Diamondbacks 0, Rockies 3: Troy Ache, Man

Record: 1-1. Pace: 81-81. Change on last season: 0.

Poor Dan Haren. Life just isn’t fair. Yesterday, Brandon Webb got shelled for six runs in four innings, and escaped with a no-decision. Tonight, Haren pitched seven brilliant inning, spoiled only by a solo shot to Troy Tulowitzki, and ends up taking the loss. Anyone who thinks a W-L record is really of any meaning as far as assessing a pitcher’s quality, should have the box-score from tonight’s game tattooed on their forehead.

I’m not sure what happened to the offense overnight, but it wasn’t pretty, whatever it was. Four singles and a Stephen Drew double: that was the sum total of the production this evening. Drew had two of our five hits, plus a walk, while Jackson got a hit and a free pass. That double, with one out in the sixth, was the only time after the second inning that we had a man in scoring position, but Chad Tracy popped out to shallow left and, after a Conor Jackson walk, Miguel Montero went down, swinging as if auditioning for 300, on a pitch that was somewhere around his neck. The white flag was run up the flagpole by Arizona at the end of the seventh, when we saw Eric Byrnes pinch-hit for Haren, lining weakly out to the infield, while Jon Rauch warmed up. I think we all knew that was game over, man - game over.

Arizona’s best chance of breaking through against Ubaldo Jimenez - who reduced his career ERA against us to 2.18 - came in the second. After Jackson singled and Montero struck out, Mark Reynolds legged out an infield hit, despite the best efforts of Tulowitzki to throw him out. Justin Upton then worked a solid walk, showing fine plate discipline, to load the bases with one out. Admittedly, Haren was at the plate. but since the departure of Micah Owings, he has been our pitcher who knows best how to handle the bat. However, that proved not to be the case today, as he rolled into a double-play, ending the inning and sucking the life out of the stadium. [26,637 in attendance tonight - obviously, a drop from Opening Day, but they did get to enjoy the game with the roof open]

It would be unfair to condemn Haren for his actions, since it’s not as if any of the other hitters exactly covered themselves in glory, and you can’t expect him to do everything. He certainly did a beautiful job in his main role - on the mound. Haren pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, with no walks and nine strikeouts; he struck out the side in the fifth, unfortunately, after allowing Tulowitzki’s long-ball to deep left, leading off the inning. He stranded a lead-off double on second in the first, and also got out of a jam in the third when a wild pitch put a man on third-base with one out. Dan then struck out the #1 and #2 for the Rockies to end that threat. No: Haren was about the least of Arizona’s problems tonight: before the game, I was hoping for a quality start, and he more than surpassed those expectations.

The bullpen, on the other hand… As noted above, it was largely taken as a sign of surrender when we saw Jon Rauch warming up, and so it proved when he came in to replace Haren in the eighth inning. He got the first batter, but a double, RBI single, groundout and walk followed: with two on and Todd Helton up, Bob Melvin turned to LOOGY Doug Slaten, but the results proved as disappointing as yesterday - Helton singled, to make the score 3-0. The inherited runner was charged to Rauch, giving him an ERA of 27,00: it may be early days, but on the basis of tonight it does not seem that the hideous spring training numbers were an exaggeration. About the only plus would be, better for him to give up a pair of runs when we’re 1-0 down, than when we’re 1-0 up. Situational suckage: that’s what we saw tonight.

Slaten, too, is making a pretty good case for finding himself on the bus to Reno next week, when Max Scherzer comes back to the roster. It didn’t help things that one of the other candidates for the trip, Juan Gutierrez, saw his first action, and provided the only decent performance from our relief corps. Gutierrez retired all four batters he faced, with a pair of strikeouts, first bailing Slaten out in the eighth and then sticking around to pitch the ninth, with the game now slipping from the Diamondbacks’ grasp. That gave the pitching staff a total of eleven K’s for the night, with just the one walk: those numbers, and three earned runs, were certainly a massive improvement over those yesterday. But the way Jimenez dominated the offense, we could have been perfect and all that would have got us is extra innings.

But, to end the recap on a happy note, it’s probably a good thing we didn’t have a save situation tonight, since Chad Qualls was not at the park. That was because his wife gave birth to a baby boy, Caiden Joseph at 8:40 p.m. this evening, so congratulations to them both. Now, Chad: get your butt back to the ball-park, because our bullpen needs you. Indeed, we could probably use Caiden Joseph too: before you know it, he’ll be throwing a rattle out of his pram, in the mid-90’s, with devastating late movement… [And anyone notice Brandon Lyon got smacked about for three runs in an inning of work, and took the loss for Detroit today?]

