"Arizona Highways"
Chase Field
Phoenix, AZ
August 6, 2016
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
"As I Ride This Lonesome Highway
The Desert Wind Across My Face
My Mind Slowly Wanders
To Another Time, Another Place..."
John Cafferty
August 5, 2016: A Grand Adventure
We were a little more than two hours outside of San Diego, headed towards Kingman, Arizona, a six-and-a-half hour ride, where we would spend the night. I was lost in thought, driving down a winding Arizona highway with the wind blowing through the open window, as the sun was setting and creating beautifully vivid colors across the desert sky.
This was my first trip back to Arizona since my grandfather had passed, nineteen years before, and I was replaying memories from my youth spent here, with him and my grandmother. I was kicking myself for not getting back before she too had passed, and missing out on more memories because of an irrational fear of flying, which had seemed very rational during those years.
I was very close to my grandparents and spent a lot of time with them, growing up. They rented the house next to us when we went to the shore each summer; we would spend holidays and birthdays with them as well as have weekends and family outings with them, so it was very hard for me when they moved to Sun City West, Arizona, in 1979, when I was ten years old. We would go out and visit every year, and they would come back to New Jersey as much as possible, but it was obviously never the same.
In 1997 I got the devastating news that my grandfather had passed, and flew out to be with my grandmother, my uncle, my brothers, and my mother. Eleven years later I lost my grandmother, but she requested that I not come out during her final days, as she wanted me to remember her before she had gotten sick, and not at the end. I had never gotten back out again...until now.
Thankfully my boys did get to spend some time with her before she passed - Ryan even has vivid memories of spending time with her - and since we had kept the house in the family after they were gone. I was going to be able to show my sons where their great-grandparents had lived, and where I had spent time with them. I was both looking forward to that and dreading it, as I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up the moment I stepped into that house for the first time in almost two decades.
The van grew quiet as we drove on through the night, crossing the border into Arizona and heading north. There wasn't much available on the radio, so we hooked up a phone to the auxiliary port and played music from Tony's phone.
One by one everyone fell asleep, as the sun sank below the horizon and night cast its shadow across the landscape. Eventually only Tony and I were left awake, quietly enjoying the rhythm of the drive, and the desert scenery as we passed through. The whole scene looked as if it were a photo-shoot from an Arizona Highways magazine, and everything I remembered from childhood days spent with my grandparents.
We pulled into the parking lot of our motel, the Ramada Inn of Kingman, Arizona, a little after two in the morning. Tony and I were happy to be able to get out and stretch our legs, even if it was just to go to the room, but no one else seemed to enjoy being wakened to go to bed. Personally I couldn't understand why, as a big bed was going to be much comfier than the back of the van, but none of the sleepy-heads were in a mood to discuss. The one thing Nicole noticed, after rubbing the sleep from her eyes, was that the place had an interesting look to it, but she wasn't really in the mood to discuss, simply replying:
"Talk tomorrow, sleep now."
Knowing that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor, I grabbed the bags and shepherded her and the kids to the room. It literally took 10 minutes for everyone else to fall asleep, but I lay there in the dark, anxious about later that day when I would be stepping foot into my grandparents' house for the first time in nineteen years.
I woke to sunlight pouring through the windows (I had forgotten to close the curtains), and noticed that I was not the first one up. Brendan was sitting at the table, looking out the window into the courtyard below. I hadn't noticed it a few hours before, but the courtyard was really nice and at the center was a giant pool, with the Rt. 66 logo in the middle of it.
Slowly the rest of the room started to awaken, Ryan being first, and after everyone wiped the sleep from their eyes, showered, and spent the requisite amount of time in the bathroom, we went out exploring before breakfast.
"Hey this place is pretty cool," Ryan exclaimed, his head on a swivel, trying to take everything in.
"How come you didn't show me this, last night?" Nicole, annoyed, wanted to know.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked, unbelievingly.
"You were a grump, and wanted to get to bed," Brendan interjected, and then jumped behind me for protection.
Walking around the outside of the motel was extremely amusing, as it was unlike anything we had ever seen before. Most inns and lodges are generic, a coat of paint, maybe the logo on the walls, but nothing descriptive to differentiate one from the other. This place, however, was so much more than that. Every wall was adorned with caricatures of what can only be described as classic Americana, from different eras of the Twentieth Century.
There were classic cartoon characters (Tom and Jerry, Popeye, the coyote and the roadrunner), as well as real people (James Dean, and the Rat Pack) and even TV and movie stars (The Honeymooners, Lucy and Ricky, W.C. Fields, Mae West, and the Three Stooges), with the iconic Rt. 66 sign, somewhere in the painting.
We met Nick and Tony, who had, by now, gotten themselves up and were ready to eat, in the dining room for breakfast. After having been surprised by the décor, we were about to be stupefied by the free breakfast we were about to enjoy. Most places serve a continental breakfast, which the kids don't find enjoyable and I just pick at, but this place was different; it was a full all-you-can-eat buffet, complete with pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, cereal, bagels, fresh fruit, and pastry, and the best part was that it was complimentary with your overnight stay. We all chowed down, with everyone except Nicole having three platefuls, and rolled out the front door fat and happy. There would be no need for lunch, later.
This would be our "down" day, meaning there was no baseball scheduled, but that didn't mean we didn't have full-day plans. We were headed north, to the Grand Canyon, and planned to spend the entire day exploring one of the Earth's most wondrous spots, before heading south towards Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun. None of us had ever been to the Canyon before, which was strange for me, being that my grandparents had lived out here for almost thirty years, so we were all excited to go exploring, and see this awe-inspiring marvel of nature.
The drive from Kingman took about 2.5 hours, and there really wasn't much to see along the way. The road went on forever, but this was not the landscape one expects when they think of Arizona. It was not desert and cacti, but rather flat, greenish-brown scrub brush, which never changed throughout the whole ride.
"Don't we want to go to the Visitor's Center, first?" Nick wanted to know.
"Nah," Tony replied, "There's nothing in there that'll be more impressive than what we're going to see. We'll hit that on the way back."
As we walked the trail to the Canyon's rim, we were greeted by a huge, engraved circle on the ground in
front of us. The inner-most part of the circle had a Native American design, and read "Tribes Call The Canyon Home," while ringing that were concrete sectionals with the different tribal names (Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo, Southern Paiute, Yavapai, and Zuni).
"Did all these tribes live here?" Brendan wanted to know.
"Not only did they, they still do," Nicole told him.
"Really?" he asked, incredulously.
"Absolutely," I told him. "One of my students, from work, is Navajo, and she lives here when she's not at school."
"Really?" he asked again.
"Why is this so hard to believe?" I wanted to know.
"I never knew an Indian before," he told me.
"Maybe you do, but you just don't know," Ryan told him.
That made him think, as we walked farther along the trail towards the rim.
I had heard stories about people having had their breath taken away by a majestic sight before, but it had never happened to me...until now. As we crested a small hill, the Canyon came into sight and I literally lost my breath upon seeing it. Everyone else must have experienced the same thing, because all of a sudden no one was speaking; not us, not the folks in front of us, and not those who were bringing up the rear. Everyone just stopped and stared, eyes wide and jaws agape.
It was unlike anything I had ever seen; the wonder and the beauty were overwhelming. You instantly felt small, insignificant, and powerless in the face of this truly remarkable sight. The beauty seemed to go on forever, and the colors, shapes, and shadows, as they danced against the different rock formations, provided something different to be astounded by, as far as the eye could see.
We saw, in the distance, a fenced-in ledge, which allowed the visitors to walk out over the edge and peer into the Canyon, so of course that was our next stop. Here we found a giant rock formation to stand on and take pictures, which we had to do. The winds at this section of the viewing area were fierce, so we huddled up and took the picture quickly and hoped not to get blown over.
The view from the "over-the-edge" section was nothing less than breathtaking and we even got to watch a storm roll across the canyon, taking pictures of it as it hit different sections while others were sunny and dry. All of a sudden, however, clouds rolled directly towards us, the sky darkened, and then, without warning, rain started coming down in biblical fashion. We tried to outrun the storm, but to no avail. Thankfully we found shelter under some overhangs near the Native American circle, and waited until the rain lessened before heading to the Visitor's Center to watch the movie on the history of the Canyon and, most importantly, dry off a little.
