New Year's Resolved

Until I met Trinity in person, I had never met Trinity in person. Internet friendships are like that. Message boards. Instant messages. Millions of people bonding on thousands of different websites over hundreds of varied interests. Ours was a community writing project about characters in a Boston apartment complex. It was geeky, creative, and sociable - as sociable as any online project can be. My character was a baseball fan. Hers was a banker. They were friends and so were we.

I talked to a stranger over the internet (see Mom, it’s not so dangerous) the way I would any of my other friends. Her job. My college courses. Anything else that crossed our minds. Spent a year doing that.

Then the Red Sox and the Diamondbacks both made the post-season in 2007. I’d gotten used to checking the Boston box scores just to have something to write about. It taught me to think about the game but I wasn’t a fan. I didn’t care. But with the TV Writer’s Guild strike looming, I figured I might as well cheer for the local Arizona team than invest my time in television shows that were about to go on indefinite hiatus.

I cheered on the Diamondbacks, Trin cheered the Red Sox for the first time and we both fell in love with the game. Opening Day 2008 and we were both fanatics for teams as far from each other as we were.

In July of 2008, I met my best friend for the first time in baggage claim of Logan International. I’d never been so far east in my life and Trin was my guide. A former Boston resident, she showed me the city, how to ride the T, and indulged me when I spent 20 minutes in the Boston Common chasing a squirrel - desert people have a tendency to be surprised by things like that.

We folded ourselves into Fenway Park that trip, knees jammed against the seats in front of us. We ate hot dogs and sang Sweet Caroline and lost our minds when the Red Sox won on the strength of a grand slam over the Green Monster.

At the end of the week, I went home and she went home and we stayed friends. In 2009, Trinity visited me in Tucson and we made the 90 mile trip to Phoenix, pilgrims to the cathedrals of baseball to see Dan Haren rage at the Dodgers. It was the day of the infamous four-out inning and we had seats behind the dugout in the Sunday sunshine.

And then we went back to Tucson and she went home and the vacation ended. We still talked but not as much as we used to. Busy lives pull people in opposite directions and it’s hard to communicate online the way you do in person. Dating websites run ads of happy mostly white straight people but there’s no manual of how what to do when your best friend is on the internet. Nobody runs commercials for that.

It was a long time before the next meeting. Two years is a long time but when she made plans to visit New York City for Spring Break, I invited myself along. The long winter had left me depressed and lonely to a degree I’d never experienced. The trip was a way to break out of it.

We saw four Broadway shows in five days with only a one day gap between shows. That day we rode the subway from Harlem where we were staying to Brooklyn for shopping to Harlem to change clothes and then all the way to Queens to see the New York Mets play the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field. If the trains gave out frequent flier miles, we would have raked them in.

The Dbacks lost but it didn’t matter. My father grew up in Brooklyn and the Mets were his team. I lost him to cancer when I was six but it gives me great pleasure and terrible heartache to know that we’d follow this sport together if he lived. That game was for my daddy.

The New York trip was just about eight months ago and tonight is New Year’s Eve. Tomorrow is 2012 and tonight is a night for resolutions. I’m spending it watching Moneyball because Opening Day is months away and I’m 60 pages from the end of the book. Which explains why I decided to put into words something Trin and I have been doing since 2008.

We’ve seen three baseball games in three different parks around the country. Why stop now? We’re going to see them all. Two women - two sports fans - paying tribute to the greatest game in the world and to what it means to be a friend.

Three down and 27 to go. I can think of worse things to spend the next 20 years of my life doing with my best friend.

Moneyball was right. It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball.

How can you not be romantic about baseball, indeed?

In under the Opening Day wire

I explained to my mother recently that all baseball fans are inherently religious. We spend 162 days a year in worship and then spend the 203 remaining days praying for summer - and that's assuming your team didn't make the playoffs. Now with glorious summer returning at last after what turned out to be a very wet winter out here in the desert - ruining a variety of perfectly good cliches; it would be much better if I could write about how the onslaught of summer cleared away the tumbleweeds of joyless winter or something not that's it's not going to be fucking hot this summer too - it's finally time to start looking to the season ahead.

(That sentence officially got away from me the way public support of ticket surchages for a Cubs stadium got away from the Mayor of Mesa.)

Going into my third year as a baseball fan, I feel much better prepared for the season this year. I feel like I have more of a handle on who the Diamondbacks are, what kind of team they are and how they play. We're familiar with each other now, the team and I. It's like getting to the point in a relationship where you don't have to pretend you wear sexy lingerie to bed anymore and can finally kick back in an old T-shirt you got for free in college for signing up for a credit card and a pair of pajama pants with a hole in the leg.