[Click on graph to enlarge, at Fangraphs.com]
Master of his domain: Dan Haren, +25.3%
God-emperor of suck: Chad Tracy, -13.6%
Dishonorable mention: Montero, -12.1%; Rauch, -11.4%

The losing pitcher of record in tonight’s game, also gets to be master of his domain. Indeed, he would also have been god-emperor of suck, at -17.5%, for his performance at the plate, but starting pitchers are exempt  there. Normal volume resumed in the Gameday Thread too, with just shy of 500 comments from 26 people. Present were; Turambar, kishi, DbacksSkins, unnamedDBacksfan, Phoenix Stan, Gravity, hotclaws, Wimb, snakecharmer, luckycc, dbacksbj, emilylovesthedbacks, TwinnerA, mrssoco, LucaMaz3, Tom (RFTN), singaporedbacksfan, J Up, DKuon, oklahomasooners, Snake Bitten, ASUJon, Azreous, Muu and soco - emily topped the chart, with 101 comments. Dbacksskins had almost twice as many comments over on Purple Row as he did here, which seems more than a tad disloyal…

And, for the first time this season, we get to utter the immortal words: “Well, at least the Dodgers lost, too.” The Giants take an early lead in the NL West, having opened their record today with a win over the Brewers. I suggest they enjoy it while it lasts, because with all due respect, I don’t see them being there for very long. Tim Lincecum lasted even less time than Webb, but the Giants’ offense put up a ten-spot on the Brewers. After our wacky Opening Day yesterday, I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

Here are the post-game audio clips from tonight’s contest. Dan Haren talks about his at-bat with the bases and Troy-boy’s home-run, while Justin Upton is disappointed at wasting a fine effort from Haren. Bob Melvin talks about both starting pitchers as well as Jon Rauch - he points out the velocity was a bit better from Rauch, hitting 92 mph on the gun, better than it has been, but the end result is what matters. Finally, there’s a chat with Max Scherzer who is scheduled to start Thursday for Class-A Visalia against the Lake Elsinore Storm, just to stretch out his pitch count, before returning to the club. He seems pretty on board with the team’s caution.

Audio courtesy of KTAR 620

The rubber contest in this first series of the season takes place tomorrow afternoon, with a 12:40 start, and Azreous on the recap, for the first time this season. Davis vs. Morales is the match-up, and having seen both an offensive slug-fest and a hard-fought pitching duel between starters, we’ll see what that will bring.  Hopefully, an Arizona win, to send us into the upcoming, important series against the Dodgers with a good frame of mind.

Gameday Thread, #2: 4/7 vs. Rockies

Ubaldo Jimenez RHP, 0-0, 0.00

Dan Haren RHP, 0-0, 0.00

After yesterday’s heavyweight contest, let’s hope for something a bit more tidily-pitched - from Dan Haren, at least. Much talk in the off-season about how he and Brandon Webb pick each other up: this evening would be a perfect time to demonstrate that. It would also help out the bullpen if he were to give the team seven or so innings: and if the offense can take care of things too, so that a solid, healthy lead can be handed over to the bullpen, I don’t think anyone clad in Sedona Red would object too much. Yesterday, all told, the bullpen did their job, allowing only two runs in five innings, but it was a patchwork effort, with performances varying from the highly-impressive to the deeply-disturbing.

On the hitting side, we face flamethrower Ubaldo Jimenez, who has caused some problems for Arizona in the past - he has a 2.77 ERA against us in 26 innings, with 30 strikeouts, but has yet to taste victory, mostly due to poor run-support [in just one of the four starts have his team-mates scored more than four] Curious to see how Bob Melvin constructs the line-up: dare he drop Tony Clark after his two-homer day yesterday? Not much track-record for him to go on, with Drew’s 13 PA’s the most for any Diamondback. Chris Young has probably had the best success, going 4-for-9 with two doubles, and Chad Tracy’s 3-for-6 with a homer is not bad either. No-one else has more than a couple of hits.

I am reluctant to make any predictions for tonight, after the topsy-turvy world which we entered last night. The roof should be open, which will make the ball fly even better, but I can’t bring myself to expect that. Haren was probably the most impressive of our rotation this spring, but I am reluctant to put any stock in that either. A quality start from him will be fine: anything more than that would be very welcome, but I’m not relying on it. I’ll be at The Sets for IZW tonight, so will be about, wi-fi permitting, if largely relying on the Gameday Thread to keep me updated. Clear, concise descriptions of game action would therefore be appreciated.

Update. Here’s the lineup:

1. Lopez, 2B
2. Young, CF
3. Drew, SS 
4. Tracy, 1B
5. Jackson, LF
6. Montero, C
7. Reynolds, 3B
8. Upton, RF
9. Haren, P

Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 8: Bombs Away!

Record: 1-0. Pace: 162-0 (!). Change on last season: 0

Questions about the offense appear to have been answered, at least for today, as the Diamondbacks released the bats, tying the team record for home-runs at Chase. Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark each went deep twice, once from the left and once from the right - becoming the first team-mates to do so since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did so for the Yankees in April 2000. But it was Chad Tracy who delivered the biggest blow, giving Arizona the lead for the fifth time with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Tony Pena and Chad Qualls finally did what almost no other pitchers had been able to do this afternoon, and retired the last seven Rockies hitters, to preserve a wild, wacky, wonderful win.

Not quite the tight pitching contest we expected to see, between last year’s Cy Young runner-up and the Rockies ace, who last season combined for a record of 38-16. Today… Not so much. Their line today: 6.1 IP, 13 H, 3 BB, 4 HR, 12 ER. The first batter for each side proved somewhat prophetic: Brandon Webb hit the first batter he faced, and would struggle with his control all day, Similarly, Lopez got things off to a predictive start for Arizona, homering in his first at-bat for the Diamondbacks to lead off the bottom of the first inning.  Chris Snyder doubled home Conor Jackson in the bottom of the second, and it was looking like Arizona were well in control.

