After an out-of-this-world debut, pitching 4 1/3 perfect innings in relief last Tuesday, Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Max Scherzer returned to earth last night.
The trip back didn't take long. Just one batter.
Philadelphia Phillies CF Shane Victorino led off Sherzer's first Major League start with a double. Scherzer(0-1) went on to pitch 4 innings, giving up 5 runs, 2 earned, 7 hits, striking out 5 and walking 2. He took the loss in an 11-4 Phillies rout of the Dbacks.
From "The Scherz Thing" to "Not Scherz About Him Yet".
Tony Bennett still takes the stage and has the pipes at age 81. Don Pardo still flies from Tucson to New York to announce "Saturday Night Live" at age 90. And Jamie Moyer still takes the mound and can pitch at age 112.
Moyer(2-2) got the win, pitching 7 strong innings, giving up 2 runs, both earned, 6 hits, striking out 5 and walking none. Moyer also went 2-3 with the bat, including a double and an RBI.
The Phillies were being kind by just touching the plate 11 times. They left 27 on base. LF Pat Burrell left 8 on all by himself.
Mark Grace, Daron Sutton and the rest of the FOX Sportsnet Arizona crew did the game telecast from the Riviera Pools Pavilion in right-center field at Chase. I spent about 2 1/2 innings out there taking pics of the goings-on for the guests of FOX and the crew working the pool area. Both the guests and the FOX crew were very cool and alot of fun to hang-out with.
The Phillies fans turned-out in decent numbers. They were a boisterous bunch and had reason to be last night. One lone Phillie fan was escorted out of the right field seats in the 9th inning by a single Chase Field brownshirt. He cooperated and went quietly. I was only a few rows away from him, but didn't see what he did. It had to be some minor infraction and probably something that wouldn't have even been noticed at Wrigley or The Cell in Chicago. He didn't kill anyone, so I know it was something that would have gone unnoticed at Yankee Stadium or Shea in New York.
It's Adam Eaton(0-0) for The Phils and Randy Johnson(1-1) for the Dbacks in about 6 hours.
Membership in the "Society Of #### In Athletics" continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The opening minutes of their most recent meeting attests to this:
"Fellow #### athletes, it is with great shame and dishonor that I ask you to welcome our newest members to the Society; Roger Clemens, Cedric Benson, and Ryan Perrilloux. They have all shown the poor judgement, weak character traits and egocentric attitude all of us here at The Society Of #### In Athletics have aspired to. In fact, Brother Clemens has raised the bar to a level that may force us to rethink our membership policies. Brother Pete Rose, we may have to ask you to leave.
We would also like to welcome our new valet parking attendant, Ivonne Hernandez of Nashua, NH. It is suggested that former Yankees #### take advantage of the self-park option."
The minutes went on to inform member #### that Michael Vick appreciated the cigarettes fellow members have sent him and that Pacman Jones has been named to head up the Society's Entertainment Committee.
But there is a ray of sunshine shining thru the storm of scum in sports.
Hell, it's a huge sunburst that not only makes sports shine; it's a ray of hope and a beautiful gesture in a world where it sometimes seems people think they have to be the LAPD and someone else has to be their Rodney King.
It's why "Sports Illustrated" doesn't need to wait until December to choose a recipient and publish their "Sportsman Of The Year" issue.
It's why ESPN can just have Jimmy Kimmel hand over all the ESPYS to a bunch of women who play college softball.
And it's why names like the above-mentioned member #### should be replaced in the headlines with names like Mallory Holtman, Liz Wallace, Sara Tucholsky, Central Washington University, and Western Oregon University. Because they are the true Superstars.
They are the true Heroes that sportsfans and non-fans can look-up to.
Brian Meehan tells the story better than I could.
Click HERE and go read it. We can now all feel good about being a fan again.
Conor Jackson's throwing error in the top of the 9th busted it open for the Mets, and they beat the Dbacks 5-2.
Both the Mets' Johan Santana and the Dbacks' Dan Haren pitched 6 strong innings.
Dbacks pitcher Micah "Manny Mota" Owings once again pinch-hit, and delivered a single.
Flavor-Of-The-Week and Monday's starter, Max Scherzer, pinch-ran for Orlando Hudson in the 6th inning.
Yeah, that WAS strange.
No, I don't know why.
I know, if some freak thing happened and he was injured, it wouldn't have been good.
I'm not on the phone. I'm simply answering the questions you're asking in your mind as you read about Scherzer pinch-running.
I like Dbacks manager Bob Melvin's sometimes-unorthodox ways. They're adventurous and exciting. But I don't think I would have put MightyMax on the basepaths today.