I thought the movie was interesting, explaining the history of the Canyon and all the things you could do there (hiking, helicopter rides, mules rides to the bottom, white-water rafting on the Colorado River, and camping at the base), but when I looked over at the kids, Brendan and Nick were asleep.
After the movie we decided to head over to Grand Canyon Village, which is an area within the park where there is a resort, a general store, a snack-stand, and lots of other little shops for campers, visitors, and day-trippers alike. Along the way we stopped to take some more pictures (we quickly learned you can never have enough, as each new spot offers a completely different view), but had to be a lot more careful, as there were no fences in some of the spots and someone could easily have taken a fatal tumble.
Brendan had been on the lookout for wildlife all day, having seen some hawks, vultures and even a bobcat dart across the road, but what we came upon next excited everyone in the van.
"LOOK!" Bren screamed out, right in my ear, as I had my eyes closed.
I was instantly jolted back to consciousness, finding a moose less than ten feet from the van. He was carelessly minding his own business, chomping on some roadside grass, oblivious to anything around me. I guess when you're that large (he was HUGE) you don't worry about much, so you can ignore the traffic around you, knowing you won't really be bothered. We stopped the van so the kids could get some pictures, then left Dave (as Brendan named him) to finish his snack in peace, and continued on our way to Grand Canyon Village.
Upon arriving at the village, we decided to head into the Yavapai Lodge, where we could hit the restaurant/bar area and sit down for some afternoon snacks and beverages. The place was packed, but wequickly found two tables at the back and put the kids at one, while Tony, Nicole, and I grabbed the other. We ordered a pizza (blech), some wings, nachos, and some fresh chips and salsa, as well as some local craft beers from the Four Peaks Brewing Company of Tempe, Arizona.
After finishing our snacks we headed over to the general store, where you could find anything from food, clothing, Native American jewelry, souvenirs, to wrapping paper and school supplies. I bought Nicole a pair of earrings and a dream-catcher, while the boys each picked out a shirt and some Native American jerky, and I grabbed a Grand Canyon beer koozie, with my name on it. It was starting to get later in the day, and we wanted to see some more of the Canyon, so we quickly hopped back in the car and headed towards the Desert View area.
That part of the Canyon is home to more spectacular views, though I am sure that can be said of anywhere in the park, but it is also home to the Desert View Watchtower. This structure is three stories tall (70 feet high) and was built to resemble a Pueblo watchtower. It's bigger than any the Pueblo people ever built, but the views from the top are stunning, allowing you to see farther than anywhere on the South Rim, on a clear day.
We took the narrow, winding stairs to the top, and walked out onto the observation deck. The view, once again, was amazing. You could see for miles, and from this vantage point had a clear view of the Colorado River, as it snaked its way through the Canyon.
"That river carved all this?" Brendan asked.
"Yes, sir," I told him, putting my arm around his shoulder and pulling him close.
"I thought Niagara Falls was amazing, but this place is even better," he told me, in a hushed voice.
"Not better," Nicole told him, coming closer. "Just different. It's still amazing, and beautiful, but you shouldn't compare the two, because they are so different."
We spent about half an hour taking pictures from this vantage point, of both the scenery and one another, and no one complained they were bored. They were continually finding new things to look at, be amazed by, and discuss, but eventually it was time to head back to the van. We meandered back to the parking lot, taking more pictures and discussing what we saw, and eventually started our journey south, towards our eventual destination: my grandparents' house, in Sun City West, about three and a half hours away.
As we headed out of Grand Canyon National Park, Nicole found the time to take one last picture. The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, casting a beautiful light over the Canyon, as it was starting to go down. This was the perfect ending to a wonderful day, full of adventure and new experiences. But now the road called to us, and we needed to hit the highway so we could get in at a decent hour.
Tony was driving, so I relaxed in the passenger seat and watched the landscape fly by. It was that time of day, known as "Magic Hour" by the people in the movie industry, when the sun is setting, night begins to fall, and the light and the darkness collide to make a glow seen at no other time. I found my eyes closing, and thoughts of my grandparents weaving in and out of my mind. What would it be like to be back in that house? How was I going to handle all the emotions that would surely come rushing back, when we pulled into the driveway? Would I be able to hold myself together when I walked through those doors, for the first time in nineteen years?
"Let's talk about the Diamondbacks' history," I heard Ryan say, breaking my train of thought.
The van grew quiet as we drove on through the night, crossing the border into Arizona and heading north. There wasn't much available on the radio, so we hooked up a phone to the auxiliary port and played music from Tony's phone.
One by one everyone fell asleep, as the sun sank below the horizon and night cast its shadow across the landscape. Eventually only Tony and I were left awake, quietly enjoying the rhythm of the drive, and the desert scenery as we passed through. The whole scene looked as if it were a photo-shoot from an Arizona Highways magazine, and everything I remembered from childhood days spent with my grandparents.
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| Arriving in Kingman, 2 a.m. |
"Talk tomorrow, sleep now."
Knowing that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor, I grabbed the bags and shepherded her and the kids to the room. It literally took 10 minutes for everyone else to fall asleep, but I lay there in the dark, anxious about later that day when I would be stepping foot into my grandparents' house for the first time in nineteen years.
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| The Pool Has the Rt. 66 Logo |
Slowly the rest of the room started to awaken, Ryan being first, and after everyone wiped the sleep from their eyes, showered, and spent the requisite amount of time in the bathroom, we went out exploring before breakfast.
"Hey this place is pretty cool," Ryan exclaimed, his head on a swivel, trying to take everything in.
"How come you didn't show me this, last night?" Nicole, annoyed, wanted to know.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked, unbelievingly.
"You were a grump, and wanted to get to bed," Brendan interjected, and then jumped behind me for protection.
 |
| Rear of the Hotel |
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| Slice of American |
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| Mural, in the Restaurant |
This would be our "down" day, meaning there was no baseball scheduled, but that didn't mean we didn't have full-day plans. We were headed north, to the Grand Canyon, and planned to spend the entire day exploring one of the Earth's most wondrous spots, before heading south towards Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun. None of us had ever been to the Canyon before, which was strange for me, being that my grandparents had lived out here for almost thirty years, so we were all excited to go exploring, and see this awe-inspiring marvel of nature.
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| Northern Arizona Landscape |
Canyon Explorers
By the time we arrived, the viewing area we chose (along the north rim) was packed and it took a few minutes to find a parking spot big enough for the van. Luckily we were able to find the perfect spot, as someone with a truck a little bigger than ours pulled out right in front of us. We quickly pulled in to the spot, jumped out of the van, and hiked along the trail, which would lead us to the viewing area. |
| We're Here |
"Don't we want to go to the Visitor's Center, first?" Nick wanted to know.
"Nah," Tony replied, "There's nothing in there that'll be more impressive than what we're going to see. We'll hit that on the way back."
 |
| Tribes of The Canyon |
front of us. The inner-most part of the circle had a Native American design, and read "Tribes Call The Canyon Home," while ringing that were concrete sectionals with the different tribal names (Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo, Southern Paiute, Yavapai, and Zuni).
"Did all these tribes live here?" Brendan wanted to know.
"Not only did they, they still do," Nicole told him.
"Really?" he asked, incredulously.
"Absolutely," I told him. "One of my students, from work, is Navajo, and she lives here when she's not at school."
"Really?" he asked again.
"Why is this so hard to believe?" I wanted to know.
"I never knew an Indian before," he told me.
"Maybe you do, but you just don't know," Ryan told him.
That made him think, as we walked farther along the trail towards the rim.
 |
| WOW! |
It was unlike anything I had ever seen; the wonder and the beauty were overwhelming. You instantly felt small, insignificant, and powerless in the face of this truly remarkable sight. The beauty seemed to go on forever, and the colors, shapes, and shadows, as they danced against the different rock formations, provided something different to be astounded by, as far as the eye could see.