Not so fast. The wheels fell off the Webb wagon in the third frame; it was painfully obvious he was not in command of his sinker ball, which was staying up in the zone, or flying away. He allowed a hit to his opposing number, but the key at-bat was probably later, walking Atkins after giving Helton an unintentional intentional walk to get to the Colorado third-baseman. This brought Webb-killer Brad Hawpe to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs: he came in batting .340/.439/.723 off our ace, and Mr. Kryptonite emptied the bags with a double. That gave the Rockies a stunning 6-4 lead in the top of the third, and silenced the crowd at Chase Field. [It was announced as a 48,799 sellout, but I'm doubtful, unless there was a new 'Empty Seat' jersey on sale in the Team Shop...]

However, there are few better ways to answer a four-spot than with one of your own. Chris Young doubled, Stephen Drew walked, Tracy singled CY home and Eric Byrnes tied it up with a sacrifice fly [though he had a couple of other at-bats only his mother could love, striking out twice and not looking good doing so]. Then Tony Clark came up and swatted a two-run homer, to give Arizona back that two-run lead. I was surprised to see Brandon Webb make the last out of the inning, but it seems Melvin still wanted to give him a chance at the win. This proved a somewhat misguided decision, as Webb surrendered back-to-back homers for the first time in his career, to open the fourth inning. He got out of it without further trouble, but it was the end of his day - Webb allowed as many long balls in that one inning, as he did in his first nine starts and 63.1 IP last season.

No matter. Felipe Lopez, batting the other way round, added his second homer to lead off the bottom half, and give us the lead for the third time - I was particularly impressed that both of his long-balls went the other way. He’s the first D-back to homer twice in his debut with us, and the first major-leaguer to do so for a new team since Richie Sexson for Seattle in April 2005. However, that lead didn’t last much longer either. Doug Slaten came in and retired the first two hitters relatively easily, then allowed a double and an RBI single that let Colorado tie it up at seven. But Tony Clark wasn’t going to let some switch-hitting newcomer show him up - in the bottom of the fifth, he followed Lopez by turning round and homering right-handed too. That made the score 8-7 after only five, and marked the seventh consecutive half-inning with a run or more.

Pause. Catch your breath. Have a scoreless frame, with Billy Buckner doing a fine job, first bailing Slaten out with the last batter in the sixth, and then posting a zero in the seventh - helped somewhat by an ill-advised steal attempt from the Rockies catcher [two of three prospective Colorado thieves were nailed today, though it took a nice grab by Lopez to extend Chris Snyder's errorless streak, on an early wayward throw down to second] Normal service i.e. runs was resumed in the seventh, as LOOGY Scott Schoeneweis surrendered a lead-off homer to Seth Smith. Who is a left-hander. SS had allowed only four homers to southpaws since 2002, so giving up one to the first such batter he faced here… Not so good.

Tony Pena got the last out there, and picked up the win as a result, because Chad Tracy homered - his third hit of the day and Arizona’s fifth long ball - to lead off the bottom of the seventh and put the Diamondbacks back ahead once again. At this point, I think most of us just sat back, said, “Whatever!” and prepared to take anything the game threw at us. Which was, naturally, Pena and Chad Qualls sitting the Rockies down in order, with both men looking very, very good - Pena completely carved up Barmes to end the eighth, while Qualls got a weak flyball and a couple of simple groundouts. You will note the complete absence of Jon Rauch from the equation, even though it was a one-run game. We’ll see how that plays out tomorrow.

So, not quite the game expected, but the victory is the main thing, even if seriously more stressful than anticipated: it felt like I was watching a three-hour edition of 24, and certainly has to go down as one of, perhaps even the most memorable Opening Day game in franchise history. Webb’s performance was definitely disappointing, and he is usually good right out of the gate - but at least he ended with a no-decision. The bullpen was about what we expected: Buckner, Pena and Qualls were very solid, but both our lefties, Schoeneweis and Slaten, struggled to do their job. The offense really stepped it up, fortunately: the Mad Scientist got it spot on with his insertion of Clark into the line-up, though Byrnes’ presence was hardly felt. Felipe Lopez was excellent too, and the defense was smooth and hardly can be criticized. Props to Chip Hale too, who sent two runners home on close plays, and both scored.

Master of his domain: Chad Tracy, +34.0%
Honorary mention: Clark, +29.8%; Lopez, +22.1%; Qualls, +17.0%; Peña, +16.7%
God-emperor of suck: Brandon Webb, -43.5%
Dishonorable mention: Schoeneweis, -14.0%

To explain the chart above, for those who might be new here. At any point in the game, based on the current score, innings, men on base, etc. and what has happened in the history of baseball with the same situation, you can figure out the percentage chance of a team winning. This changes with each play, whether it’s an out made or not, and the above is a visual graph of the victory odds, and gives a nice sense of the ebb and flow of the game. It will always start at 50%, and end up either at 0% [if the home team wins] or 100% [if the visitors do]. You can also work out which players were involved in the most important play: today, Chad Tracy was the big man: his seventh-inning homer alone lifted our chances from 59.0% to 78.6%, and all told, his at-bats added 34%. You can click on the graph if you want to see full details.

A lot of audio from our partners over at KTAR today, and we’ve got post-game interviews with all the major players in today’s slugfest. Firstly, Clark discusses the crazy opening day, and his sudden burst of power; then, Lopez says he was just trying to put good swings on the ball. Melvin talks about the good work done by the bullpen, and Qualls says he is pleased to get the save, and how it must have been a fun game to watch. Not quite sure, “fun” is the first word I’d choose, Chad! The other Chad, Tracy, cautions there’s still a long way to go, and Webb finishes things off by admitting his arm stiffened up a bit, and he was simply behind in the count too much.