I think the most disturbing thing about the Dbacks losing 2 of 3 to the Mets is this stat: 55 Dbacks left-on-base in the 3 game series. Yay! We're gettin' guys on. Let's just get a few more to cross the plate.
Sen. John McCain(R-AZ)was at the game today.
The crowd was alive and full of people who loved hamming-it-up for the camera, which made my job easy.
For some reason, there were 5 television cameras within about 5 feet of each other and all in-use in center field alone.
Today was "Kids Run The Bases" at Chase. After the game, kids can lineup in the stands and then run the bases on the field. I would estimate at least 2500 kids took advantage of the opportunity.
For me, it meant my first chance to actually work down on the playing field at Chase. And I marked-out. It was WAY cool! I spent about an hour on the field, including a few minutes standing on home plate so a few other photographers could make adjustments to their cameras. It's quite a different perspective of the ballpark and just a special feeling for a baseball fan. You see the entire ballpark in a different way that most people never experience. I'll get to work on the field again, and I think it will be exciting to me each time.
I've been on the field in a few ballparks before, including the late Comiskey Park in Chicago and Wrigley Field. Sometime when the Dbacks are on the road, I'll tell the story of one of my on-field experiences at Wrigley. I'll tease it by simply saying if you've ever wondered what the Wrigley Field scoreboard clock looks like from the Cubs dugout at 4am on the night the Cubs lost the NLCS, I can tell you.
Speaking of dugouts, have the Mets ever heard of a garbage can? Their dugout was a pit.
Monday night, Max Scherzer gets his first Major League start in what will now be his third Major League game. He goes against the Philadelphia Phillies and Jamie Moyer, who will be making his 558th start and appearing in his 611th game.
I don't think it would have hurt for Micah Owings to have missed Friday night's start. The Mets teed-off on him pretty good as he suffered his first loss of the season in a 7-2 Mets victory. The Dbacks staff is deep enough to have put someone else on the mound and let Owings rest the ankle.
I was working the lower level between home and first. I noticed the first base camera appeared to be doing double-duty. Besides getting it's usual shots for the telecast, it was getting alot of extreme close-ups of Owings' ankle and foot. It also appeared the entire feed for that camera was being videotaped. So there must have been some concern for Owing's condition.
The Mets fans were out in full-force and colors. Lots of Mets jerseys, caps, t-shirts, flags and banners. The combined dollar value of Mets paraphernalia I saw Friday was probably greater than the total income of many third world countries. Or at least equal to 2 tankfulls for an Escalde. And the NewYawk fans had plenty to cheer in a 7-2 Mets win.
And they were better-behaved than 2 Chase Field ushers who shall remain nameless. Part of an ushers job involves interaction with people. And if you can't interact with people in a friendly and mature manner, then go work in a cubicle. But these 2 nimrods are definitely the exception as far as the Chase Field crew goes, and not the rule.
Saturday afternoon was all sunshine and lollipops in the stands and on the field. Lots of Little League teams were honored before the game. The staff was smiling faces. And the Dbacks got everyone a free Taco Bell Chalupa by crushing the Mets 10-2.
Ya see, when the Dbacks score 8 runs or more in a game, all the fans get a coupon for a free Chalupa.
Augie Ojeda, getting the start at second base for this FOX netwok game, almost got everyone the Chalupa on his own. He went 3-4 with 6 RBI's!
And Micah Owings even made a pinch-hit appearance, striking-out in the 8th inning.
As if losing 10-2 isn't bad enough, it could have been worse for the Mets. The Dbacks left 22 on base!
Brandon Webb got the win and is now 7-0. That's only 4 less wins than the Colorado Rockies.
2008 Rookie Of The Year, Cy Young Award Winner, and the next President of the United States, Max Scherzer, will get his first start in The Bigs and join the starting rotation of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at Chase Field. He will face the Philadelphia Phillies and 112 year-old Jamie Moyer.
Dbacks Manager Bob Melvin and GM Josh Byrnes made the decision in a meeting right after Tuesday night's loss to the Houston Astros, in which "The Scherz" made his Major League debut in relief, pitching 4 and 1/3 perfect innings, striking out 7. The starter and loser of that game, Edgar Gonzalez, moves to the bullpen.
Happy Cinco de Mayo, Edgar.
The meeting between Melvin and Byrnes lasted 6 seconds, because Melvin sneezed at one point.
In other surprising news, it will be hot and sunny in Phoenix on Monday.
And I'll have "The Scherz Thing" t-shirts on Ebay Tuesday.
The fact that he's returned to the game this season is a triumph in itself. And even he knows he'll be on the outside looking in soon.
