AZ Hardball - Arizona Diamondbacks, Cactus League, Fall League » Diamondbacks

Announcing the Phoenix Fanster Athlete of the Year

AZ Hardball — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:57:07 +0000

The annual Fanster Phoenix Athlete of the Year poll is out. The annual poll is voted on by writers and contributors of the Phoenix sports community. Several Arizona baseball players made the list, including high school and college players.

Check out the results at Fanster.com

D-backs, Rockies Courted by Casa Grande

AZ Hardball — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:48:26 +0000

In a move that might not be too surprising to valley residents, the city of Casa Grande has expressed sincere interest in being the new Spring Training home for the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Although there appears to be no funding for the move of the teams, the city has approved to put an addition on their May 19th general election ballot for a tax increase that is expected to assist with the financing of the move for the teams. This move would potentially eliminate the presence of Spring Training Baseball in the city if Tucson, where both teams are currently located. This would also prove to be a potentially critical decrease to the city’s tourism revenue. Although the City of Tucson has voiced dissatisfaction of any move, regardless of the location, it appears that courting cities are coming into play.

The City of Casa Grande is located at the intersection if Interstates 8 and 10, 43 miles from Chase Field (perhaps 47 from the Phoenix city center). The city is aggressively planning for the future as they are currently planning for next year’s census and have a comprehensive General Plan outlined for the city for 2020. The city’s vision includes highlighting their downtown and its history, excellent transportation, focusing on industry and technology in addition to top-notch education and employment opportunity.

Although we are not yet aware that either team has expressed interest, we do know that the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale have both expressed interest in the D-backs. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more about the ever changing landscape of the Cactus League and Spring Training in Arizona.

The Big Unit Leaves AZ to Pitch for Rival Giants

AZ Hardball — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:56:08 +0000

Randy Johnson will no longer be in a Diamondbacks uniform as he signs a one-year agreement with the San Francisco Giants. Randy, having pitched tremendously for the D-backs during his career has voiced some amount of disappointment as he leaves Phoenix to pitch for the NL West Division rivals.

Randy Johnson will be turning 46 next year and has the opportunity to face his former team 18 times next year. Although it is sad to see Randy go and some fans have voiced their disapproval, we remember his departure to the New York Yankees in 2005. We will have the opportunity to see The Big Unit play during Cactus League Spring Training 2009 and against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

D-Backs Winter Meeting Update

AZ Hardball — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:23:13 +0000

Recent media reports claimed that the Winter Baseball Meetings would be pretty quiet for the Diamondbacks, who were not expected to make much of a splash this year. To our surprise there has been some interesting revelations as the team makes moves to fill some gaps and strengthen other roles. For the team, overall, money issues has been a recurring theme for the ball club as they opted not to make any arrangements with the Big Unit to return to Arizona for his next season.

In a move that we all welcome, Augie Ojeda was signed to a one year 700k plus contract that would ensure his return for next year. Augie played in 105 games last year with some solid defense in the second base spot. Although his offensive performance has room for improvement, he seemed to deliver in the clutch towards the end of the year, earning him a spot as one of the fan favorites. We are looking forward to our favorite chant, “Augie, Augie, Augie… Oye, Oye Oye!”

Still at the second base spot, the D-Backs secured the services of former Washington National and 2005 Reds All-Star Felipe Lopez. With the departure of Orlando Hudson and David Eckstein, Arizona looked to fill the hole at second base and have some depth in that position. Lopez, 28, is excited about the opportunity to come to Phoenix and to play for Arizona and we are equally excited to have him. The unfortunate twist to this transaction was the price tag. The Diamondbacks opted to pay more for Lopez than they were willing to pay for the return of Randy Johnson. Putting things in perspective, we agree that it might be in the best interest if the team to solidify the infield before only, possibly, receiving publicity for being part of a future hall of famer’s milestone.

Eric Byrnes to Appear at Pat Tillman Benefit

AZ Hardball — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:17:18 +0000

This year, for the second time in Arizona Fall League, The Pat Tillman Foundation will partner with the AFL for an event to benefit the foundation. Outfielder Eric Byrnes and others will be at the event to help to raise funds for the organization. The event will take place on Saturday, November first as the Scottsdale Scorpions host the Surprise Rafters. If you need a reason to go catch a Fall League game this should definitely assist with that need.