We saw, in the distance, a fenced-in ledge, which allowed the visitors to walk out over the edge and peer into the Canyon, so of course that was our next stop. Here we found a giant rock formation to stand on and take pictures, which we had to do. The winds at this section of the viewing area were fierce, so we huddled up and took the picture quickly and hoped not to get blown over.
 |
| Perched on a Rock Wall, Above The Canyon |
I thought the movie was interesting, explaining the history of the Canyon and all the things you could do there (hiking, helicopter rides, mules rides to the bottom, white-water rafting on the Colorado River, and camping at the base), but when I looked over at the kids, Brendan and Nick were asleep.
After the movie we decided to head over to Grand Canyon Village, which is an area within the park where there is a resort, a general store, a snack-stand, and lots of other little shops for campers, visitors, and day-trippers alike. Along the way we stopped to take some more pictures (we quickly learned you can never have enough, as each new spot offers a completely different view), but had to be a lot more careful, as there were no fences in some of the spots and someone could easily have taken a fatal tumble.
Brendan had been on the lookout for wildlife all day, having seen some hawks, vultures and even a bobcat dart across the road, but what we came upon next excited everyone in the van.
"LOOK!" Bren screamed out, right in my ear, as I had my eyes closed.
 |
| Dave, the Moose |
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| Canyon Beers |
After finishing our snacks we headed over to the general store, where you could find anything from food, clothing, Native American jewelry, souvenirs, to wrapping paper and school supplies. I bought Nicole a pair of earrings and a dream-catcher, while the boys each picked out a shirt and some Native American jerky, and I grabbed a Grand Canyon beer koozie, with my name on it. It was starting to get later in the day, and we wanted to see some more of the Canyon, so we quickly hopped back in the car and headed towards the Desert View area.
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| Desert View Watchtower |
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| View From the Top |
We took the narrow, winding stairs to the top, and walked out onto the observation deck. The view, once again, was amazing. You could see for miles, and from this vantage point had a clear view of the Colorado River, as it snaked its way through the Canyon.
"That river carved all this?" Brendan asked.
"Yes, sir," I told him, putting my arm around his shoulder and pulling him close.
"I thought Niagara Falls was amazing, but this place is even better," he told me, in a hushed voice.
"Not better," Nicole told him, coming closer. "Just different. It's still amazing, and beautiful, but you shouldn't compare the two, because they are so different."
 |
| Another View, From the Top |
As we headed out of Grand Canyon National Park, Nicole found the time to take one last picture. The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, casting a beautiful light over the Canyon, as it was starting to go down. This was the perfect ending to a wonderful day, full of adventure and new experiences. But now the road called to us, and we needed to hit the highway so we could get in at a decent hour.
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| The Canyon, at Sunset |
"Let's talk about the Diamondbacks' history," I heard Ryan say, breaking my train of thought.
"Let's not," Nicole replied.
But Ryan, not to be swayed, called back, "This is what we do on these trips, and you have headphones."
"Don't worry, Aunt Nicole," Kevin called from the back. "It's not that long of a history; they've only been around since 1998 and they haven't always been that good."
"Except for one damn year," Tony grumbled.
"2001," Ryan agreed, "UGH."
"Don't even get me started on that one," I said rolling my eyes.
"You did the right thing, honey," Nicole laughed, from the back.
"What's that all about?" Tony wanted to know.
I took a deep breath, bracing to relive the horror of that World Series all over again, and told the story...again.
"It was the bottom of the ninth, and the Yankees had the one-run lead, with three outs to go to secure their fourth straight championship. Mariano was on the mound, so this game is in the bag...or so I thought. I had a bottle of champagne in one hand, and Ryan, who was 10 months old, in the other. I was ready to celebrate and then the unthinkable happened. There was a man on first and a ground ball came back to Rivera, a sure double-play ball if ever there was one...and then Rivera threw the ball past Jeter and into center-field. I dropped the champagne bottle in disbelief...you all know the rest."
"At least you didn't drop the baby, honey," Nicole laughed.
"Harumph" was my response.
"HEY!" Ryan said, in mock annoyance, having heard this story more than once, but loving feigning being upset.
Tony laughed, Nicole put her headphones in, and we started discussing the story of MLB baseball in Arizona to pass the time until we arrived in the Phoenix area. Kevin was right; it wouldn't take long, and I'd be able to put my anxiety over returning to my grandparents' house on the back burner for a bit.
"Don't even get me started on that one," I said rolling my eyes.
"You did the right thing, honey," Nicole laughed, from the back.
"What's that all about?" Tony wanted to know.
I took a deep breath, bracing to relive the horror of that World Series all over again, and told the story...again.
"It was the bottom of the ninth, and the Yankees had the one-run lead, with three outs to go to secure their fourth straight championship. Mariano was on the mound, so this game is in the bag...or so I thought. I had a bottle of champagne in one hand, and Ryan, who was 10 months old, in the other. I was ready to celebrate and then the unthinkable happened. There was a man on first and a ground ball came back to Rivera, a sure double-play ball if ever there was one...and then Rivera threw the ball past Jeter and into center-field. I dropped the champagne bottle in disbelief...you all know the rest."
"At least you didn't drop the baby, honey," Nicole laughed.
"Harumph" was my response.
"HEY!" Ryan said, in mock annoyance, having heard this story more than once, but loving feigning being upset.
Tony laughed, Nicole put her headphones in, and we started discussing the story of MLB baseball in Arizona to pass the time until we arrived in the Phoenix area. Kevin was right; it wouldn't take long, and I'd be able to put my anxiety over returning to my grandparents' house on the back burner for a bit.
Arizona Baseball History
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| Sunset in the Desert |
The state of Arizona had long-desired an MLB franchise, long before the birth of the Diamondbacks. Since 1946 the state had been the home to teams for spring training, and with more and more folks moving there year-round the desire only increased as the years passed.
The first serious attempt to land a team came in the 1980s, when Martin Stone and Elyse Doherty, owners of the Phoenix Firebirds (the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants), tried to talk the owners of the city's new football team, the Cardinals, into sharing a proposed 70,000-seat stadium for both teams. The Cardinals turned down the offer, instead choosing to sign a lease allowing them to play at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium, which essentially killed any idea of an MLB team, because stand-alone baseball stadiums were not thought to be a good investment at the time.
In 1993, the owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns (Jerry Coangelo) announced he was forming a group (Arizona Baseball, Inc.), to look into securing an MLB expansion bid for the city. Coangelo was so convinced his bid was going to be successful that he held a "name-the-team contest" through the Arizona Republic (the largest newspaper in the state), with the winner being awarded a pair of lifetime-season tickets. The name chosen was Diamondbacks, in honor of a highly-venomous rattlesnake known throughout the American Southwestern region.
On March 9th, 1995, the Coangelo group was awarded the rights to the expansion team, (along with another expansion franchise for Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Florida) for a fee of $130 million. Both teams were scheduled to become part of the American League, but five American League franchises threatened to block the league assignments due to what would be scheduling issues. These teams were worried that the out-of-time-zone games would have different start times, which would affect ratings, which would, in turn, affect the TV contracts. This went round and round until 1997, when it was decided the Diamondbacks would play in the National League, while the Devil Rays would be in the American League. Major League Baseball, however, reserved the right to move either team into the A.L. within five years of their beginning of play, but those plans never came to fruition.
The colors chosen for the team were turquoise, copper, black, and purple. This was due to the fact that the greenish-blue stone was indigenous to Arizona, Arizona was one of the nation's leading copper producers, and purple because it had become a favorite color around the state, due to the success of the Phoenix Suns. The logo (a large "A," distinctive in style) and the colors were developed by the Phoenix-based design firm Campbell Fisher Ditko, who already had success with the design of the Suns' "sinking sun" logo. It was a natural choice.
The team would play out of a new retractable-roof ballpark, built in an industrial district of Phoenix's southeastern border. Ground was broken on the team's new home in 1995, and completed by Opening Day of 1998. The naming rights went to Bank One, and the ballpark's unofficial name became "The BOB."
From the very beginning the new owners wanted the team to be embraced by the entire state of Arizona, rather than just the metropolitan-Phoenix area, and worked very hard to get fans from all over the state to embrace the new franchise. Team-sponsored events, such as a bus tour called "D-Backs Express," brought fans from all over the state to Bank One Ballpark, and the popular "Hometown Tour" (which still goes on today) brings players, coaches, front office personnel, and broadcasters all over the state, to meet and greet the fans, sign autographs, and spread goodwill, helping cultivate a relationship with the fans.