The Big Unit was knocked around by the Houston Astros on Wednesday. Randy Johnson gave up 6 runs, all earned, and 9 hits in 4 innings. He was let off the hook for the loss thanks to fellow Dbacks starter Micah Owings. Owings never took the mound. He stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the 6th inning and launched a 2 run homer to tie the game at 7. Eric Byrnes added an RBI single later in the inning to send the Dbacks ahead 8-7. And that's how it finished.
Yeah, we got a starting pitcher who can deliver pinch hit homers. We're cool like that.
The Diamondbacks are the only team to finish the opening month with 20 wins.
OK, I know technically the opening month of the season was March. So I'm noting that here for all you anal goofballs(no offense, Roger Clemens and Mindy McCready)who consider stats some kind of religion.
Keeping with the recent tradition of Major League debuts at Chase Field, a 'fan' ran out onto the field during the game and was promptly plummeled by the brownshirts. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say alcohol and/or other ingestibles might have played a part in the actions of this 'fan'. Of course, I can't confirm this or the identity of the 'fan'. But I can confirm that Paula Abdul was not at the game.
But Geddy Lee was. The RUSH frontman was taking in a rare weekday afternoon contest at Chase, along with lots of schoolkids, senior citizens, and THALESMEN! entertaining clients.
The schoolkids were in various groups chaperoned by a few teachers, being rewarded for their good grades and perfect attendance. How ironic that perfect attendance is rewarded by allowing the kids to blow off school for a day and take in a ballgame. Alot of the kids wanted their pics taken, but the chaperones couldn't allow it since they didn't have signed permission slips from parents allowing their children to be photographed and placed on the Dbacks website. I could certainly understand that.
OK, No. Not really. I think schools and their administrators have gotten ridiculous. Suspending kids for buying candy at school. Suspending a girl for having highlighted hair. Who are these #### administrators running the schools and denying kids of some simple fun?
And Annie thought she had the hard knock life.
Maybe instead of protecting youth from Skittles and Clairol, they should start protecting them from the teachers who seduce them. What are these hot babe teachers seducing male students thinking? And where were they when I was going to school?
But I digress.
There was one group of at least 500 schoolkids attending the game. They were honored before the game and marched along the warning track. They wore identical shirts as part of the "Dbacks Inner City Jam".
In Chicago, you wear kevlar to an inner city jam. Here in Phoenix, you wear white t-shirts.
But you could tell these kids and their chaperones were from the inner city. They didn't scare easily. They had candy. They had highlighted hair. They invited, even pleaded, for danger to tangle with them. Because they let me take lots of pics to post on the Dbacks website.
Parental permission slips? They don't need no stinkin' parental permission slips. They were rebels, Dottie.
The NY Mets spend the weekend in Phoenix. Tomorrow night it's John Maine(2-2)for NY and the pinch-hit-homer-hitting Owings(4-0)for the Dbacks. Saturday it's the Mets' Mike Pelfrey(2-1) vs. Brandon Webb(6-0). And on Sunday, a marquee matchup between Johan Santana(3-2) and Dan Haren(4-1).
NY starters with a combined record of 7-5 vs. Diamondbacks starters with a combined record of 14-1.
Is it just me, or are the Mets becoming the Miami Dolphins of the Dan Marino era? Always hyped as the team to beat. Always touted as the eventual best. And always ending up like Mama Cass Elliot eating a ham sandwich.
I was finishing a post about yesterday's Diamondbacks game. I was down to the last paragraph when I went to the Mets site to check something. This caused my open browsers to crash. I lost the blog post I was writing.
Now I know the Mets are going to crash and burn. But it doesn't mean the team website has to.
OK, so I'm an #### for actually writing a blog post in my browser instead of using Word or even notepad. But this isn't the first time a MLB team site has crashed my browsers. It's happened before and no doubt will happen again.
I'm using Firefox, so it isn't an IE thing. When I use IE, it asks me to temporarily download fonts used on MLB pages.
WHY? So much of MLB.com pages make me ask this over and over again.
WHY? WHY?
Why is there so much #### on each team's homepage? Video, audio, flash, voodoo, something that slices and dices and makes julienne fries. Do we need all this on the homepage?
What are these mysterious fonts? I'm pretty sure Bud Selig's BS could come across in simple Times New Roman.
I know of free porn sites that load with less trouble and run smoother than MLB.com sites.
I can't be the only one this stuff happens to. And I seem to get some sort of issue on any MLB site at least once a week. And while I'm not the most computer-savvy guy around, I'm willing to bet I'm in the top 49% of computer-savvy Americans. Which means most Americans aren't as computer-savvy as me.