Audio courtesy of KTAR 620

The other thing I do after every game is namecheck everyone who commented in the Gameday Thread. I think we were close to record numbers, with a total of 1,444 comments across the three threads, from 39 people, including myself. Here’s the rollcall: unnamedDBacksfan, soco, Azreous, Bcawz, snakecharmer, DbacksSkins, emilylovesthedbacks, kishi, mrssoco, AJforAZ, Giannaros, Muu, hotclaws, Poseidon’s Fist, Rox Girl, Turambar, Tooch27, Gravity, Captain D Bag, thinkbluebleedblue, J Up, pierzynskirules, luckycc, Zephon, Brendan Scolari, dahlian, Wimb, Diamondhacks, Augie’s Army, oklahomasooners, AF DBacks Fanatic, Pyromnc, Lisalisa8, SeanMillerSavior, DKuon, sergey606, DB FAN34 and PinchHitLancePainter. Thanks in particular to the friendly visiting fans and also the new peeps: Giannaros, Tooch27, Pyromnc,  DKuon and DB FAN34. Oh, and SeanMillerSavior, we know you’re RAMJB, so consider yourself on a last warning: cause the slightest trouble and you’re toast.

It’s nice to get the season off to a winning start, and hopefully, we’ve got all the drama out of the way for this series. I would love to settle for a couple of boring, blowout victories in the remaining games tomorrow and Wednesday, with Haren and Davis bringing down the pitching hammer. Certainly, we could do with Dan going seven or more innings tomorrow, and at the moment, the decision to go with an extra bullpen arm for the first week of the season is definitely looking like a wise one. Of course, the Dodgers rolled over the Padres too, so we find ourselves tied for first with them atop the National League West tonight. I think it may not be the lest time. Oh, well; one down, 161 to go!

Gameday Thread, Opening Day: Second Overflow

Okay. Middle of the sixth, and all expectations have been confounded. Hang on for the next three. And remember, the louder you scream, the faster we go…

Gameday Thread, Opening Day: First Pitch Overflow

As the Gameday Thread posted this morning is already rampaging its way to 300 or more pre-game comments, still with the best part of an hour to go, figured we should open one up for first pitch, to save us from having to do so in the middle of the second inning! Seems everyone is very excited, which is just the way it should be: a vista of infinite possibilities is present on Opening Day. Maybe we’ll win 162 games, maybe we’ll lose them. Here’s soco’s comment on the previous thread, which really deserves a more prominent position:

The year resets, anything could happen. Maybe we’ll be seeing the playoffs again this year, maybe it’ll end with a championship parade. Maybe it’ll be over before the All-Star Break, or maybe it’ll be a heartbreaking loss at the end of the season that’ll end the dream. Maybe some of our players will be considered for post season awards, or maybe they’ll all be ignored. It’s the end we care about, but it’s not that end that writes the story.

There will be a thousand moments this season that will make it memorable. A thousand scenes, sights, smells, that will remind all of us 2009 many years from now, the little things that we’ll value long after the joys of winning and the ache of losing fades away for another optimistic summer.

The anticipation is almost over, that aching hunger that starts in November and grows with each passing, cold day. It’s a hunger that satiated with hot dogs or beers, with a green, green grass, with the crack of a bat and the wordless roar of a crowd. It’s a hunger that is passed generation to generation, through the mouths of elders to the ears of babes, about Babes and Gibsons, and Randys, about one summer long, long ago deep in Harlem or Flatbush or hot, hot St. Louis, or the South Side of Chicago, or tucked deep in Chavez Ravine, the backyard towns where the greats first walk to the Metropolises they acheive and eventually leave.

But that memory doesn’t leave. It lives on during every Opening Day and every summer day and night. It lives on long after the giants fall and the forgotten memorists die, their legacy passed on Opening Day. So, welcome back, Opening Day.

And with that, here’s the first pitch!

Gameday Thread: Opening Day, 4/6 vs. Rockies

Aaron Cook RHP, 0-0, 0.00

Brandon Webb RHP, 0-0, 0.00

The waiting is over. Time for the true contests to begin - and not a moment too soon too, since the Diamondbacks come in to Opening Day sporting a seven-game losing streak at the end of pre-season play. Let’s hope they’ve got all those icky defeats out of their system for a bit. And who better to face than the Rockies, whom I need hardly remind you we totally pwned - as I believe the kids these days say - last season, winning 15 of the 18 contests between the teams. 

The starting lineup has a couple of moderate surprises to be found. Chad Tracy replaces Mark Reynolds at third-base: that’s not so much of a shock, with a tough righty going for the opposition, and Brandon Webb on the mound, we are getting as many southpaws in the line-up and shoring up the defense. This presumably also explains the presence of Tony Clark at 1B. Somewhat more surprising is the news that the Opening Day start in right goes to Eric Byrnes rather than Justin Upton. Eric has hit Cook a good deal better than J-Up - but if that’s what Melvin is going on, then CoJack - hitless in his career - should be sitting. Here’s the batting order:

1. Lopez,2B
2. Young, CF
3. Drew, SS
4. Tracy, 3B
5. Byrnes, RF
6. Clark, 1B
7. Jackson, LF
8. Snyder, C
9. Webb, P

I think it’d be nice for the team to score early and settle those Opening Day nerves, especially after a spring where the results haven’t been quite what we’d have hoped. Keeping Brad Hawpe in check will be helpful for Webb - he’s had the best of our ace previously - and we need the defense, and the team in general, to play sound fundamental baseball, and start the season with a W. I’m pretty pumped, and am warming up the living-room for this afternoon’s action. Just to end things on a positive note, Bleacher Report’s projections have us winning the West by a game. I am certainly down with this. And, that said:

Play ball!