Arguably the most important thing the D'Backs did to show they were serious about building a winner was with the hiring of their first manager, Buck Showalter. Showalter had been named the 1994 American League Manager of the Year for the New York Yankees, but was not retained by the team after the 1995 season and was quickly hired by the Diamondbacks. He would be the architect of the new team, and would help the new G.M., Joe Garagiola, draft the first players in team history at the 1997 Expansion Draft.
As with the 1992 Expansion Draft, each team would select 35 players over three rounds. There would be 14 chosen in Rounds 1 and 2 and seven to be chosen in Round 3, and the order would be selected by a coin flip, with the winning team having a choice of the first overall pick, or choosing to take picks two and three and the first pick in Rounds 2-3, instead. Arizona won the coin toss and elected to defer the #1 overall pick to Tampa Bay.
Wither their first two picks, numbers 2 and 3, the Diamondbacks chose two pitchers Brian Anderson, a lefty from the Cleveland Indians, and Jeff Suppan, a righty from the Red Sox. To round out the team, Garagiola chose players such as Corey Lidle, Ben Ford, Matt Drews, David Dellucci, Hector Carrasco, Kelly Stinnett, and Tony Batista. After concluding the draft, they traded Joe Randa, Matt Drews and Gabe Alvarez to Detroit for Travis Fryman; Jesus Martinez to Florida for Devon White; Scott Winchester to Cincy for Feliz Rodriguez, and Chuck McElroy to Colorado for Harvey Pulliam. In addition, they had signed Jay Bell to a free agent contract (5 years, $34 million) the day before the draft, and moved Fryman and Tom Martin to the Giants, for Matt Williams, two weeks later.
Johnson came from the Houston Astros, where he'd been traded at the 1998 deadline, was one of the most dominant pitchers of the last five years, and gave the pitching staff instant credibility. At 6'10", this lanky left-hander was as intimidating as he was tall, and made opponents think twice before digging in at the plate. His fastball would regularly near, and sometimes exceed, 100 mph, and he also threw a nasty, hard-biting slider which froze batters in fear. The Big Unit, as he was aptly nicknamed, had won the American League Cy Young Award in 1995. As he would go, so would Arizona...and they both "went."
Along with a new manager, Arizona added a few free agents (Ken Huckaby, Mark Grace, Andre Cummings, and Mike Mohler) and came into the season looking to reestablish itself as a premier team in the National League. Led by Johnson they did just that, but he wasn't alone; also on the roster were Jay Bell, David Dellucci, Steve Finely, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, Tony Womack, and at the trade deadline the Diamondbacks picked up starting pitcher Curt Schilling, who they were looking at as the final piece of the puzzle.
The regular season was a dogfight, but the Snakes eventually outlasted the San Francisco Giants by two games, winning the National League West by two games and a record of 92-70. This was good for the third-best record in the N.L., only one game back of the Astros and the Cardinals, who finished at 93-69. Because of the rule, at the time, that said a division winner could not play a wild card winner if the two teams came from the same division, the Diamondbacks opened the playoffs against St. Louis, while the Astros faced Atlanta.
Game One, at Bank One Ballpark, was an instant classic, with Curt Schilling starting against Matt Morris. The series was opening in Arizona, even though the Cardinals had the home field advantage, in order to cut down on travel days. Arizona would host Games 1 and 5, if necessary, while Games 2-4 would be played in St. Louis.
The teams traded zeroes for the first four-and-a-half innings, before Steve Finley singled home the game's only run, and Schilling went the distance, throwing a three-hitter for the win. Arizona took a one-game-to-none lead in the series, but this game proved these teams were evenly matched and it could end up being a long series.
The next three two games were split, with St. Louis taking Game 2, 4-1, and Arizona winning Game 3, 5-3, but with the chance to win in four Arizona came out flat and lost 4-1. This tied the series up at two games each, and sent the deciding game back to Phoenix where another classic was played.
The pitching matchup for Game 5 was a repeat of Game 1, with Schilling going against Morris, and once again the game was a nail-biter.
The D-Backs again drew first blood, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Cards fought back and tied the score with a run of their own, in the top of the eighth. The Diamondbacks threatened right away, in the bottom of the ninth, when Matt Williams led off with a double and Damian Miller sacrificed the pinch runner, Midre Cummings, to third.
After a pitching change Gregg Colbrun was walked intentionally. A squeeze play was put on, but Cummings got caught trying to come home, and Colbrun went to second, where he was pinch run for by Danny Bautista. The next batter, Tony Womack, singled Bautista home with the winning run and the Diamondbacks were headed to the NLCS to play the Braves, who had swept the Astros.
The Braves, during these years, were a very formidable team, annually winning the N.L. East division quite handily. Led by future Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, this team was stacked with top-level talent on the mound (Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Odalis Perez, Kevin Millwood, and John Rocker) AND in the field (Javy Lopez, Rafael Furcal, Chipper Jones, B.J. Surhoff, Andruw Jones, Brian Jordan, Ken Caminiti, Mark DeRosa, and the ageless Julio Franco). They were on their way to winning 14 N.L. divisional titles, five N.L. Pennants, and one World Series Championship, so they were not to be taken lightly.
Arizona had the home field advantage, based on their record, so they would host Games 1 and 2, with 6 and 7 being back in Arizona if necessary.
The teams would split the first two games, with Arizona winning Game 1, 2-0, on a Randy Johnson complete-game, three-hit shut out, while the Braves fought back in Game 2, scalping the D-Backs, 8-0, and dominating the game from start to finish.
That, surprisingly, would be the high water mark for Atlanta in the series, as they came back home to Turner Field and lost the next three games handily, 5-1, 11-4, and 3-2. Arizona had captured its first National League Pennant, and was heading to the World Series where they would face the three-time defending World Champion New York Yankees.
The Yankees were a modern-day dynasty, having made the playoffs in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and, again, in 2001. They had won the A.L. Pennant in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, and followed that up with World Series victories in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Led by manager Joe Torre, this team of assassins was a modern-day Murderers Row and hosted a lineup of stars such as Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez, Alphonso Soriano, Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, Shane Spencer, Chuck Knoblauch, and David Justice. They could also be intimidating on the mound, throwing out pitchers such as Roger Clemens, Orlando Hernandez, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Mike Stanton, Ramiro Mendoza, and the machine-like Mariano Rivera. This team had run away with the American League East, winning 95 games and finishing 13 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston, and then had flipped the switch and taken down the 102-win Oakland A's in the ALD.., and then the 116-win Seattle Mariners, in the ALCS.
The World Series was beginning later than usual in 2001, due to the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and its aftermath. The Yankees were the symbol of New York, and though they were usually hated it seemed that everyone in the country (outside of Arizona) was pulling for them. This, however, didn't faze the Diamondbacks, who came to the party ready to play, and being the host team, as it was the National League's turn to have the home field advantage.
Game 1 came on October 27th, at Bank One Ballpark, and the D-Backs set the tone immediately. The Yankees scored right away, in the first, but the Diamondbacks returned the favor and then added four more in the third and fourth innings, to waltz away with a 9-1 victory. Curt Schilling was the winning pitcher, and combined with two relievers to throw a 3-hit gem that befuddled the Yankees all night long.
Game 2 was another win for Arizona, and while the margin of victory was not as big it certainly felt that way to the New York hitters. Randy Johnson pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, only allowing four base runners and striking out 11. The Diamondbacks scored in the second, which was all they would need, and added another three in the seventh to take a commanding (or so they thought) two-games-to-none lead in the series, heading back to New York.
With smoke still billowing out of Ground Zero, in lower Manhattan, President Bush took the mound in an FDNY jacket and threw a perfect first-pitch strike in a special ceremony during the pre-game. Roger Clemens followed that by tossing a three-hit, one run, gem, as Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius drove in the Yankees' runs and they cut the Diamondbacks lead to one game.
