End the Sedona red curse

The Arizona Diamondbacks' 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight was as gut-wrenching as it was predictable. Pitcher Dan Haren put in a stellar performance for eight innings, but the offense couldn't plate a single run. That's nine losses in a row, and it almost seems like the team is inventing ways to lose.

Tonight, manager A.J. Hinch had his number 8 hitter, catcher Chris Snyder, bunt left fielder Conor Jackson over to second base, so that hot-hitting pitcher Haren could drive Jackson in. That's the kind of move you make when your pitcher has a .400 batting average and your team has lost eight in a row.

Like that move on the field, the front office made a similar desperation move, announcing a deal for pitcher Dontrelle Willis. This is a pitcher who was designated for assignment after going 2-8 in 101 innings with a 6.86 ERA in three seasons with the Detroit Tigers. This season may have shown a slight improvement, with a 4.98 ERA and 1-2 record in nine games, but it wasn't enough for the Tigers to keep him, despite being on the hook for about $8 million in salary to him this year. The Diamondbacks reportedly get to take a chance on Willis for a bargain basement price of $266,000 and the trade of pitcher Billy Buckner, who had a 0-3 record with an 11.08 ERA this season, so even a broken-down Willis is a serious upgrade.

However, even if Willis regains the phenomenal form that made him "the D-Train," the ace of the Florida Marlins staff in the 2003-2005 seasons, he's not a remedy for what ails this team.

If we're talking about making desperation moves to get a win, the front office should swallow its pride and reinstate the old uniforms, the ones this franchise won a World Series in. The team's merchandise sales may be up since adopting Sedona Red and the classless comic book lettering in 2007, but aside from that season, these unis -- which make the Diamondbacks look like way too many other red-clad teams in both leagues -- have brought the team nothing but woe.

With the old unis they went from last place to first in the 1998 and 1999 seasons, and it's true that with the new unis they went from last place in 2006, the last year they wore the old colors, to first place in 2007. (In 2006, they tied for last place with Colorado with 76-86 records.) However, aside from that good year, the team was second with a not-nearly-good-enough-for-the-wild-card 82-80 record in 2008 (and a fruitless effort to hold on to the lead the team, at barely .500, held most of that season because the rest of the division sucked as much as the Diamondbacks did) and has been a cellar dweller throughout 2009 and 2010.

In the first nine years of the franchise -- the years with the old uniforms -- the team finished first three times, that's 33 percent of the time. The team also placed last three times, 33 percent of the time. But since the new uniforms came in, they've finished in first place once, finished in last place once and are on track to finish in last place this year. Not only that, but ace pitcher Brandon Webb has been sidelined since opening day of 2009. Although not even his stellar 22-7 record in 2008 could rescue the team from being a weak .500 team, I think it's part of the curse of the red unis that's put him out of commission this year and last.

So end the curse, Diamondbacks execs. Bring back the old uniforms and honor the team's winning tradition.

Copyright © 2010, Salvatore Caputo

Dog days of summer bite snakes

I posted this blog about the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 10, 1999, on Compuserve's personal pages. I find it interesting to read again in light of what's going on with this team a decade later.

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When the Arizona Diamondbacks went on a tear through the National League in the first two months of the season, the question in the back of everyone's mind was, "Are they contenders or pretenders?" When they kept winning through the middle of June, the Diamondbacks seemed to have completely shed the losing skin of 1998. They looked like they were for real.

Just like that, though, the questions have resurfaced. The Diamondbacks have gone from a four-game lead in the National League West to three games behind the division-leading San Francisco Giants since mid-June.

To win the division or a wild-card seat in the postseason, the Diamondbacks have to buck nearly 40 years of expansion-era baseball history. The Los Angeles Angels, baseball's first expansion team, is the only one (so far) to have a winning record in its second year. (The Angels also set a 70-win record for a debut season.) The general rule has been that expansion teams need to suffer years of losing before breaking through. That rule has been broken in the '90s, though. The Colorado Rockies made it to the postseason in their third year, and the Florida Marlins won the World Series in their fifth season.

Despite a spending spree on free agents, last year's Diamondbacks came nowhere close to challenging the Angels' debut-year record. The off-season spending on free agents for 1999, including pitcher Randy Johnson, argues that the team is determined not to let last year's poor performance get in the way of their determination to go to the postseason this year.

