He's number two

In the midst of the Dbacks slump (which I'm not going to talk about right now because first, I don't want to think about getting swept by the Giants and losing last night to the Nationals and second, I want them all to go into their clubhouse and think about what they've done) their was one bright shining moment. One thing that left me excited and smiling:

Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens for number two on the all-time strikeout list. He now has 4,672, good enough to share the second spot - for now. Barring any freak occurances, Johnson should surpass Clemens for second to Nolan Ryan on his next start.

Johnson came close to strikeout number 4,673 more than once, getting to strike two on three batters while the small crowd got to its feet and roared. He was able to get the outs but not the strikes. No matter. That will come in a few days.

I really enjoyed watching him go for the record. I've always counted myself that in a time where I didn't follow baseball regularly, I just happened to be watching the night Johnson threw his perfect game.

It's been an honor watching him make history.

A bit of tomfoolery

I came across this today and thought it was worth linking to. Just a bit of lightheartedness, and we need a bit of that around here since the Dbacks lost 6-3 to the Giants and the Sox lost to the Mariners. The other thing the Sox lost was Dice-K to shoulder fatigue.

Anyway, we could use a laugh.

How Me Breaking Up With You Is Like Jon Lester Pitching A No-Hitter Against the Royals.

He Who Must Not Be Named

Trinity: Ha, A-Rod's getting booed.
Char: See, everybody hates A-Rod.
Char: We should have a nickname for him, the kind of name that makes a person sound like a dick.
Char: Like Clancy.
Trinity: Or Voldemort, because he's evil.
Trinity: Volde-Rod.
Char: Perfect!

It's a mad world

Eric Byrnes has hit a grand slam.

In this crazy new world in which we find ourselves, anything is possible. Down is up, left is right and I fully expect it to begin raining chocolate pudding at any moment.

Before yesterday afternoon, the only thing Byrnes knew about a grand slam was what they serve at Denny's. Now he knows how a major league baseball grand slam feels: less bacon, more glory.

If anyone needed it, it was Byrnes. His batting average for the season was down to .217 and his average for the month of May was so low, I'm embarassed to even type it. It was roughly the equivalent of his annual salary, give or take a few decimal places.

Congratulations, Byrnesie. This is what people expect from you, why you're the face of the franchise. You've earned yourself a couple days of goodwill from me and hopefully this is sign of you turning that slump around for good.

A message from Baby Drew

Baby Drew is tired, y'all. Every night he goes to work, makes the plays at short and then well, he literally steps up to the plate. That's why he's so tired. Baby Drew is carrying this team on his back right now. Three of the Diamondbacks' four hits against the Marlins were Baby Drew's and their only run came off a Baby Drew homer. Baby Drew remembers when Conor Jackson was getting hits all the time, when Mark Reynold's was hitting homers. Hell, Baby Drew even remembers when Eric Byrnes was hitting and it's been a long time since that's happened with any kind of regularity.

Baby Drew is generous, he wants the other guys to get hits too. Baby Drew doesn't want to have to do the work alone, but while the rest of the team tries to remember just what they're supposed to do with those bits of wood, Baby Drew will be in your ballparks, hitting all your runs.

You want me to wear what?

You know what I hate about being a baseball chick? The clothes. I've got plans to make the trek up to Chase Field next month and was eagerly anticipating a trip to the team shop. Sure, I've only been doing this baseball fan thing with any regularity for the past couple months, but I'm starting to accumulate a variety of merchandise. I have my Dbacks cap, my tenth anniversary T-shirt (free giveaway night, woohoo!) and my #15 Dan Haren shirt (I love you!). But what about my next trip? Should I splurge on a jersey? Or get another player shirt - appropriately, like his nickname, Conor Jackson calls to me and I'd love to wear his shirt. Debating, I went online to investigate options.

I wanted a Gravity T-shirt but since my Haren shirt is men's I navigated to the women's section online to look for player shirts. And I looked. And looked. And looked. Where were they? I clicked around in other sections, trying to find the shirt I wanted. It doesn't exist. There are no player shirts in women's cuts.

Why the hell not?

The women's clothing section of the Dbacks shop leaves a lot to be desired. First out of of two pages of results for T-shirts only one is in the Diamondbacks signature color, Sedona red. Everything else is black (which ok, is a team color but not as good as red), white or worse, pink.

Why would I want to wear this? It's ugly, barely affiliated with the team and if you're going to a game, why wear pink? A player on the field doesn't know that some random pink shirt is for him.

Is it supposed to be ironic? Is it an ironic T-shirt because omg, girls totally like baseball too, isn't that like, so funny?

No. It's not. I don't have to prove I'm a girl by wearing pink because clearly, there's something off about girls like sports. I don't have to reconcile my feminine side with sports. I can be a perfectly normal girl who enjoys baseball and that means I want to wear my team colors in shirts that are designed to fit me correctly.

I'll still pick up Gravity's shirt and like my other Dbacks gear, resign myself to the fact that I have to purchase it in a men's cut (the website describes it as an "authentic chest cut" but I don't know who's chest it authentically fits, cause it ain't mine), making it small in the chest and baggy in the shoulder and waist. It won't fit right but what choice do I have? I've got money to spend and I want to support my team and my favorite players. Just don't expect me to wear pink.

We don't need no stinkin' base hits

Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe

FOX's Jeanie Zelasko has been looking for it all season and now we've got one - Jon Lester picked up the first no-hitter of the season and of his career tonight as the Sox took down the Royals 7-0. Looks like I've underestimated you, Jon. Nice job.