In addition to plenty of competitive baseball, there will be a silent auction of sports memorabilia and local Phoenix sports figures. The auction will help to raise money for the foundation. Additionally, half of the evening’s ticket sales at the gate will go to the foundation. Mark your calendar and get ready to catch some Arizona Fall League baseball on what promises to be an exciting evening. We hope to see you there.

The Scottsdale Scorpions begin play at 7:05 p.m. Gates open a 6 p.m.

Arizona Diamondbacks Season Wrapup

AZ Hardball — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:36:10 +0000

2008 was another excellent year for the Diamondbacks despite the fact that they barely missed the playoffs. Many people are disappointed by the fact that the DBacks did not make the play offs but the team did make an exciting run and played some excellent baseball this season.

Although there is some unanswered questions that remain in regards to who will stay and who will go, the team seems to be growing a solid foundation. In an all to common response to the post season race the team seemed to collapse. Once the pressure of the race was no longer on, the boys seemed to be having fun and returned to winning games.

Although it is hard to attribute their late season winnings to the pressure of making the race in the NL West, one can’t help but suggest that the team could not do a decent job of handling the pressure. It was apparent in their home stand against the Clolorado Rockies that the players were having a good time on the field. Without the chance of an NL West title lingering over their heads, the team was phenomenal.

Despite Mark Reynolds continued to swing for the fences, increasing his strike out record, there were some defensive marvels and some offensive prowess that was displayed by the team. Unfortunately, Randy Johnson had not been receiving the run support that he would hoped, his final game of the season saw offensive contributions from most of the team.

Diamondbacks Hammer Colorado

AZ Hardball — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:57:22 +0000

In a timely and convincing victory against the Colorado Rockies, the Arizona Diamondbacks gain a game, in the standings, on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers fall to the Giants in 11 innings with a score of 1-0.

In an unusual display of offense, the Diamondbacks score 13 runs on 19 hits as they better the Rockies by 9 runs. Great team performances were delivered by Young, Co Jack, Dunn and Haren. Dan Haren helped his game winning cause by having six quality innings and producing three hits with the bat. Connor Jackson had four hits with two runs and Adam Dunn contributed with three RBIs. Chris Young also performed well by providing three hits and driving in four Arizona runs with one home run. Additionally, John Whitesell hits hist first major league home run.

The race continues to narrow as the Diamondbacks square off against the St. Louis Cardinals this week before finishing up the season in Phoenix.

Drew’s Homer Beats Rockies

AZ Hardball — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:32:15 +0000

Stephen Drew’s ninth inning home run propels the Arizona Diamondbacks to victory Saturday night in Colorado as the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 3-5. One item of concern is the energy of the team after watching the view of the bench for the majority of the game. Drew’s two run shot seemed to spark the bench a bit but, there definitely needs to be more energy coming from the team. In a critical weekend of baseball for the Diamondbacks, they remain behind the Los Angeles Dodger for the lead in thier division.

The division remains close as the Dodgers come from behind at home to beat the San Francisco Giants.

Webb Wins 20th Game

AZ Hardball — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:26:53 +0000

After multiple unsuccessful outings, Brandon Webb wins his 20th game making him the first National League 20 win pitcher since 2005. Webb is also only the third D-backs pitcher to reach twenty wins. Only Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling have had 20 or more wins as Diamondbacks pitcher which puts Brandon Webb in some nice company.

It was great seeing Arizona play with some major hustle from players like Eckstein and Salazar. Despite the nail biting eighth inning pitched by Lyon. Chad Qualls came through in excellent fashion with the save to help the Diamondbacks break their six game losing streak.

We’ll be at the game again tomorrow and we are looking forward to seeing a rejuvinated Arizona team go head-to-head with the Cincinnati Reds.

Struggling D-backs Drop One at AT&T

AZ Hardball — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:26:45 +0000

Prior to being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manager, Bob Melvin had a talk with the team in the hopes of getting the team back on track. The labor proved to be unfruitful as the Diamondbacks ended up getting swept by L.A. The next leg of their California trip took the team to San Francisco where they were beat 6-2 by the Giants. With their losing streak now at four games, this loss was an especially painful meeting of division rivals.