The Natural: Cinema, Fiction, Myth and Reality

The 2009 baseball season is officially under way, and I marked that fact by watching The Natural this afternoon - which may become an annual tradition. It’s probably my favorite sports films of all time, and the final scene is among the best in cinema, always making me pretend something has got stuck in my eye. But the movie operates on so many levels: as a heroic struggle, a tale of redemption and happiness lost and found, and among the most evocative depictions of what makes baseball the game that we love. After the jump, we look at the movie from these various angles, the book from whence it came, and also the players to whom the tag ‘The Natural’ has been applied over the years. [Warning: here be spoilers for both film and novel!] It’s quite long, so get a beverage…

For the Love of the Game

I think I adore the film so much, because no other has come close to capturing the magic of baseball, that can happen at any time. Either team can prevail on a given day, no matter the odds - just ask the Netherlands. Sure, there are chunks here that are difficult to swallow (not least Redford as a teenager, when he was nearer fifty), but in Roy Hobbs, we have a true hero: someone who, despite faults and the pain the game brings him, still loves the sport and believes in its essential goodness. There’s never any doubt about his own essential goodness either. He’s prepared to risk everything, even his own life, to play one game for his team; seventy years after the film is set, one hopes at least some of today’s players would be willing to do the same.

Redford is ideal for the role, though some were unimpressed, Roger Ebert saying, “Why did The Natural have to be turned into idolatry on behalf of Robert Redford?” But he is one of the few actors - in that era or any other - who could bring the multitude of qualities necessary to Hobbs, without rendering the whole thing implausible. As one review put it, “Surely, it must not be easy being, in succession, Rapid Robert Feller, Sir Lancelot, Eddie Waitkus, Captain Marvel, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Casey of Mudville and General Hospital“. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, with Joe Don Baker standing out in as ‘The Whammer’, a thinly-disguised portrayal of Babe Ruth, at least the equal of John Goodman’s. Glenn Close is also near-perfect (and Oscar-nominated) as Iris; it’s a million miles from her downright scary performances in Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons.

Mention has to be made of Randy Newman’s excellent score, sweeping majestically along behind proceedings, and reaching its climax at the finale, which it accompanies perfectly. But it is likely Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry’s script that deserves most credit, even if their adaptation was radically-different from the novel on which it was based. More on that below, but viewing it strictly on its own merits, the story does what is needed beautifully: evoking an earlier, if possibly non-existent, era when most players were more concerned about the game than the rewards to be gained from it. The 25 years that have passed have, if anything, only damaged the place of the sport in the American psyche further, adding even more resonance to the themes it expresses.

The Natural as mythology

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
    — Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Campbell would be proud. The ‘monomyth’ described above in his seminal text, on which he theorized all legends are based, is re-enacted almost step-by-step in The Natural. Take, for example, the phase described as ‘The Crossing of the First Threshold’: “The hero must cross the threshold between the world he is familiar with and that which he is not. Often this involves facing a “threshold guardian”, an entity that works to keep all within the protective confines of the world but must be encountered in order to enter the new zone of experience.” This, almost perfectly, describes Hobbs’ arrival - from the dark clubhouse tunnel - in to his team’s dugout, and the first encounter with extremely reluctant manager and threshold guardian, Pop Fisher.

Overall, Homer’s Odyssey and Arthurian legend are the main touchstones. In the former, the hero leaves on a quest, only to be derailed, largely through bad choices - it takes years for him to recover and achieve his goal. Fortunately, despite the presence of various temptations, the woman he truly loves, is still there for him, and provides crucial help and strength at the most perilous of moments. As for King Arthur, it’s most obviously present in the name of the team for whom Hobbs plays: the New York Knights. The overall story most closely resembled Sir Perceval’s, but the bat, ‘Wonderboy’, is also Hobbs’ version of Excalibur, with a mythical origin - here, hewn from a tree struck by lightning - and at the end, Hobbs must prevail without its power. [Because you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you...]

The Judge who owns a majority stake in the Knights, but whose position is put at risk by Hobbs, represents the Devil, lurking in the darkness. He wants Hobbs to sell his soul, first for cold, hard cash, and when that overture is rejected, he threatens to ruin Hobbs by reviving his past. Indeed, you could start reading a good chunk of Christian symbolism elsewhere in the story too: the wound in the hero’s side; the halo-like appearance afforded to Iris as she watches Hobbs from the stands; possibly even Memo (Kim Basinger) as apocryphal temptress Lilith. All told, it’s rare for any movie to have such depth - let alone a mere sports flick.

Book versus Movie

The greatest difference between the film and Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel, on which it’s based, is at the end - and it’s quite stunning. Rather than hitting the pennant-winning home-run, Hobbs strikes out, having initially accepted the Judge’s offer to throw the contest while in hospital, then changing his mind while play is in progress. After the game, he throws the money back, but it’s too late. A newspaper headline that evening points the finger at him as having thrown the game: when asked by a young boy to “Say it ain’t so,” Hobbs is unable to do so, and breaks down weeping, rather than being reunited with his son. The End. Not quite the ultimate feel-good finale provided by the film, then.

