt or DaVinci, put your nose up to a Pollock, Picasso or Van Gogh. A still life of pears actually teared me up;  just the startling proficiency, dedication and perfection of it, the practice of Man copying and honoring God (or Nature), and humbly accepting I'll never deliver anything close to that beatiful in my life.<br />
667. <br />
668. <a href="http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/georgetownvisitorcenter.htm">Chesapeake & Ohio Canal</a> (Georgetown) - just down the hill from the snooty college town, near the heavily wooded Potomac, is a narrow 19th century commerce canal with wooden locks, dirt bikepaths on either side, even occasional tours on boats pulled by mules. You can almost spit across the waterway...and it's 180 miles long ! <br />
669. <br />
670. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/raku-washington">Raku</a> - ordinary sushi joint off Dupont Circle. Nothing fancy. If you like seafood and noodles, though, get the Pad Sew. About fourteen dollars. Sit outside on a Friday or Saturday night. <br />
671. <br />
672. <a href="http://www.digitalvaults.org/">National Archives</a> - the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charters_of_Freedom">Charters of Freedom</a> are faded, almost impossible to read.  Do it just to say you did, but be sure to spend time at "lesser" exhibits, which are more engaging. Celebrity documents, historic photos...I watched a 1919 film loop of American workers spinning cotton and hand manufacturing catchers' mitts for fifteen minutes. It was mesmerizing and evocative, seeing New England girls, who might've known my grandmothers, in linen dresses and carpal tunnel wrist tape, crafting what "third world" workers do today. <br />
673. <br />
674. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk">Lincoln Memorial</a> - as I get older, the monument moves me less than the resolute stream of world travelers, some aged, who trudge up its enormous steps day after day, decade after decade. <br />
675. <br />
676. Vietnam Memorial - easily the best designed, most effective memorial I've ever seen. An <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/MayaLinsubmission.jpg">inspired, stark synthesis</a> of four or five deceptively simple elements that mesh to convey loss in a powerful yet dignified manner. <br />
677. <br />
678. ****<br />
679. Oh, and will &lt;em&gt;somebody&lt;/em&gt; please be my hero and break the tenacious tie in the interminable Melvin Mora poll (right)? We need a mandate here, people, and we need to move on.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/1367043127580335478/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=1367043127580335478' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/1367043127580335478'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/1367043127580335478'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/05/mr-hacks-goes-to-washington.html' title='Mr Hacks Goes To Washington'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-7535119762353769129</id><published>2011-05-13T10:51:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-05-13T12:34:26.597-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Announcements"/><title type='text'>Blogger Gets Down</title><content type='html'>&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;I&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;n the spirit of&amp;nbsp;Friday the 13th, Blogspot crashed yesterday afternoon , and is in still in the process of restoring posts, comments and other functions. Accessing the blog for the first time in about 24 hours, I just placed the most recent post, about All Star Tickets, offline, until google hopefully restores the original comment thread. The one with several links about the 2010 Anaheim game.&lt;br /&gt;
680. <br />
681. In any case, I hope to add to that discussion&amp;nbsp;by end of day (or night), before we were so rudely interrupted.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/7535119762353769129/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=7535119762353769129' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/7535119762353769129'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/7535119762353769129'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/05/blogger-gets-down.html' title='Blogger Gets Down'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-173012981405739654</id><published>2011-05-10T18:45:00.005-07:00</published><updated>2011-05-13T13:20:32.289-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="All Star"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tickets"/><title type='text'>Baseball Pulls ASG Ticket Strips Off Market</title><content type='html'>&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: purple; font-size: large;&quot;&gt;I&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;n what may signify historically soft demand, MLB has finally &lt;a href=&quot;http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2011/all_star_tickets.jsp?affiliateId=11NJ1S431-J44&quot;&gt;removed lagging All Star Weekend ticket strips&lt;/a&gt; from public sale. The strips, which include admission to the Home Run Derby, All Star Game and other events, went on sale March 1st, however after more than two months, Chase Field had &lt;a href=&quot;http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/05/sixth-sense.html&quot;&gt;still not sold out&lt;/a&gt; baseball&#39;s midsummer classic. &lt;br /&gt;