Game 4 was a back-and-forth, see-saw affair that saw the Yanks jump out to a 1-0 lead, only to have the Diamondbacks score three runs and take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees' leadoff hitter, Derek Jeter, tried to bunt his way on, only to be thrown out at first, and after a Paul O'Neill single Bernie Williams struck out. The Diamondbacks were one out away from taking a 3-1 lead in the series, but Tino Martinez drove the first Byung-Hyun Kim pitch he saw into the right field seats, tying the game. It stayed that way for one inning, before Derek Jeter, just after the stroke of midnight, hammered a ball deep into the now November night, sending the Yankees to victory, and tying the series at two games apiece.
As if the previous evening wasn't enough to send the Yankees and their fans into hysterics, Game 5 would
push them over the edge. The Diamond backs scored twice off Mike Mussina, in the fifth, and took a two-run lead into the ninth. Byung-Hyun Kim was again called upon to close the door, and after giving up a leadoff double to Jorge Posada he got Shane Spencer to ground out and struck out Chuck Knoblauch. Once again the Diamondbacks were up by two, with a man on and two outs in the ninth inning, and once again the Yankees struck. This time it was Scott Brosius who hit the two-run, game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. Yankee Stadium shook to its core, as Brosius circled the bases and Kim hung his head in defeat. The Yankees completed another amazing comeback when Knoblauch was brought home on an Alfonso Soriano single, in the bottom of the twelfth. The Yankees had come to New York down two games, but were heading back to the Arizona desert needing one win to clinch their fourth World Series title in as many years.
The D-Backs were shook, but not down. They knew they could play with the Yanks, and were out to recreate some magic of their own back home. That started with Game 6, where they put a pounding on Andy Pettitte, and the boys from the Bronx. When the dust had cleared the Diamondbacks had won Game 6, tying the series, by a score of 15-2. They had scored one in the first, three in the second, eight in the third, and three in the fourth, making it 15-0 before the Yanks scored two in the sixth. This set up a deciding Game 7, the likes of which had not been seen since 1960.
Game 7 was a classic pitcher's duel, with Roger Clemens facing off against Curt Schilling. The Diamondbacks broke through first, with a run in the sixth, but the Yankees tied it with one of their own in the seventh and went ahead, 2-1, on a Soriano homer in the eighth. Clemens handed the ball to Mike Stanton for a clean eighth, and he turned it over to Mr. Automatic, Mariano Rivera, in the bottom of the ninth. As strange as it was to see Arizona blow two consecutive two-run leads in the ninth inning of Games 4 and 5, it was stranger still to watch what was about to unfold.
Mark Grace led off the inning with a single to center, which brought up Damian Miller, whose job it was to sacrifice him to second. Miller laid down the bunt which went right back to Rivera, who turned, with plenty of time, to start the double play...but he threw the ball away from Jeter, into center field. The next batter, Jay Bell, also attempted a bunt, but Rivera threw Dellucci, who had pinch run for Grace, out at third. The D-Backs then pinch-ran Cummings for Bell, putting speedy runners on first and second, as Tony Womack came to the plate. Womack worked the count to 2-2 before doubling down the right field line, tying the game. The Yankees pulled the infield in, hoping to be able to induce a ground ball and keep the runner at third, but Luis Gonzalez, flared a broken-bat single just over Derek Jeter's head, to bring home the winning run, and the first World Series Championship in Diamondbacks' history.
Beating the powerhouse Yankees was an incredible feat, and in doing so the D-Backs had outscored New York, 37-14, out-hit them, 65-42, and had a much better ERA against. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson were named co-MVPs and were the main culprits in holding New York's offense to a .183 batting average (the lowest EVER in a seven-game World Series).
Also, this championship was a first on many different levels, it was the first championship for the Diamondbacks, or for any team from Arizona; it was the first championship won by a team in the far west, other than California; and it was the earliest any team had ever won a championship in their history (Arizona had only existed for four years). The fans, of course, turned out in droves to see their heroes at the victory parade, which spun its way through downtown Phoenix. All in all it was a magical year for the Diamondbacks, but unfortunately it has yet to be replicated.
On March 9th, 1995, the Coangelo group was awarded the rights to the expansion team, (along with another expansion franchise for Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Florida) for a fee of $130 million. Both teams were scheduled to become part of the American League, but five American League franchises threatened to block the league assignments due to what would be scheduling issues. These teams were worried that the out-of-time-zone games would have different start times, which would affect ratings, which would, in turn, affect the TV contracts. This went round and round until 1997, when it was decided the Diamondbacks would play in the National League, while the Devil Rays would be in the American League. Major League Baseball, however, reserved the right to move either team into the A.L. within five years of their beginning of play, but those plans never came to fruition.
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| The Original Logo |
The team would play out of a new retractable-roof ballpark, built in an industrial district of Phoenix's southeastern border. Ground was broken on the team's new home in 1995, and completed by Opening Day of 1998. The naming rights went to Bank One, and the ballpark's unofficial name became "The BOB."
From the very beginning the new owners wanted the team to be embraced by the entire state of Arizona, rather than just the metropolitan-Phoenix area, and worked very hard to get fans from all over the state to embrace the new franchise. Team-sponsored events, such as a bus tour called "D-Backs Express," brought fans from all over the state to Bank One Ballpark, and the popular "Hometown Tour" (which still goes on today) brings players, coaches, front office personnel, and broadcasters all over the state, to meet and greet the fans, sign autographs, and spread goodwill, helping cultivate a relationship with the fans.
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| Buck |
Arguably the most important thing the D'Backs did to show they were serious about building a winner was with the hiring of their first manager, Buck Showalter. Showalter had been named the 1994 American League Manager of the Year for the New York Yankees, but was not retained by the team after the 1995 season and was quickly hired by the Diamondbacks. He would be the architect of the new team, and would help the new G.M., Joe Garagiola, draft the first players in team history at the 1997 Expansion Draft.
As with the 1992 Expansion Draft, each team would select 35 players over three rounds. There would be 14 chosen in Rounds 1 and 2 and seven to be chosen in Round 3, and the order would be selected by a coin flip, with the winning team having a choice of the first overall pick, or choosing to take picks two and three and the first pick in Rounds 2-3, instead. Arizona won the coin toss and elected to defer the #1 overall pick to Tampa Bay.
Wither their first two picks, numbers 2 and 3, the Diamondbacks chose two pitchers Brian Anderson, a lefty from the Cleveland Indians, and Jeff Suppan, a righty from the Red Sox. To round out the team, Garagiola chose players such as Corey Lidle, Ben Ford, Matt Drews, David Dellucci, Hector Carrasco, Kelly Stinnett, and Tony Batista. After concluding the draft, they traded Joe Randa, Matt Drews and Gabe Alvarez to Detroit for Travis Fryman; Jesus Martinez to Florida for Devon White; Scott Winchester to Cincy for Feliz Rodriguez, and Chuck McElroy to Colorado for Harvey Pulliam. In addition, they had signed Jay Bell to a free agent contract (5 years, $34 million) the day before the draft, and moved Fryman and Tom Martin to the Giants, for Matt Williams, two weeks later.
The Early Years and an Unexpected Championship
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| Opening Day Line-Up, 1998 |
The first Opening Day in franchise history occurred on March 31, 1998, against the Colorado Rockies, at Bank One Ballpark. A standing room-only crowd of 50,179 turned out to watch Andy Benes take the mound for the home team, but they left more than a little unhappy after Colorado hung a 9-2 loss on them that night. The game was close going into the seventh inning (3-1), but the Rockies scored five in the seventh, and another in the eighth, to put the game away.
Travis Lee had the first hit in franchise history (a single in the bottom of the first), and he also had the first home run, and RBI, with his shot in the sixth. Aside from that, however, the team only had six hits, went 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and struck out eight times. This would, unfortunately, be indicative of the first season, when the team went 65-97 and finished 33 games behind the National League West-leading San Diego Padres, but good times were just around the corner.
For the 1999 season the D'Backs made a slew of moves, signing free agents Izzy Molina (almost immediately traded to the Yankees, along with Ben Ford, for Darrin Holmes), Gregg Swindell, Ken Huckabee, and Dale Sveum. Alan Embree was also traded to the Giants for Dante Powell, but the biggest acquisition came on December 10, 1998, when Randy Johnson was signed as a free agent.