And asking them to temporarily download fonts and causing their browsers to crash could just keep them from ever visiting a MLB site again.
Now I'm not asking MLB to make their sites so simple that even the idiots who OK'd Barry Zito's fat contract could manage to log-on. Just maybe simple enough so that Yogi Berra could get on without technical difficulties.
His name sounds like that of a stereotypical director wearing a monocle and knickers in one of those episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" where Jethro tries to become a 'mat-e-nay idol'.
But Max Scherzer is actually a rookie pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks who was dominant in his Major League Debut Tuesday night in Phoenix. 4 1/3 perfect relief innings, 7 k's, 47 pitches and 35 were strikes.
The Dbacks lost to the Astros 6-4, but "The Scherz" was a major silver lining.
Oh, there was another Major League 'debut' Tuesday night. The right field ball 'boy'(I think he was a boy when John McCain was born)fielded a ball down the line that was fair and in-play.
Oops!
The crowd was kind of strange tonight. Could have been due to the Suns game. But it seemed like people were a little slow(or maybe dumb)tonight. I'd go into my little picture spiel and get alot of "HUH?" and "WHAT?" or people looking at each other waiting for the other to make a decision or say something. Normally, it's a very pleasant and cool crowd that can comprehend a simple sentence. Oh well.
It was probably the most beautiful night of the season weather-wise. The roof and wall panels were open, and there was even a pleasant little breeze. Really nice.
On Monday, Dan Haren pitched a decent game in a 5-3 Dbacks win. The crowd was only 19,000 and some change and late arriving. At game time, I was wondering if the game was even on the schedule. If you're reading this(Is anybody reading this? Hello? Is this thing on?)and coming to a Dbacks game, come out early, walk around the park, get a few autographs, hang out in left field and chase some batting practice homers. And let the friendly gang in the green shirts with cameras take your picture!
Speaking of batting practice, I arrived at Chase around 4 pm on Monday. And the place was empty. I mean not one person in any seat. Now, the gates aren't open at that time, and I always arrive before the gates are open to the public. But usually there are guests of I-don't-know-who scattered around, with some out in left field chasing those BP homers. And there's usually some guests of the visiting team sitting near their dugout. Maybe only 50 people total in the park, but still some life.
On Monday, I was it.
I watched Eric Byrnes take BP from the first row by home plate. Then I headed to center field, where our office is located. From out there, I couldn't see exactly who was in the cage(I think it was Orlando Hudson)but whoever it was was putting on Homerpalooza. Ball after ball landing in the empty left field seats.
I couldn't resist. I walked over there and snagged a ball. One of my co-workers arrived and I told her to go treasure hunting. She snagged 2. There were probably another 6 or 8 we left behind. So some early arriving fans got a nice surprise.
Getting a home run ball is truly one of the most magical moments for a baseball fan.
Even if it's a batting practice home run ball and you can leisurely stroll over and simply pick it up in an aisle.
Hell, now that I think about it, that might make it even cooler!
Wednesday is a 12:40 pm start. Shawn Chacon(0-0) starts for the Astros. 5-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson(1-1) takes the mound for the Dbacks.
And once again, I'll be taking the camera for the fans.
Since I didn't have the brainstorm to chronicle my season at Chase until this past weekend, I thought I'd do a little catching-up on my first 8 games.
I wasn't hired until after the Dbacks opening home series with the Dodgers. My first paid day was Friday April 11. Myself and 2 other new photographers met our supervisor/manager(a great guy who also relocated to Phoenix from the Chicago area, arriving here exactly 2 days before I did)at Chase Field. We filled out the obligatory stack of paperwork. We were then led down into the bowels of the stadium to the security office. We had our pictures taken and received our credentials. We headed back to our office/homebase. Day 1 was done.
Exciting stuff, huh?
The game was underway, in the second inning. We were in Chase. We were officially off-the-clock now. We were free to go.
We were also free to stay and watch the game, wander around Chase and enjoy a cold frothy one.
Just 2 hours into this job, and the perks were obvious and already paying off!
My first game working with camera in hand was the next day. I've worked every game since.
What have I learned so far?
Chase Field is a beautiful ballpark. I've always been a ballpark snob, having spent my entire life spoiled by hundreds of visits to Wrigley Field. And while I have yet to visit the 300 level, I've been all over the rest of the park, and I don't think there's a bad seat anywhere. There are probably more roomy and comfortable non-suite seating sections at Chase than most other parks. The main concourse allows you to walk around the entire ballpark and still see the field.