Energized by the resurgent offense of Matt Williams and Jay Bell and a career year by Luis Gonzalez (all of whom are All Stars this year), the Diamondbacks, after a 0-4 start, became the hottest team in the National League through the middle of June. Then, the Braves, superhot Reds and Cardinals came to Bank One Ballpark, and the team started losing. Sports Illustrated predicted that the homestand would be a reality check for the snakes, and it was.

A phantom offense?

The blame for the sudden downturn was laid on the bullpen. Blown saves, after all, had been the main reason for the team's bad start. When the team was winning, the offense overcame a number of blown saves. The team clearly needed a better bullpen to reach the postseason. However, if the problem was just in the bullpen, pitcher Randy Johnson, the team's other All Star, would not have been shut out while pitching four strong games in a row. The Diamondbacks have racked up only seven hits in those Johnson starts. Aside from a few nights when they scored in double-digits, the offense has been in a terrible slump since the Braves series, a fact that doesn't help the bullpen or starting pitching.

To state the obvious, even though pitchers get the credit for wins and losses, the best they can do is give their teams the chance to win. To win, the offense has to score.

The Diamondbacks look as prepared as anyone else in the National League West (except for the amazingly resilient San Francisco Giants) to make it to the postseason, at least on paper. They've got the toughest pitcher in the league in Johnson, one of the leading base stealers in leadoff man Tony Womack, and one of the most potent offenses. They've also made moves to shore up the bullpen -- including a deal that brought steely-eyed closer Matt Mantei over from the Florida Marlins.

However, one of those factors -- the potent offense -- was not expected to be there as the season began. Could it be a phantom? The math is against the aging Williams. Even though he was unlikely to have as bad a year as last year, Williams can only expect his numbers to go down from his peak years. Bell, on the other hand, seems to be benefiting from batting No. 2 behind the fleet-footed Womack. Seeing more fastballs from pitchers interested in trying to keep Womack off second base, Bell has set a career record in home runs by the halfway point of this season. Can he keep up that pace, or has he returned to his considerably more mortal pace of previous years?

The evidence so far points more toward the "contender" side of the equation, but that's not a foregone conclusion. The second half should be interesting. Fans certainly have to hope that it's a coincidence that the team started losing just as the hot weather started.

Summer lasts a long time in Phoenix.

Copyright © 1999, Salvatore Caputo

Dog days of summer bite snakes

When the Arizona Diamondbacks went on a tear through the National League in the first two months of the season, the question in the back of everyone's mind was, "Are they contenders or pretenders?" When they kept winning through the middle of June, the Diamondbacks seemed to have completely shed the losing skin of 1998. They looked like they were for real. Just like that, though, the questions have resurfaced. The Diamondbacks have gone from a four-game lead in the National League West to three games behind the division-leading San Francisco Giants since mid-June. To win the division or a wild-card seat in the postseason, the Diamondbacks have to buck nearly 40 years of expansion-era baseball history. The Los Angeles Angels, baseball's first expansion team, is the only one (so far) to have a winning record in its second year. (The Angels also set a 70-win record for a debut season.) The general rule has been that expansion teams need to suffer years of losing before breaking through. That rule has been broken in the '90s, though. The Colorado Rockies made it to the postseason in their third year, and the Florida Marlins won the World Series in their fifth season. Despite a spending spree on free agents, last year's Diamondbacks came nowhere close to challenging the Angels' debut-year record. The off-season spending on free agents for 1999, including pitcher Randy Johnson, argues that the team is determined not to let last year's poor performance get in the way of their determination to go to the postseason this year. Energized by the resurgent offense of Matt Williams and Jay Bell and a career year by Luis Gonzalez (all of whom are All Stars this year), the Diamondbacks, after a 0-4 start, became the hottest team in the National League through the middle of June. Then, the Braves, superhot Reds and Cardinals came to Bank One Ballpark, and the team started losing. Sports Illustrated predicted that the homestand would be a reality check for the snakes, and it was. A phantom offense? The blame for the sudden downturn was laid on the bullpen. Blown saves, after all, had been the main reason for the team's bad start. When the team was winning, the offense overcame a number of blown saves. The team clearly needed a better bullpen to reach the postseason. However, if the problem was just in the bullpen, pitcher Randy Johnson, the team's other All Star, would not have been shut out while pitching four strong games in a row. The Diamondbacks have racked up only seven hits in those Johnson starts. Aside from a few nights when they scored in double-digits, the offense has been in a terrible slump since the Braves series, a fact that doesn't help the bullpen or starting pitching. To state the obvious, even though pitchers get the credit for wins and losses, the best they can do is give their teams the chance to win. To win, the offense has to score. The Diamondbacks look as prepared as anyone else in the National League West (except for the amazingly resilient San Francisco Giants) to make it to the postseason, at least on paper. They've got the toughest pitcher in the league in Johnson, one of the leading base stealers in leadoff man Tony Womack, and one of the most potent offenses. They've also made moves to shore up the bullpen -- including a deal that brought steely-eyed closer Matt Mantei over from the Florida Marlins. However, one of those factors -- the potent offense -- was not expected to be there as the season began. Could it be a phantom? The math is against the aging Williams. Even though he was unlikely to have as bad a year as last year, Williams can only expect his numbers to go down from his peak years. Bell, on the other hand, seems to be benefiting from batting No. 2 behind the fleet-footed Womack. Seeing more fastballs from pitchers interested in trying to keep Womack off second base, Bell has set a career record in home runs by the halfway point of this season. Can he keep up that pace, or has he returned to his considerably more mortal of previous years? The evidence so far points more toward the "contender" side of the equation, but that's not a foregone conclusion. The second half should be interesting. Fans certainly have to hope that it's a coincidence that the team started losing just as the hot weather started. Summer lasts a long time in Phoenix. Copyright © 1999, Salvatore Caputo