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| The Big Unit Arrives in the Desert |
In Year 2 the Diamondbacks were able to improve their record by 35 games, finishing with an astonishing record of 100-62. Led by Johnson, who went 17-9 with a 2.48 ERA, 271.2 innings, 12 complete games, and 364 strike-outs, they easily won the N.L. West (14 games ahead of second-place San Francisco) and finished second in all of baseball, three games behind Atlanta. They would be heading to their first postseason berth, taking on the New York Mets, in only their second season.
The 1999 New York Mets were not a team to take lightly. They finished second in the N.L. East, but everyone did when taking on the Braves during the 1990s. They finished with 97 wins, but were relegated to the Wild Card Game, where they beat the Cincinnati Reds and moved on to face the Diamondbacks. Led by superstar catcher Mike Piazza and a rotation anchored by Al Leiter, the Mets could inflict damage...which the Diamondbacks found out, all too quickly.
Johnson, of course, started for Arizona, but he was very un-Jonhson-like, surrendering four runs through the first eight innings, and leaving the Mets in a position to take advantage, which they did, in the ninth. Showalter left Johnson in a bit too long, and the gunslinger loaded the bases before begin removed. The Snakes almost slithered out of trouble, but Edgardo Alfonso hit the go-ahead grand slam, and the Mets, shockingly, took Game 1.
Johnson, of course, started for Arizona, but he was very un-Jonhson-like, surrendering four runs through the first eight innings, and leaving the Mets in a position to take advantage, which they did, in the ninth. Showalter left Johnson in a bit too long, and the gunslinger loaded the bases before begin removed. The Snakes almost slithered out of trouble, but Edgardo Alfonso hit the go-ahead grand slam, and the Mets, shockingly, took Game 1.
The D'Backs evened the series, with a 9-5 Game 2 victory, but the joy was short-lived, as the Mets won Games 3 and 4, back in New York, to take the series three games to one. Arizona was knocked out, but they had come so far in Year 2. It was something, Showalter told his troops, to build on.
The 2000 Diamondbacks were looking to build on their 100-win season, but other teams improved as well. During the 1999 offseason the team brought in some new players, signing Ken Huckaby and Craig Counsel, while trading Dante Powell to St. Louis, for Louis Ordaz, to complement the previous year's roster, but the team faded and finished the year 85-77, in third place, 12 games behind the division-leading Giants, and a game behind the second-place Dodgers. Johnson was, again, dominant, going 19-7 with an ERA of 2.64, and 347 strike-outs, in 248.2 innings pitched, but the team missed the playoffs, which left a sour taste in everyone's mouth...especially the owner.
Over the team's first three seasons Buck Showalter guided Arizona to a record of 250-236, but apparently that wasn't good enough for Coangelo. Showalter was relieved of his duties during the offseason, and replaced with former catcher and coach for the Giants, and the current D'Backs' TV broadcaster, Bob Brenley.
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| Schilling was the Final Piece of the Puzzle |
The regular season was a dogfight, but the Snakes eventually outlasted the San Francisco Giants by two games, winning the National League West by two games and a record of 92-70. This was good for the third-best record in the N.L., only one game back of the Astros and the Cardinals, who finished at 93-69. Because of the rule, at the time, that said a division winner could not play a wild card winner if the two teams came from the same division, the Diamondbacks opened the playoffs against St. Louis, while the Astros faced Atlanta.
Game One, at Bank One Ballpark, was an instant classic, with Curt Schilling starting against Matt Morris. The series was opening in Arizona, even though the Cardinals had the home field advantage, in order to cut down on travel days. Arizona would host Games 1 and 5, if necessary, while Games 2-4 would be played in St. Louis.
The teams traded zeroes for the first four-and-a-half innings, before Steve Finley singled home the game's only run, and Schilling went the distance, throwing a three-hitter for the win. Arizona took a one-game-to-none lead in the series, but this game proved these teams were evenly matched and it could end up being a long series.
The next three two games were split, with St. Louis taking Game 2, 4-1, and Arizona winning Game 3, 5-3, but with the chance to win in four Arizona came out flat and lost 4-1. This tied the series up at two games each, and sent the deciding game back to Phoenix where another classic was played.
The pitching matchup for Game 5 was a repeat of Game 1, with Schilling going against Morris, and once again the game was a nail-biter.
The D-Backs again drew first blood, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Cards fought back and tied the score with a run of their own, in the top of the eighth. The Diamondbacks threatened right away, in the bottom of the ninth, when Matt Williams led off with a double and Damian Miller sacrificed the pinch runner, Midre Cummings, to third.
After a pitching change Gregg Colbrun was walked intentionally. A squeeze play was put on, but Cummings got caught trying to come home, and Colbrun went to second, where he was pinch run for by Danny Bautista. The next batter, Tony Womack, singled Bautista home with the winning run and the Diamondbacks were headed to the NLCS to play the Braves, who had swept the Astros.
The Braves, during these years, were a very formidable team, annually winning the N.L. East division quite handily. Led by future Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, this team was stacked with top-level talent on the mound (Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Odalis Perez, Kevin Millwood, and John Rocker) AND in the field (Javy Lopez, Rafael Furcal, Chipper Jones, B.J. Surhoff, Andruw Jones, Brian Jordan, Ken Caminiti, Mark DeRosa, and the ageless Julio Franco). They were on their way to winning 14 N.L. divisional titles, five N.L. Pennants, and one World Series Championship, so they were not to be taken lightly.
Arizona had the home field advantage, based on their record, so they would host Games 1 and 2, with 6 and 7 being back in Arizona if necessary.
The teams would split the first two games, with Arizona winning Game 1, 2-0, on a Randy Johnson complete-game, three-hit shut out, while the Braves fought back in Game 2, scalping the D-Backs, 8-0, and dominating the game from start to finish.
That, surprisingly, would be the high water mark for Atlanta in the series, as they came back home to Turner Field and lost the next three games handily, 5-1, 11-4, and 3-2. Arizona had captured its first National League Pennant, and was heading to the World Series where they would face the three-time defending World Champion New York Yankees.
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| 2001 World Series |
The World Series was beginning later than usual in 2001, due to the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and its aftermath. The Yankees were the symbol of New York, and though they were usually hated it seemed that everyone in the country (outside of Arizona) was pulling for them. This, however, didn't faze the Diamondbacks, who came to the party ready to play, and being the host team, as it was the National League's turn to have the home field advantage.
Game 1 came on October 27th, at Bank One Ballpark, and the D-Backs set the tone immediately. The Yankees scored right away, in the first, but the Diamondbacks returned the favor and then added four more in the third and fourth innings, to waltz away with a 9-1 victory. Curt Schilling was the winning pitcher, and combined with two relievers to throw a 3-hit gem that befuddled the Yankees all night long.
Game 2 was another win for Arizona, and while the margin of victory was not as big it certainly felt that way to the New York hitters. Randy Johnson pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, only allowing four base runners and striking out 11. The Diamondbacks scored in the second, which was all they would need, and added another three in the seventh to take a commanding (or so they thought) two-games-to-none lead in the series, heading back to New York.
With smoke still billowing out of Ground Zero, in lower Manhattan, President Bush took the mound in an FDNY jacket and threw a perfect first-pitch strike in a special ceremony during the pre-game. Roger Clemens followed that by tossing a three-hit, one run, gem, as Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius drove in the Yankees' runs and they cut the Diamondbacks lead to one game.
Game 4 was a back-and-forth, see-saw affair that saw the Yanks jump out to a 1-0 lead, only to have the Diamondbacks score three runs and take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees' leadoff hitter, Derek Jeter, tried to bunt his way on, only to be thrown out at first, and after a Paul O'Neill single Bernie Williams struck out. The Diamondbacks were one out away from taking a 3-1 lead in the series, but Tino Martinez drove the first Byung-Hyun Kim pitch he saw into the right field seats, tying the game. It stayed that way for one inning, before Derek Jeter, just after the stroke of midnight, hammered a ball deep into the now November night, sending the Yankees to victory, and tying the series at two games apiece.