And, dare I say it, when the roof and outfield wall panels are open, it just may be more photogenic than Wrigley.
The Diamondback players are very friendly and accommodating to the fans. The ushers are too. If you arrive early enough, you can get down to the front row and snag some autographs. Even if your tickets are in the Uecker seats.
The fans are into the game and back their Dbacks. Wrigley Field can often be the world's largest beer garden and pick-up bar. Chase Field is a ballpark. It still offers plenty of fun and plenty of eye candy, no matter which way your flag is flyin'.
Before I get bashed and lumped-in with Sam Zell, I know there's no place like Wrigley Field. It's a shrine. Whatever it takes to keep it from falling down should be done. And it should always be called WRIGLEY FIELD. But I now also have an appreciation for a newer ballpark when it is done right. And Chase Field was done right.
There's also a World Series Champions trophy on display at Chase Field.
I meet alot of fans each game. Some of the more memorable thus far include the boisterous San Francisco Giants fans sitting in left field. I purposely asked them to walk down to the front row and pose for a few pics holding their Giants flag. It got the left field stands booing up a storm and attracted the attention of other sections around the park. And yeah, I meant to do that.
There were 2 very nice gentlemen from the UK who came to Phoenix to golf. They also visited Tombstone and the Grand Canyon. They wanted to experience an American baseball game before they headed home. They were pleasantly surprised by the close proximity opposing fans sat, not to mention that rivalries were friendly and fun. And they were absolutely amazed to see alcohol sold inside the park. That stuff would be unheard of at soccer games back home, they said.
I got to talk with and photograph the legendary Joe Garagiola and his lovely wife. Joe sits-in on Saturday FoxSportsNet Arizona Dbacks home telecasts when broadcasting analyst Mark Grace is working FOX network baseball.
I also met and photographed John "Danny" Olivas, (Ph.D., P.E.), a NASA Astronaut who flew on space shuttle mission STS-117 Atlantis.
As for baseball at Chase, what's not to like! The Diamondbacks are 18-7, the best record in this young baseball season. They traded arguably the best closer in the league last year(who had an entrance to rival any in the WWE), Jose Valverde, and still have about 4 guys who could close for most teams. They added Dan Haren to an already strong pitching staff. Randy Johnson is back and looking healthy. The lineup is solid and young.
And they have Augie Ojeda!
Compared to the California Podgeriants and the snowboaders from Denver(who had the luxury of playing a 3 week season last year), the Dbacks should have the NL West wrapped up while the Thurston and Lovey Howells of Scottsdale can still wear white shoes and belts and remain fashionable.
Second best record in baseball? The Chicago Cubs. Hmmmmmm...
Tonight Houston comes to town. Sampson(1-2) for the Astros, the aforementioned Mr. Haren(3-1) for the Dbacks.
I'll be there!
One quick side note: As soon as FOXsports.com has CTU perform their background check and trusts I won't post those naughty pics of Terry Bradshaw with Luann Platter(will these plugs for FOX shows speed that up?), I'll be posting some pics to accompany my ramblings.
Being a Fan Photographer entails attending every Arizona Diamondbacks game at Chase Field. It allows me a rather unique perspective of observing the game, the ballpark and the fans throughout the entire season. And I'll be sharing these observations with the world, right here.
Lucky you!
I'll share my experiences about interesting fans I've met, happenings around the ballpark, game stuff, and all that other motherjazz for each and every game.
Oh yeah. The name...
I chase fans for photos. The Diamondbacks chase another National League West title(and hopefully more). It all happens at Chase Field. In Phoenix, Arizona. Which is in the desert.
Sometimes these corporate takeovers work out.
"BOB In The Desert" would have sounded kinda dumb.
online casinos haste
I am a fan photographer at Chase Field for Arizona Diamondbacks games. I'll be sharing the unique perspective this job allows me of the ballpark, the fans and the games with you.
I was a lifelong Chicagoan until June 30, 2007, when my girlfriend and I spent our first night in our new home in Phoenix.
Chicago is a great city, but it was time for a new adventure. I had a good-paying job that was a pain in the BLEEP. I had winters and snow. I had high taxes and fees for everything.
Phoenix is also a great city. They don't nickel-and-di me you to death. And the weather! They don't sell snow shovels and icemelt here. Oh baby, the weather!
And as a baseball fan, I have a great job. I look forward to going to work for the first time in years. I actually have fun while working.
2008 Rookie Of The Year, Cy Young Award Winner, and the next President of the United States, Max Scherzer, will get his first start in The Bigs and join the starting rotation of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at Chase Field. He will face the Philadelphia Phillies and 112 year-old Jamie Moyer.