To some extent, these differences are a product of their times, as is every epic myth - they tell the audience what they want to hear. The movie is perhaps the product of a more optimistic era, not one which had emerged, only a few years before, from a brutal, lengthy global conflict. As noted above, the cracks in the facade of baseball as a pastoral pastime, rather than big business, were already becoming hard to ignore, and the movie version offered an affirmation of the old ways. Certainly, the cinematic Hobbs is a good deal more likable than the literary version, who lacks most heroic qualities and is largely driven by lust and selfishness. Amongst other changes: when Hobbs strikes out the Whammer, his last pitch hits the scout in the stomach causing fatal internal bleeding, and Iris in the book is a grandmother.

Of course, the two are different beasts, and comparing them directly is a futile endeavor. Malamud writes about corruption of the innocent, while Barry Levinson is, as we’ve seen, telling a classic heroic tale. What works on the page is not necessarily what works on the screen, though the scope of the changes here - not least the finale - radically alters the intent in a way far greater than is usually seen in adaptations. Malamud, however, was not unhappy with the result. Even if his cynicism was largely excised from the film version, it enabled him “to be recognized as an American writer,” rather than just a Jewish one - a theme in much of his work. So everybody wins: not least lazy sports writers, who now have themselves an easy label to apply to any over-achieving rookie…

The Real-Life ‘Naturals’

The term ‘The Natural’ has been used for many players, most frequently since the film came out in 1984. A mere couple of weeks after its release, Bob Costas used it to describe Cubs’ second-baseman Ryne Sandberg, for his performance in a June 23rd game against the Cardinals. In that contest, the future Hall of Famer went 5-for-6, drove in seven runs, hit a solo homer in the ninth to tie the game - and then a two-run shot with two out in the bottom of the tenth, tying it up again, as Chicago went on to win 12-11. However, the accuracy involved in many of these uses, when compared to the film, is dubious, mostly because of the age of the player concerned. For example, Will Clark got the tag in his rookie season, but he was 22; Roy Hobbs was 35 when he finally reached the majors. Similarly, Jeff Francoeur was anointed in his rookie season as ‘The Natural’ on the cover of Sports Illustrated (above), despite being only 21.

Somewhat more credible a candidate is the Yankees’ Shane Spencer, who swatted ten home-runs in only 67 at-bats after his 1998 call-up at age 26. However, he first spent eight years in the minors, racking up 3,600 PAs there, so Crash Davis would perhaps be a more accurate nickname for him. Spencer flamed out thereafter, never reaching 100 OPS+ in five seasons, and hitting off-field troubles too - he was charged with drunk-driving and [along with Karim Garcia] assaulting a pizza-delivery guy. Robert Redford is unimpressed… In another parallel with Davis, Spencer is now a minor-league coach, for the Padres’ A-ball club.

Rick Ankiel, like Hobbs, was a pitcher who became a hitter. He was runner-up for 2000 NL Rookie of the Year with the Cardinals, but starting the first game of the playoffs, walked four batters and threw five wild pitches in the same inning. Ankiel might as well have been shot; he was toast, and despite struggling for five more years, gave up pitching. Then, on a balmy August night in 2007, he returned to St. Louis - in right-field, natch - making his first major-league game as a position-player at age 28. With two outs in the seventh, he dispatched a 2-1 Doug Brocail pitch into the right-field bleachers “with an effortless swing” for a three-run homer. Cue a standing ovation and a swelling Randy Newman score. Except, the following month, it was revealed Ankiel had received eight shipments of HGH in 2004. Oops. Not so ‘natural,’ eh? Again: Robert Redford does not approve.

In reality, only four position players have debuted at age 35 or older in the past fifty years, and the results have largely been unimpressive. Billy Williams (36 years, 63 days) went 0-for-12 with the 1969 Seattle Pilots. Hank Izquierdo (36:142) was 7-for-26 with the 1967 Twins. Minnie Mendoza (36:144) went 2-for-16, again with the Twins, in 1970. Finally, there’s Bob Thurman, who first appeared in a major-league game, 30 days short of his 38th birthday in 1955 for Cincinnati (though he lied about his age at the time, pretending to be born in 1921). Unlike the trio above, he did at least hit a big-league homer - indeed, did so in his second ever at-bat, though his Reds finished only fifth in the league that season. Still, he’s as good a candidate as any - not least for his performance in a game on August 18, 1956 where he hit three homers and a double at the age of 39.

But perhaps the most Natural-like debut of a ‘veteran rookie’, came on Opening Day last season at Wrigley Field. Kosuke Fukudome became only the second position player in the past fifty years, to have debuted in their thirties and hit a homer on their debut [The other is Oakland catcher Tom Wilson on May 19, 2001, aged 30 years, 151 days]. Admittedly, Fukudome had a long career in Japan before that, and was never shot by a mysterious woman in black (as far as I know). But like Hobbs, he played right-field; he came up, bottom of the ninth, in his first major-league game, facing Eric Gagne with his team down by three and two men on. Fukudome tied things up with a three-run homer. While the Cubs lost in extra innings, that’s truly the stuff of legend, and is the kind of moment, of which everyone involved with the game - fans or players - lives to be a part.