Sammy Sosa made Mark McGwire better

The Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, the also-ran of baseball's home-run chase with 66 dingers, was voted the MVP of the National League today. The Baseball Writers' Association members, who did the choosing, were virtually unanimous. The only dissenters among 32 voters who made Sosa their first choice were two scribes from St. Louis. They voted for the only other slugger to hit more than 61 home runs in a season: Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals. If they hadn't, what would the home crowd have said about them? Without a doubt, McGwire holds the sexiest record in American sports. By hitting 70 home runs this summer, McGwire didn't just break the record held by Roger Maris, he played Godzilla stomping on Tokyo. People can talk about expansion-diluted pitching all they want, but it takes a real slugger to hit moonshots. We'd better hope that none of the balls he hit out of the atmosphere deflect an asteroid our way. For hitting 70 home runs, McGwire was acclaimed the savior of baseball. He helped bring people back to Major League ballparks. To hear wistful baseball fans tell it, McGwire was Babe Ruth and Albert Schweitzer rolled into one. Cheers were heard in parks where only the wind had moaned since the baseball strike of 1994-95. People came in droves to watch the guy take batting practice. They booed if their home-team pitchers wouldn't pitch to him. Clearly, everyone was ready for the record to be broken. Maris set it 37 years ago, breaking Ruth's 60-run record from 1927. Consistent Mark, surprising Sammy McGwire didn't want to talk about the home-run pace he was on. He said that it wasn't worth talking about breaking the Maris record until a player had 50 runs at the beginning of September. In fact, he started getting downright testy in the face of continuous questions about the home-run record. Although he did seem a little happier after he hit 50 by the beginning of September, he seemed hard-pressed to enjoy what he was doing. When McGwire's use of androstenedione, a muscle-enhancing drug, was questioned, he seemed on the edge of losing it. Sosa, on the other hand, seemed to relish attention. He quipped that he took performance-enhancing drugs, too: Flintstone vitamins. In the later stages of the home-run race, commentators all noted the difference between the way Sosa and McGwire took the pressure. Writers speculated that Sosa was grateful because he came up from the poverty of the Dominican Republic. McGwire had been dogged by the press much longer, and maybe Sosa wouldn't have been so happy if he'd been mindlessly asked the same litany of questions every day since spring training. Each year since the strike, people have put money on McGwire to break the home-run record. Sosa, on the other hand, crept up on everyone. A free swinger most of his career, he didn't get much notice as a slugger until he hit 20 home runs in June, setting the Major League record for long balls hit in a single month. In responding to questions after the MVP was announced, Sosa continued to say what he's said all year, that the real MVP and baseball hero this year was McGwire. He humbly accepted it, but gave the impression he didn't get why he should have been voted in over McGwire -- especially in a laugher. So who's the MVP? As do all judgment calls, this MVP award has its boosters and detractors. The debate heated up many a barroom and sports-talk radio phone line. The McGwire boosters say, and rightly so, that McGwire led the charge that made baseball vital to fans again. People who weren't fans knew who McGwire was and kept track of whether he hit one out on any given day. He set records in walks as well as home runs this year. However, most importantly, they argue, if 70 home runs -- a number that still leaves some fans giddy -- doesn't get you the MVP, what will? Sosa's boosters argue that he had a better all-around year than McGwire and helped put his team into the post-season. This argument also holds some water. I can't pretend to know what the baseball writers were thinking when they voted, but I have to agree with their choice. However, not for any of the reasons mentioned before. The X factor Sammy Sosa was the X factor that made the season interesting. The camaraderie that he and McGwire shared seemed to help McGwire lighten up and enjoy the home stretch of the season, just when it appeared he was losing patience with the whole circus. Without Sosa, McGwire's getting the record was virtually an inexorable, foregone conclusion. Imagine what the season would have been like if Sosa wasn't on his heels. Unlike the 1961 race between Maris and Mickey Mantle, neither Sosa nor McGwire was taken out of the running by injury. So there was some question as to who would end up with the home-run record this season. When Sosa hit 66, McGwire's answering shots became more dramatic. Now that it's over, people forget that the race was still on and it was an open question whether Sosa would overtake McGwire. If McGwire had been the only one in it when he hit 62, he probably would have let up. Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said that McGwire did express relief that it was "over" after he hit 62. If not for Sosa, everybody could have gone home happy that Maris' record was finally broken, and that a new generation of ballplayers finally found their place in the pantheon where Ruth sits. However, the main reason it didn't stop there was Sosa. McGwire racked up 70 because Sosa hit 66. McGwire has the sexy record, and he'll be remembered by far more people for that record than any league MVP ever has been. If McGwire's record was the biggest thing to happen to baseball this year, then Sosa definitely was an MVP for keeping it exciting to the last day of the season. Copyright © 1998, Salvatore Caputo

