Winter's end

Ladies and gentleman, our long nightmare is over. At last, the icy grip of winter has melted away, bathing us in spring greens and pinks and golds. Baseball season is finally here and summer's just over the horizon.

For most of us. It's a bad day to be a footwear related sports team: both the Red Sox and White Sox openers have been postponed due to weather.

Whatever. Here in sunny Arizona it's 75 degrees and time to play ball. Brandon Webb takes the hill this afternoon in the Diamondbacks' first opener at home since 2005.

The heartbreak of last season is replaced with 162 games of hope and most experts predict the Diamondbacks and Dodgers to be fighting for the division until the fall. If the Dbacks want to take it all, here's what needs to happen:

• We need Eric Byrnes back at full-health and, more importantly, full-speed. He may be an overpaid fourth outfielder, but Byrnes always plays to win. We need him hitting strong and tearing up the basepaths.
• We need to cut back on Vitamin K. It's no secret the Diamondbacks were plagued by strikeouts. Mark Reynolds seems to approach every at bat like he's going to knock in a five-run homer. He led the league in Ks and that's not the kind of thing you want to repeat. Time to start working the productive at bats and get on base. Sometimes, lacing a double into the corners is better than going yard. Stop looking for home runs and start making contact.
• We need the bullpen to improve. I'm tired of feeling like I'm going to throw up every time Jon Rauch comes into a game. A girl can only take so many antacids and watching the game while trying to cover my eyes isn't any fun. Get better. We've got the best 1-2 punch in the league, let's continue what they've started.
• We need to break out. With the exception of Baby Drew, the rest of the starters were always this close to getting to the next level. Waiting time is over and I know this squad's got the skills. Time for not only Justin Upton (why don't we call him Baby Upton?) but Chris Young as well to...step up to the plate as it were. I love these boys and I want to see them play to their full potential. This also goes for Gravity and Balls of Steel Snyder.
• We need the management to be smart. I know they like to call Bob Melvin the Mad Scientist but can we downgrade the wackiness? Maybe he can be something a little less out there, like the Eccentric Tinkerer or something. Melvin, I don't want to start tearing at my hair and yelling "what are you doing?!" when you do something crazy. At least we finally sent Chris Burke packing, so that's one affectation I don't have to worry about anymore.

So there it is.

Oh, and one more thing.

Go Dbacks!

Victory

Perhaps the single greatest sentence ever written about the Diamonbacks:

Mark Reynolds beat Dan Haren in a spirited, dramatic game of Jenga in the clubhouse this afternoon.

Growing Pains

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

See those feet? That's third baseman Mark Reynolds, going flying over the the photo well rail after a foul ball. He was slow to get up but from what I know, was uninjured.

The Diamondbacks lost to the Giants 4-5. Big Unit Randy Johnson had a reasonable start, striking out seven but allowing four walks. The loss rest squarely on the shoulders of the defense, especially on the errors from Sheriff Mark Reynolds and Baby Drew.

Eric Byrnes extended his hitting streak to 10 games, shocking the hell out of me because if I had a dollar for everytime he grounded out to shortstop, I'd have a lot more dollars than I have right now. But apparently the Mop-Haired One can hit.

Oh, and a salute to David Ortiz who had not one but two base hits in the Red Sox's nailbiter victory over the Indians last night. Maybe Big Papi got his mojo back.