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| Brosius Puts Yankees on the Verge of Another Championship |
push them over the edge. The Diamond backs scored twice off Mike Mussina, in the fifth, and took a two-run lead into the ninth. Byung-Hyun Kim was again called upon to close the door, and after giving up a leadoff double to Jorge Posada he got Shane Spencer to ground out and struck out Chuck Knoblauch. Once again the Diamondbacks were up by two, with a man on and two outs in the ninth inning, and once again the Yankees struck. This time it was Scott Brosius who hit the two-run, game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. Yankee Stadium shook to its core, as Brosius circled the bases and Kim hung his head in defeat. The Yankees completed another amazing comeback when Knoblauch was brought home on an Alfonso Soriano single, in the bottom of the twelfth. The Yankees had come to New York down two games, but were heading back to the Arizona desert needing one win to clinch their fourth World Series title in as many years.
The D-Backs were shook, but not down. They knew they could play with the Yanks, and were out to recreate some magic of their own back home. That started with Game 6, where they put a pounding on Andy Pettitte, and the boys from the Bronx. When the dust had cleared the Diamondbacks had won Game 6, tying the series, by a score of 15-2. They had scored one in the first, three in the second, eight in the third, and three in the fourth, making it 15-0 before the Yanks scored two in the sixth. This set up a deciding Game 7, the likes of which had not been seen since 1960.
Game 7 was a classic pitcher's duel, with Roger Clemens facing off against Curt Schilling. The Diamondbacks broke through first, with a run in the sixth, but the Yankees tied it with one of their own in the seventh and went ahead, 2-1, on a Soriano homer in the eighth. Clemens handed the ball to Mike Stanton for a clean eighth, and he turned it over to Mr. Automatic, Mariano Rivera, in the bottom of the ninth. As strange as it was to see Arizona blow two consecutive two-run leads in the ninth inning of Games 4 and 5, it was stranger still to watch what was about to unfold.
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| Gonzalez Gives the Diamondbacks their First World Championship |
Beating the powerhouse Yankees was an incredible feat, and in doing so the D-Backs had outscored New York, 37-14, out-hit them, 65-42, and had a much better ERA against. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson were named co-MVPs and were the main culprits in holding New York's offense to a .183 batting average (the lowest EVER in a seven-game World Series).
Also, this championship was a first on many different levels, it was the first championship for the Diamondbacks, or for any team from Arizona; it was the first championship won by a team in the far west, other than California; and it was the earliest any team had ever won a championship in their history (Arizona had only existed for four years). The fans, of course, turned out in droves to see their heroes at the victory parade, which spun its way through downtown Phoenix. All in all it was a magical year for the Diamondbacks, but unfortunately it has yet to be replicated.
A Downward Spiral
2002 was another productive year for the D-Backs, as they again finished first in the A.L. West, with a record of 98-64, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Giants and second-best in the N.L. (only behind Atlanta, who won 103). Randy Johnson would win his fourth consecutive Cy Young Award, but the team would be swept out of the playoffs, in the divisional round, by the Cardinals. This was the beginning of tough times for the team.
Starting in 2003, the team hit a rough patch for the next few seasons. Between 2003 and 2006 they would finish 288-360, never making the playoffs and finishing higher than third only once (2005), when they finished in second place. During this time the team would make wholesale changes, trading Curt Schilling to the Red Sox in 2004 (where he would help the team win the World Series that year), and Randy Johnson to the Yankees in 2005.
The organization did try to bring back players to help them win, such as Troy Glaus, Shawn Greene, Javier Vazquez, Royce Clayton, Dioner Navarro, and Russ Ortiz, but the story was always the same: the team just wasn't good enough.
As if the player turnover wasn't enough to keep things in a state of flux, it was mirrored by an ever-changing set of names in the manager's office. The first to go was Bob Brenley, in 2005. The team was in the midst of a horrendous campaign, and he was let go and Al Perdique took over for the remainder of the season. Perdique was replaced by Wally Backman, who was the manager for the organization's Single-A affiliate in Lancaster, California (the JetHawks). Backman lasted all of ten days before being replaced by Bob Melvin, after the club found legal troubles in Backman's not-so-distant past.
Turnover was not found in just the manager's office, or on the field, but found its way into the front office as well, where Derrick Hall came in from the Dodgers organization to become the new Diamondbacks President, and Josh Byrnes (the assistant G.M. of the Red Sox) replaced Garagiola, who left to take a front office job with the league.
As if all this wasn't enough, Jerry Coangelo was forced out during the summer of 2004, after he and the other partners found themselves in a vocal disagreement over the health and future of the organization. In the end he wound up selling the team to a group of the other investors, including Jeff Morad, Ken Kendrick, Jeff Royer, and Michael Chipman.
By 2007 the team had a new look to it, on the field as well as "on" the players. The organization determined it was time for a uniform change; as the traditional colors were scrapped in favor of what was called "Sedona Red", which was in use with both the local NHL team (the Coyotes) and the NFL team (the Cardinals). The reaction from the fans was negative, and it was quickly hoped the on-field product would adjust the fans' attitudes.
To hopefully bring about a positive atmosphere, the organization brought back a familiar face...Randy Johnson. Johnson's tenure in New York didn't go quite as planned, and the Yankees shipped him back to Arizona, while eating $2 million, in exchange for a package of prospects.
It wasn't earth-shattering, and Johnson didn't finish the season (he ended up needing surgery in August), but it was enough to boost the team's morale and their play improved by 14 games which, in turn, led to a 90-72 record and the top spot in the National League West. The D-Backs made the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and would take on the Cubs in the Division Series.
Chicago had won five fewer games than Arizona in 2007, but felt they were on equal footing with the N.L. West Champs, but the games, however, another story. The Diamondbacks, led by Brandon Webb, Doug Davis, and Livan Hernandez, made short work of the baby bears, sweeping the series in three games.
Riding a high, the Diamondbacks came into Colorado to take on the Rockies. Colorado, however, was the hottest team in Major League Baseball, having won 17 of their last 18 games to reach the Championship Series. Arizona was overmatched, and before they knew what hit them Colorado had swept them out of the playoffs in four quick games. They weren't just beaten, but beaten SOUNDLY, having been outscored 18-8 and outpitched in the four games. The fans were disappointed with the outcome, but excited for the future as the team was very young and led by such players as Stephen Drew, Carlos Quentin, Brandon Webb, Chad Tracy, Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, and Miguel Montero. It was quite a change from the year before, as Craig Counsel, Miguel Bautista, and long-time fan favorite Luis Gonzalez all left via free agency. The future looked bright for the franchise, in terms of both players and aesthetics.
During the 2007-2008 offseason the team made quite the blockbuster trade to bolster the pitching rotation, sending six players to the A's (Chris Carter, Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham, Brett Anderson, and Dana Eveland) for Dan Haren. They then sent Jose Valverde to Houston for Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, and Juan Guiterrez. This changed the tenor of the team, but not in the way Arizona had hoped. The team went from winning 90 games, and the division, down to 82 and second place, two games behind the Dodgers, who finished with 84 wins.
Over the next two years the D-Backs slipped even further, winning 70 and 65 games, respectively, and finishing in fifth place both years. During this time, more changes occurred in the front office, as well as the clubhouse, as Derrick Hall was named the CEO (Jeff Moorad left to try and become the owner of the Padres) and Bob Melvin was replaced as the manager by A.J. Hinch. By July of 2010 both Josh Byrnes (G.M.) and Hinch were replaced by Jerry Dipoto and Kirk Gibson, but Dipoto was replaced at the end of the season by Kevin Towers. To say the team was in a constant state of flux would be an understatement, and their play on the field showed the dysfunction had reached every level of the organization.
There were absolutely no expectations for the 2011 team, which allowed them to play carefree baseball and shocked the National League by winning the West. Their record of 94-68 was a 29-game improvement over the year before, and allowed them to beat out the Giants by a whopping eight games. The catalyst to this were the deadline-deal additions of Aaron Hill, John McDonald, and Brad Ziegler, who helped the team chase down the Giants and surpass them on the way to the divisional title.
The team drew the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five divisional series, and was quite the seesaw affair. The Brewers took the first two games in Miller Park (4-1 and 9-4) before the Diamondbacks tied things up with two wins of their own back in Arizona (8-1 and 10-6). This set up a winner-take-all Game 5, back in Milwaukee. Arizona jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, with a run in the third, but the Brewers tied things up an inning later. Milwaukee went ahead, 2-1, in the sixth, but Arizona forced extra innings with a run, on a bunt single, in the ninth. The Brewers, however, came away with the victory in the tenth, when Nyjer Morgan came through with the series-winning single.