682. <br />
683. MLB is now abandoning traditional strips in favor of less expensive, unbundled event sales, beginning May 16th. <em>Diamondhacks</em> believes this concession may be unprecedented in modern All Star Game history, however that has yet to be confirmed.<br />
684. <br />
685. Developing.....</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/173012981405739654/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=173012981405739654' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/173012981405739654'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/173012981405739654'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/05/baseball-pulls-asg-ticket-strips-off.html' title='Baseball Pulls ASG Ticket Strips Off Market'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18498935.post-8119235462251145036</id><published>2011-05-05T09:28:00.004-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-18T16:39:04.150-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Broadcasting and Media"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Music"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Ladies"/><title type='text'>Dbacks Get Down With Whitest Lip Synch Ever</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
686. <br /></div>
687. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
688. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3yYk505_9PkzMvtBL53SnUWXHiSWy1ABynVHhL1P9G9gRlzLI7qn1_4PpgvCSg_qn1Sus_BJkhEByMrD06xQZKedcesZjM_rNPk1lkaYIJ4sVYKSyDnBpR4wcwrlSrm0i0sxpw/s1600/WhiteParty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3yYk505_9PkzMvtBL53SnUWXHiSWy1ABynVHhL1P9G9gRlzLI7qn1_4PpgvCSg_qn1Sus_BJkhEByMrD06xQZKedcesZjM_rNPk1lkaYIJ4sVYKSyDnBpR4wcwrlSrm0i0sxpw/s640/WhiteParty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
689. <br />
690. <strong><span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-size: large;">T</span></strong>o be fair, there are slightly more people of color in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6-Er6A2KpU">this carefully choreographed Dbacks' come on</a> than you'd find in respected American institutions, like the <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/3708030583_c994af2e97.jpg">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a> or <a href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/political/continental-congress.jpg">First Continental Congress</a>.<br />
691. <br />
692. But if this reflects <a href="http://dblog.mlblogs.com/2011/04/27/behind-the-scenes-of-the-d-backs-all-star-lip-dub/">organizational makeup</a>, or worse, <a href="http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/04/kardboard-kendrick-lampoons-homeless.html">the way they choose to present themselves</a> to a pluralistic twenty-first century American city, it's little wonder the Diamondbacks dont attract a healthy melting pot of fans, or that <a href="http://venomstrikes.com/files/2011/03/Upton2-254x300.jpg">Justin Upton</a> and <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/QpXfGDtCSeZ/Arizona+Diamondbacks+Photo+Day/-nZRfBCY3QV/Chris+Young">Chris Young</a> look so uncomfortable much of the time. <br />
693. <br />
694. <br />
695. The FO&#39;s&amp;nbsp;constantly chirping&amp;nbsp;about capturing young people. Who? The &lt;a href=&quot;http://www-deadline-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Y-R-cast-the-young-and-the-restless-4952719-700-528.jpg&quot;&gt;Young and the Restless&lt;/a&gt; from&amp;nbsp;Paradise Valley?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;From the looks of this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6-Er6A2KpU&quot;&gt;glittery caucasian homage&lt;/a&gt;, it appears they&#39;ve already captured all forty of them.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/feeds/8119235462251145036/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=18498935&amp;postID=8119235462251145036' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8119235462251145036'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/18498935/posts/default/8119235462251145036'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diamondhacks.blogspot.com/2011/05/dbacks-get-down-with-whitest-lip-synch.html' title='Dbacks Get Down With Whitest Lip Synch Ever'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3yYk505_9PkzMvtBL53SnUWXHiSWy1ABynVHhL1P9G9gRlzLI7qn1_4PpgvCSg_qn1Sus_BJkhEByMrD06xQZKedcesZjM_rNPk1lkaYIJ4sVYKSyDnBpR4wcwrlSrm0i0sxpw/s72-c/WhiteParty.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>

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