Here's what I feel like are the biggest issues going into the season.

(Feel free to disagree with me cause hey, what do I know? I've only been watching this sport two years now and also I'm a girl.)

1. Starting pitching.

Name a Diamondbacks starting pitcher. Okay, now name one who isn't Dan Haren.

Exactly.

A lot is riding on when and even whether Brandon Webb comes back. And like a slumlord who's been promised the check is in the mail, I'm skeptical. He hasn't pitched from the mound yet and the team's been quiet about his progress. What info out there is pretty general. Webby feels "good," Webby feels "stagnant," Webby feels "that it's going to rain on Thursday because of the way his trick knee is acting up." Basically, nobody knows what's going on with Brandon Webb, including, I'm beginning to believe, Brandon Webb. But it's true the team needs him, if only so he can get his trade value up before we let go of him at the deadline.

2. The bullpen.

Remember the eight inning last year? No, I don't mean the eighth inning of any particular game - I mean the eigth inning of every single last year. All 162 of them. The eighth inning is the reason I have to buy Tums in bulk (can you buy ant-acids in a 10 lb bucket? Anybody know?). Expecting your starter to throw a complete game every time he's on the mound to avoid giving up four runs in the eighth is an inefficient way to win a ball game. It also gets you on Dan Haren's shit list. And believe me, you don't want to be there. An improvement in this area will be needed if we want to have a shot to contend.

3. Offensive production.

Basically, this boils down to "be more better." Chris Young is coming off a horrible year and if he wants to keep his job, he'll need to start producing at even a modest level. It's also important Stephen Drew returns to the potential hinted at in 2008. This is very important to make feel better because while I talk about Baby Drew, I fear he's going to wind up like his brother: overpaid and under producing.

I know, that's pretty much every aspect of the game to be concerned about, right? But there are upsides. Conor Jackson is back from Valley Fever and if his numbers from winter ball and spring training are any indication, he should be back to form and getting on base like a machine. Missed you, Gravity! Justin Upton has nothing but supsides and if he can stay healthy this year, he's a superstar in the making with a contract that delays his inevitable pinstripes just a little bit longer. Mark Reynold looks to continue to be a leader both in the clubhouse and on the field, driving in runs like we pay him to do. If he maintains what he did last year the man is going to be a dirty dirty beast, and I love it.

In all, this year should turn out to be much much better that last and now that it's started, it's time to pray. Somebody pass the Tums.

That just happened

At one point during last night's Red Sox/Orioles game -

Wait. Can we really call it a game? More like a meltdown of the highest order. I mean, we went from spanking the Orioles to being on the wrong end of the biggest comeback in the franchise's history. Last night's game was epic, and not in a good way. And for once, nobody can blame Julio Lugo.

I'll bet he's relieved.

I certainly hope that after last night's dreadful performance, Tito sat the bullpen down and gave them what we in the education industry call a "Come to Jesus" meeting. You know, one of those ones where your teacher sits you down and goes "Look, you're great and all, but..." followed by a blessing out that could make the toughest of grown men cry (I do this a lot in my job; I'm pretty good at it). Because come on! There's no excuse for last night. Rain, schmain. Before the rain delay, we were 10-1. Then the bullpen happened. Let's take a look at the worst offenders:

Justin Masterson: 2IP, 5H, 5R
Hideki Okajima: 0.1IP, 5H, 4R

Seriously? Seriously!

In between those two embarrassing outings, Manny Delcarmen came on and managed not to screw anything up, but it didn't do any good. Then Takashi Saito tried to stop the hit parade, but only managed to make things worse.

Enter Jonathan Papelbon, intrepid closer. Even the Papelstare couldn't save this one. The Os managed to score two off him in the 8th, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads in bewilderment. What happened to the best bullpen in the AL? They gave up 10 runs over two innings. TWO. Which, you know, is a pretty impressive feat, just not one anyone wants to see. So this afternoon we turn to our ace, Baseball Boyfriend himself, Josh Beckett. No pressure there, Commander Kickass. He's 5-0 in games after losses this season, so there's hope. And that's what being a Red Sox fan is all about. Hope.

Last night felt kind of like being in Oz. Let's hope Beckett's able to take us back to Kansas.

How do you score a homebunt?