Diamondbacks 0, White Sox 2: Arizona gets Colon cleansed

And so ends spring training: not with a bang, but with an embarrassingly-wrong call by the home-plate umpire. This prematurely ended Mark Reynolds’ at-bat with two men on base, robbing the Diamondbacks of the chance for a dramatic ninth-inning comeback. I am struggling to care enormously about it, in part because this was a meaningless exhibition, but also because Arizona really didn’t deserve to win this one. Between today and yesterday, we faced nine innings from the White Sox starters, and managed three hits, one walk and no runs. I’m not sure where the team who scored 5.4 runs per game in the Cactus League has gone, but they didn’t show up today. Here’s to them making their way from Tucson between now and Monday.

Instead, we saw a bunch of brutal at-bats by our hitters, particularly the likes of Chris Young and Justin Upton, who got particularly schooled by Bartolo Colon, and each men had a pair of K’s in three ABs. Colon fanned the first four batters he saw after coming in to relieve Jose Contreras, and ended up with six K’s during his five innings of work. In total the Diamondbacks scratched out four hits - all singles - and the only walk came to Alex Romero with two outs in the ninth inning. I think that was the first time we got a runner into scoring position all afternoon. It brought Mark Reynolds to the plate, but a foul-tip that clearly hit the dirt before getting caught by Corky Miller, was called as strike three and finished the game.

If there was a bright side to the game, it was to be found on the mound for Arizona, where we held the White Sox to only two runs - though they left no less than eleven men on base. Jon Garland allowed one run in four innings, despite giving up four hits and four walks. He looks pretty much as advertised, pitching to contact and keeping the ball away from the heart of the plate. I think we can expect him to have a lot of men on base, and should not necessarily worry too much about that side of things. Particularly impressive was the beautiful strike-out looking Garland got to end the second inning with the bases loaded.

Jon Rauch arrived, and promptly surrendered a lead-off double, then allowed the runner to steal third. That man did come home on a sacrifice fly, to give Chicago a 2-0 lead, but that was the end of the damage. While Billy Bucker loaded the bases up again in the sixth, a harmless ground-ball stopped the White Sox from extending their lead. Doug Slaten got a sweetly-turned double-play to help him in the seventh, though pivot man Ryan Roberts got a spike to the knee for his trouble, and Hector Ambriz posted zeros for the final two innings. He got three strikeouts and looked pretty good - especially on the old, “bluff to third, throw to first” move, which actually worked. Mark Reynolds - playing first by this point - applies the tag to White Sox catcher Miller, before he could get back.

The main news from the day, however, is the not-unexpected announcement that Ryan Roberts has made it to the big leagues, getting the 25th spot on the roster. It’s a great achievement for the career minor player - 2,732 PAs there, compared to just thirty-one in the majors, and he seemed just about shell-shocked by the realization he had an Opening Day spot, which he was told about yesterday. He said, “It’s indescribable. I can’t even put it into words. It’s something you dream about… I couldn’t even talk about it last night.” How much playing time he’ll see, it’s hard to say: what he brings to the team is flexibility, since as well as playing the infield and outfield, he can also be used as an emergency catcher. That will allow the team to use Miguel Montero more often to pinch-hit, without worrying about what might happen if he has to leave the game.

Here’s the audio, in which Bob Melvin talks about why Roberts made the team, Roberts about the news, and also Brandon Webb discusses expectations for this year, and also getting to make an Opening Day start at Chase Field for the first time in his career.

Audio courtesy of KTAR 620

Also glad to see Webb talking a little smack about Manny Ramirez. “Having to worry about slowing that guy down? I don’t think he’s going to be doing the same thing he did last year, to be honest with you. He’s not going to be the person we’re going to let beat us.” And when asked how Ramirez will respond to such comments, Webb stood his ground, “Yeah, well, that’s all right… Bring it.” That’s a good attitude to have, I think: Mandy totally killed the team last year, hitting over .500 in the dozen games he played against us. As noted in my piece for the Hardball Times, we need to do a much better job of retiring him if we’re to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers. Webb will be facing Los Angeles next Saturday, so he’ll have an early chance to walk the walk and match the talk.

And that’s it. The next time I see baseball, it’s going to be Opening Day, with the long, bright saga which was 2009 spring training finally over. Less than 48 hours to go, folks, and we’ll finally be there. Can’t wait…

Gameday Thread: The Last Warm-Up, 4/4 vs. White Sox

Chicago White Sox

Arizona Diamondbacks

This is it, folks. The final meaningless game of spring is about to unfold at Chase, and so, let’s see what the game brings. No idea who’s pitching for the team today - I like to think it’d be Jon Garland, but based on the past couple of days, it’s more likely to be someone we’ve never seen before. Details of the line-up to follow as soon as i see them!

Diamondbacks 3, White Sox 6 - Glenn who?

Glenn Enright started and went three innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing four hits with two strikeouts and no walks. — Arizona Republic

Hang on: since when did our rotation feature Enright and Tony Barnette? Because that’s who has started the last couple of games for Arizona: Doug Davis and Max Scherzer apparently opted to pitch down in Tucson, “rather than make the trip to Phoenix.” Oh, the poor things… Scherzer, I can somewhat understand, since he isn’t due to appear for another ten days, but Doug will have to make it up to Phoenix by Wednesday, for his next start - so really, he’s only putting it off. More importantly: if the Diamondbacks are going to charge regular-season prices for these games (which they appear to do) and force season-ticket holders to buy them (which they certainly do), then is it too much to ask the real players to come up from Tucson? [Davis allowed five earned runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings; Scherzer two runs, two hits and three walks in five frames. Each had seven K's.]