Last bats: Realignment's races will be different

I'm watching the Dodgers trying to stay in the National League West race with less than 1 1/2 games to go when I realize it's not going to be this way next year. The lords of the realm are going to have some sort of realignment plan in place before the next season starts. Baseball is a safe haven for nostalgia. After all, there's no harm done by remembering "the good old days" of a sport. That kind of nostalgia doesn't get in the way of living in the present. However, change has come mighty quick in recent years. Divisional realignment created the wild-card spot in the playoffs. This year, interleague play was added to the regular season. Next year, it'll be a whole new ball of wax with at least a few teams switching leagues. The divisions will be different, although some rivalries will be preserved and new ones created. The sad part about it is that -- duh! -- the changes will be made not to improve the game, but to improve business. The lords of the realm virtually forced realignment to happen when they assigned the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the American League West division. Come on! Everybody knows that couldn't stand -- having all the Rays' divisional opponents a day's flight away. I wouldn't want to have that team's jet-fuel bills. Good stories in baseball? This year, however, there's plenty else in the game to give fans the excitement that seasons long past brought. Larry Walker and Tony Gwynn both chased a .400 batting average for a minute. They didn't make it, but few rooted against them. People felt good about these guys the way they do about the big names of old. Unlike the way they feel about, say, Tony Philips. Then, there was the war of attrition in the chase after Roger Maris' record. In the past few weeks, the field shook down to Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. It doesn't seem like either will make it, but when was the last time two guys hit 50 home run in a season? Couldn't be that Mantle-Maris year, could it? Even if Junior wears his hat backwards, he's got a low-key air that keeps him on the good-guy side most of the time. McGwire says he signed his huge contract with St. Louis only after his son, who lives in southern California, said it was OK. It's not the same as Lou Gehrig saying he's the luckiest man alive, but it's a statement that has a similar kind of vulnerability and emotion behind it. Definitely not what you'd expect from a guy who hits rocket blasts almost every day. Speaking of rockets, how about Roger Clemens? The Red Sox have to rue the day they let this fabulous pitcher go, with the hint that he was washed up. Not hardly. There were other good stories in this year before realignment. For instance, people say that pitching's diluted. However, in the year when two hitters chased .400 and another two chased Maris, eight pitchers had a shot at winning 20 games as late as September 1. Enough for instances, though. It's fun to realize that even thought baseball deserves the licking it gets for having the most spoiled athletes in pro sports and possibly the most medieval owners, there were too many good baseball stories this year to mention here. What's most likely to be remembered next year is not the realignment, but the reason for the realignment. Two new teams coming aboard in Florida and Arizona. The fans in those markets will get big-league ball for the first time and cheer their good guys. They won't be cheering the owners. Of course, the owners in their counting houses won't be able to hear the cheers anyhow. Copyright © 1997, Salvatore Caputo