Arizona Sports Blog

My Phoenix Sports Blog

Felipe Lopez Gone - Reno Aces get Better

Well the good news as the Dbacks start to sell off their top players for prospects is that the Reno Aces - the Dbacks Triple-A team, are going to get real good. Brandon Allen has already helped the team since coming over from the White Sox organization in the Pena trade. Now the Aces retain the services of outfielder Cole Gillespie.

Right-handed pitcher Roque Mercedes, also acquired in the trade for Lopez, will most likely be sent to Double-A Mobile. Mercedes is a reliever, something the Dbacks disparately need.

Kirk Gibson Bench Coach, Arizona Diamondbacks by Dave Pratt

If you were trying to convince Tommy Lasorda that Arizona is one of the most beautiful places in the world, where would you take him?
Everybody knows how fond Tommy Lasorda is of pasta, so the first thing I’d do is take him out for a night on the town in Old Town Scottsdale. There are a lot of great Italian places there, and we could probably convince him to keep coming back to Arizona.

Favorite spring training ballpark in Arizona?
Scottsdale Stadium has a great atmosphere. They get a lot of our fans out there, and it’s usually a sold-out game. After the game, there are several great places to go around the park.

Who would do a better job of steering a raft through the rapids on the Colorado River: Stephen Drew or Justin Upton?
Stephen Drew. He’s an avid hunter and fisherman, so his outdoor experience would probably benefit him on the rapids. Plus, if we got stranded someplace, he’d be able to get us some food.

- -Arizona Celebrities, Local Celebrity Interviews | Arizona Highways Photography-

Dbacks have won 6 out of the last 7 and are scoring lots of runs.

No Shawn Marion

I didn’t believe it was going to happen, but the idea of Marion coming back to play with Nash and Amare was intriguing. Instead, he’s on a stacked Dallas Mavericks team. It’s going to be the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks this year.

Doug Davis, Diamondbacks (4-8, 3.13 ERA) The Diamondbacks lead the majors in errors and rank 26th in bullpen ERA. Factor in an acute lack of run support, and Davis, Haren and Max Scherzer are all stuck in a Bermuda Triangle of despair. Johan Santana is the only full-time starter who has received punier offensive support than Davis this season. Opponents are hitting .188 against Davis with runners in scoring position. He has the best pickoff move this side of Andy Pettitte and Mark Buehrle, he’s always thinking several hitters ahead, and he usually finds a way to wriggle out of his messes. “He’s a bend-don’t-break type of guy,” said a National League coach. “The difference between Doug Davis and a fifth starter is, he’ll pitch his way out of jams. He controls the game and he doesn’t give up the big inning very often. If you can give him some run support, he can win a lot of games.” Davis also takes the ball, as they say. Since 2004, he ranks second in the National League to Roy Oswalt with 180 starts. He goes deep into games consistently enough to save bullpens, and his numbers stack up well against the more affluent Barry Zito over the past several years. Davis can help get a team to October, but can he make a difference in the postseason? Potential suitors will be debating that question as they decide whether to pursue him in trade between now and July 31. - Javier Vazquez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Doug Davis among starters who should have more W’s - ESPN
Let’s root root for the home team.

Let’s root root for the home team.

Darnell Dockett tried to set some fireworks by announcing on Twitter yesterday:
“Dockett fans, CARDINAL FANs, AND ALL SPORTS WRITERS AND ALL BLOGGER and any one else who wanna know I WILL MAKE AN ANNOUCMENT 2day @ 8:15.” - @ddockett
When 8:15 rolled around, no message. A little bit later, this is what he tweeted:
“I am happy to announce that after meeting with the team recently, I have full faith and confidence in the Cardinals organization-cont” - @ddockett
Both these messages are in regards to his contract dispute. The Cardinals have him locked up until 2011, however, Mr. Dockett would like to tear that contact up and get a new one. This seems to be a common occurrence in professional sports today. A player signs a contract, does well, and wants a new contract. No risk by the player and no reward by the team.
I’m glad to see that Dockett is doing the right thing here. He has a contract and he’s going to report to training camp. Let’s hope it isn’t lip service and he does play under this contract for at least the next 2 years. Teams need to get a backbone and it looks like the Cardinals have exerted theirs.

Darnell Dockett tried to set some fireworks by announcing on Twitter yesterday:

“Dockett fans, CARDINAL FANs, AND ALL SPORTS WRITERS AND ALL BLOGGER and any one else who wanna know I WILL MAKE AN ANNOUCMENT 2day @ 8:15.” - @ddockett

When 8:15 rolled around, no message. A little bit later, this is what he tweeted:

“I am happy to announce that after meeting with the team recently, I have full faith and confidence in the Cardinals organization-cont” - @ddockett

Both these messages are in regards to his contract dispute. The Cardinals have him locked up until 2011, however, Mr. Dockett would like to tear that contact up and get a new one. This seems to be a common occurrence in professional sports today. A player signs a contract, does well, and wants a new contract. No risk by the player and no reward by the team.

I’m glad to see that Dockett is doing the right thing here. He has a contract and he’s going to report to training camp. Let’s hope it isn’t lip service and he does play under this contract for at least the next 2 years. Teams need to get a backbone and it looks like the Cardinals have exerted theirs.

Home vs Road

Why do some players like Montero hit so much better on the road than they do at home?

Vote for Reynolds Here

Cardinal pool shade

Cardinal pool shade

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Manny Ramirez a fallen hero?

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The bullpen

OUTFIELD: Justin Upton, Diamondbacks Look at Upton’s great numbers in ‘09 and remember this: He’s 21.

G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
73 273 49 86 14 45 35 70 10 .315 .394 .568 .961

- ESPN’s National League All-Stars - ESPN

Was it even close? Dbacks vs Reds, July 1st

You know that golf idea? The one that says when you play with poor golfers, you have a bad round. But when you play with good players, you have a great day. That sums up the Dbacks play right now.

The games lately tend to be close in score. If they are getting blown out, they tend to close the gap. If it’s a one or two run game, they can’t score to save their lives. That’s what happened tonight.

However, that closeness is usually only in the score. More often than not this year, they should have won in convincing fashion, but didn’t. Or they were never in the game, but only lost by a few runs. It’s getting very frustrating.

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