Heck, it’s not as if we are hiding Davis from the opposition: for the fourth consecutive season, we will not be playing the White Sox again, unless both of us make the World Series. This is no knock on Enright: he hasn’t seen action above High-A, yet did a better job of keeping the White Sox in check than certain 25-man roster pitchers we could mention [and will in due course, trust me]. But the Republc report above couldn’t even get his name right: it’s Barry, not Glenn. Still, three shutout innings, on four hits, with no walks and two strikeouts, against what looks basically like a full-strength White Sox lineup, with names like Thome, Konerko and The Player Not To Be Named. Good work, Bazza.

Tips of the SnakePit hat also go to Juan Gutierrez (a scoreless fourth, and apparently looked really good doing it), Chad Qualls (a perfect sixth - we may be seeing more splitters from him) and Josh Ellis (a zero in the ninth). Now, let’s talk about the other three innings, shall we? Scott Schoeneweis: two hits, a walk and two runs in the fifth. And, oh, look: the three RHB reached safely, while GoodWhite retired all three LHB he faced. ‘Skins, I hope you have an appropriate diagram ready for use on Monday. Tony Peña: two hits and an earned run in the seventh. Yusmeiro Petit allowed six hits, three runs, all earned, during the eighth - it’d have been worse but for a good catch by Chris Young to end things with the bases loaded. Look, guys: it’s Opening Day on Monday. Time for the gurgling vortex of bullpen suckage to be turned off.

It’s got to the stage where I find myself praying for the quick return of Tom Gordon, who has been “grabbing the attention of his teammates with the quality of his performance.” Which scares me. Speaking of thing that strike fear into my heart as  a Diamondbacks supporter: Jon Rauch, who wants fans to know, “the situation is not as bad as it looks.” Oh, we know that, Jon: it couldn’t possibly be as bad as the situation looks. Here’s the reasons why this is apparently not the case:

Rauch said early in the spring he did not throw any off-speed pitches so that he could focus on the cutter. “And obviously when you put yourself in a position where you’re throwing all hard stuff, the hitters know what to expect and the next thing you know, you’re giving up runs,” Rauch said… “Spring Training is one thing, especially when you’re facing No. 97 and 78. They know you’re going to be in the strike zone and they’re hacking big time. You don’t know anything about them, whereas during the season, you have oodles of video and countless scouting reports to go off of and you have a plan before you get into the game.”

Why am I not quite filled with confidence by these pronouncements? Still, it seems Rauch’s job as set-up man is safe for the moment. Said Melvin “That’s the way we’ll start out, and they know they have to go out there and perform. That’s the way baseball is. If guys don’t perform, you make some changes… You don’t really take springs from guys who are accomplished and say, ‘OK, you didn’t have a good spring, therefore someone else is going to pitch in your role’”. True, but on top of an awful second-half last year… In my mind, I just have no confidence in Rauch pitching high-leverage innings: I’d start him off, eating garbage in low-pressure situations, and if he does well there, then move him up. Of course, not sure who we would use for the seventh; until Gordon returns, we haven’t got many with much major-league experience of pitching to hold a late lead.

The offense didn’t set the world on fire either last night, though were at least facing a quality opposing starter in John Danks, who had the fifth-best ERA in the American League last season. All we managed off him in five innings was a lead-off single by Conor Jackson and a two-out Stephen Drew double. We did almost tie things up after Danks had left, scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh off Scott Linebrink. We would have had more, but Drew was robbed of a hit with men on the corners, on a diving catch of a sinking liner by Jermaine Dye in right-field. Felipe Lopez had two of the Diamondbacks’ seven hits, while Chad Tracy reached safely in both of his plate-appearances, getting a hit and a walk after coming in as a pinch-hitter.

Yahoo! Sports ran their Accuscore standings, and the projections don’t make pretty reading for the Diamondbacks, with the consolidated standings having us finishing in third, with an 82-80 record, eleven games back of the Dodgers. However, overall, we still have a 27% chance of making the playoffs according to these numbers - interestingly, they project 85 wins to be enough for the wild-card, which seems eminently achievable for us. However, they do also give the Padres a… - hang on, I need to sit down - a… a 13% chance of seeing post-season action. Yeah, like that is gonna happen. Pretty much proves that these numbers are  pulled out of someone’s butt, and should be treated as such.

Perhaps more realistically, their panel of experts also projected the standings, and the consensus there is much closer in the NL West: Dodgers over Diamondbacks by less than three games, with one of the four, Steve Henson predicting us to win, 89 wins to 88 - which sounds strangely familiar for some reason…  He then goes on to have us lose to the Red Sox in the World Series; everyone picks Boston for the AL title, though one poor, demented soul expects the Cubs to beat them in the grand finale. I didn’t realize Dan Bickley now worked for Yahoo! Sports…

Afternoon game at Chase, 1:10pm start, and I believe it’s on Fox Sports, so I’ll post a Gameday Thread shortly before first pitch, so we can make sure we are fully ready, as commentors, for Opening Day.