Char: Here, read what happened in the Dbacks game today, this'll get you going.
Char: E. Aybar reached on bunt single to pitcher, E. Aybar to second on pitcher D. Davis' throwing error, E. Aybar scored on right fielder J. Upton's throwing error.
Char: INSIDE THE PARK HOMERUN.
Trinity: Yay!!!
Char: By a guy who was BUNTING!
Trinity: Wait.
Char: No, this is bad.
Trinity: Oops
Trinity: Boooooooo.
Char: BUNTING!
Char: HE WAS BUNTING!
Trinity: lmao.
Trinity: Homebunt!
Char: ok, lol.
Char: I am so glad i wasn't watching'we lost, 2-1.
Char: BECAUSE OF A BUNT!
Char: HE SCORED ON A BUNT!
Trinity: Homebunt!
Char: Heee.
Char: You're not appeciating my pain!
Trinity: But it's funny!
Char: It is funny.
Char: Why couldn't it have happened to the Dodgers?
Trinity: Because the universe is conspiring against the Dbacks, duh.
Char: Well, we have added another body to the DL.
Char: People are dropping faster than pitchers in the WBC.
Trinity: lmao!
Char: Eric Byrnes fractured his hand.
Trinity: Boo Byrnes.

How not to throw a baseball

Okay. Let's see here.

Boston Red Sox starting rotation:
Josh Beckett: 7-3, 4.15 ERA. Off to a rocky start, but slowly returning to the Baseball Boyfriend I know and love.

Tim Wakefield: 9-3, 4.39 ERA. Has been pitching like a rock star lately - who saw that coming?

Brad Penny: 6-2, 4.94 ERA. Not too shabby for a middle-of-the-rotation guy. He does what he does.

Jon Lester: 5-6, 4.69 ERA. I've got faith he'll get better.

Daisuke Matsuzaka?


ETA: According to the ESPN Gamecast, Dice-K's ERA, over the course of four innings, has blossomed to an impressive 8.23. Someone remind me why we keep him around.

Goonies never say die*

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? You get two baseball teams who refuse to give in or give up. This week, the Diamondbacks spanked the Cubs two games and were sent home crying for their mamas in one. For those of you playing along at home, that means the Dbacks won their second series in a row.

Game one was another gem by Dan Haren. He began the night by giving up a leadoff homerun and ended the night with a three-hitter. His last hit of the night was also a solo homerun, ballooning his season ERA to 1.54 The other hit was by Ted Lilly, but you know Danny. He had quite enough of Cubbies on his basepaths and set the rest of the team back down.

Cubs pitcher Lilly - famous for slamming his glove down after giving up a homer to Chris Young in the 2007 playoffs - well, let's just say that while he didn't slam his glove, he did drop a few choice words after allowing Chris Snyder's first homerun of the year and after Dan Haren helped himself to an RBI double. And for the first time this year, the Diamondbacks really seemed to be having fun.

The Carlos Zambrano happened. He dominated on the mound. He hit a homerun. And I don't want to talk about it.

Yesterday though, yesterday Cubs pitchers couldn't find the strike zone with both hands and a map, while Doug Davis and the bullpen combined for the shut out. Hey! I just used the word bullpen and shutout in the same sentence! Awesome. The game was out of reach for the Cubs when their closer (in for the seventh inning to get some work) walked two, intentionally walked Chad Tracy to load the bases with one out, hoping Mark Reynolds would hit into a double play. Instead, Reynolds also walked. And so did Conor Jackson (Gravity would also have an RBI BB in the eighth). And then Justin Upton cleared the bases with a double.

Although the Diamondbacks still haven't been able to string together more than two wins in a row, they are up two series now for the first time. Best of all, the team is showing signs of life and it feels good to know that the season isn't dead on arrival. It's a great way for the team to hopefully gain some confidence going forward.

*Which Diamondbacks player is what Goonie?

Chris Snyder: Brand
Eric Byrnes: Steph
Conor Jackson: Mouth
Bob Melvin: Data
Stephen Drew: Andie
Tony Clark: Chunk
Justin Upton: Mikey

Lou Pinella: Mama Fratelli

Sound the trumpets

Trinity: Mike Lowell had SIX rbis today.
Char: Holy crap.
Trinity: Yeah.
Char: He was on FIRE.
Char: God, no wonder they won.
Trinity: LOL. And Tek his hit fourth homer of the season, and Ellsbury hit his first
Char: Yay!
Trinity: Yeah. All of a sudden, Tek is a stud who hits bombs. Who knew?
Char: Byrnes homered today too.
Trinity: Isn't this a sign of the apocalypse?
Char: No, Jon Rauch appearing in scoreless innings two games in a row is, so you better start counting horsemen
Trinity: LMAO.