Though the team seemed set up to compete for the next few years, it never really came to fruition. Between 2012 and the time we arrived the team compiled a record of 349-408, almost 1/3 of a season below .500. During this span the team finished higher than third in their division exactly once (2013), when they went 81-81 and found themselves 11 games behind the Dodgers. During this time they have also seen more managerial changes, as Gibson was let go in 2014 and replaced with Alan Trammell. Trammel, however, only served as an interim manager, and was replaced by Chip Hale. During this time the Diamondbacks have had some players of note including Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollack, Zach Greinke, and Patrick Corbin, but the team could never find a way to put things back together for a playoff run.
After we said goodbye to Tony and Nick (we would be seeing them at Chase Field, the next day), we turned the van towards "home" and Ryan "remembered" he was hungry. Once he said that, of course, the others were in full agreement that they too wanted some grub. Luckily, I knew just the place. We had already eaten at one West Coast burger joint that left a lot to be desired (In & Out Burger), so now I would introduce them to my favorite...Whataburger. This was a place my grandpa LOVED to frequent, much to my grandma's dismay.
"Bud," she'd always lecture, "there's got to be something better for you to eat than that."
He would always insist there was not, and passed that love of those huge burgers, and crispy fries, on to me and my brothers.
Whataburger came into being in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas, by a man named Harmon Dobson. He wanted to serve a burger so big that it took two hands to hold, and people would exclaim "WHAT A BURGER" after eating it (it worked, as it was the one thing you could guarantee my grandpa would say, loudly, after taking his first bite). The idea took off, and by the end of the decade Dobson would have 20 stores operating in Texas and one in Florida.
In 1967, the chain had grown to include stores in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, when Dobson was killed in a tragic airplane crash. His wife, Grace, and the remaining family carried on the business, and today have 577 stores throughout the Southwest. They are open 24 hours a day, and serve a varied menu that includes burgers, fries, chicken, and fish, as well as breakfast items. The food is fresh, cooked to order, and served by friendly employees, who have yet to disappoint me when I have visited.
Starting in 2003, the team hit a rough patch for the next few seasons. Between 2003 and 2006 they would finish 288-360, never making the playoffs and finishing higher than third only once (2005), when they finished in second place. During this time the team would make wholesale changes, trading Curt Schilling to the Red Sox in 2004 (where he would help the team win the World Series that year), and Randy Johnson to the Yankees in 2005.
The organization did try to bring back players to help them win, such as Troy Glaus, Shawn Greene, Javier Vazquez, Royce Clayton, Dioner Navarro, and Russ Ortiz, but the story was always the same: the team just wasn't good enough.
As if the player turnover wasn't enough to keep things in a state of flux, it was mirrored by an ever-changing set of names in the manager's office. The first to go was Bob Brenley, in 2005. The team was in the midst of a horrendous campaign, and he was let go and Al Perdique took over for the remainder of the season. Perdique was replaced by Wally Backman, who was the manager for the organization's Single-A affiliate in Lancaster, California (the JetHawks). Backman lasted all of ten days before being replaced by Bob Melvin, after the club found legal troubles in Backman's not-so-distant past.
Turnover was not found in just the manager's office, or on the field, but found its way into the front office as well, where Derrick Hall came in from the Dodgers organization to become the new Diamondbacks President, and Josh Byrnes (the assistant G.M. of the Red Sox) replaced Garagiola, who left to take a front office job with the league.
As if all this wasn't enough, Jerry Coangelo was forced out during the summer of 2004, after he and the other partners found themselves in a vocal disagreement over the health and future of the organization. In the end he wound up selling the team to a group of the other investors, including Jeff Morad, Ken Kendrick, Jeff Royer, and Michael Chipman.
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| Sedona Red Logo |
To hopefully bring about a positive atmosphere, the organization brought back a familiar face...Randy Johnson. Johnson's tenure in New York didn't go quite as planned, and the Yankees shipped him back to Arizona, while eating $2 million, in exchange for a package of prospects.
It wasn't earth-shattering, and Johnson didn't finish the season (he ended up needing surgery in August), but it was enough to boost the team's morale and their play improved by 14 games which, in turn, led to a 90-72 record and the top spot in the National League West. The D-Backs made the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and would take on the Cubs in the Division Series.
Chicago had won five fewer games than Arizona in 2007, but felt they were on equal footing with the N.L. West Champs, but the games, however, another story. The Diamondbacks, led by Brandon Webb, Doug Davis, and Livan Hernandez, made short work of the baby bears, sweeping the series in three games.
Riding a high, the Diamondbacks came into Colorado to take on the Rockies. Colorado, however, was the hottest team in Major League Baseball, having won 17 of their last 18 games to reach the Championship Series. Arizona was overmatched, and before they knew what hit them Colorado had swept them out of the playoffs in four quick games. They weren't just beaten, but beaten SOUNDLY, having been outscored 18-8 and outpitched in the four games. The fans were disappointed with the outcome, but excited for the future as the team was very young and led by such players as Stephen Drew, Carlos Quentin, Brandon Webb, Chad Tracy, Justin Upton, Mark Reynolds, and Miguel Montero. It was quite a change from the year before, as Craig Counsel, Miguel Bautista, and long-time fan favorite Luis Gonzalez all left via free agency. The future looked bright for the franchise, in terms of both players and aesthetics.
During the 2007-2008 offseason the team made quite the blockbuster trade to bolster the pitching rotation, sending six players to the A's (Chris Carter, Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham, Brett Anderson, and Dana Eveland) for Dan Haren. They then sent Jose Valverde to Houston for Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, and Juan Guiterrez. This changed the tenor of the team, but not in the way Arizona had hoped. The team went from winning 90 games, and the division, down to 82 and second place, two games behind the Dodgers, who finished with 84 wins.
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| The Intensity of Kirk Gibson |
There were absolutely no expectations for the 2011 team, which allowed them to play carefree baseball and shocked the National League by winning the West. Their record of 94-68 was a 29-game improvement over the year before, and allowed them to beat out the Giants by a whopping eight games. The catalyst to this were the deadline-deal additions of Aaron Hill, John McDonald, and Brad Ziegler, who helped the team chase down the Giants and surpass them on the way to the divisional title.
The team drew the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-five divisional series, and was quite the seesaw affair. The Brewers took the first two games in Miller Park (4-1 and 9-4) before the Diamondbacks tied things up with two wins of their own back in Arizona (8-1 and 10-6). This set up a winner-take-all Game 5, back in Milwaukee. Arizona jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, with a run in the third, but the Brewers tied things up an inning later. Milwaukee went ahead, 2-1, in the sixth, but Arizona forced extra innings with a run, on a bunt single, in the ninth. The Brewers, however, came away with the victory in the tenth, when Nyjer Morgan came through with the series-winning single.
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| Fan Favorite, Paul Goldschmidt |
Family Ties
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| Heading "Home" |
As we pulled into the Phoenix area Nicole and Brendan were napping, Nick was lost in music, and only Ryan, Tony, Kevin, and I were still talking baseball. We drove to the Scottsdale area to drop off Nick and Tony, who were staying with Tony's high school buddy, Mike, before heading off to Sun City West, where we would be staying at my grandparent's house, which was something I was both looking forward to and dreading.
"Bud," she'd always lecture, "there's got to be something better for you to eat than that."
He would always insist there was not, and passed that love of those huge burgers, and crispy fries, on to me and my brothers.
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| Best Burgers in the West |
Whataburger came into being in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas, by a man named Harmon Dobson. He wanted to serve a burger so big that it took two hands to hold, and people would exclaim "WHAT A BURGER" after eating it (it worked, as it was the one thing you could guarantee my grandpa would say, loudly, after taking his first bite). The idea took off, and by the end of the decade Dobson would have 20 stores operating in Texas and one in Florida.
In 1967, the chain had grown to include stores in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, when Dobson was killed in a tragic airplane crash. His wife, Grace, and the remaining family carried on the business, and today have 577 stores throughout the Southwest. They are open 24 hours a day, and serve a varied menu that includes burgers, fries, chicken, and fish, as well as breakfast items. The food is fresh, cooked to order, and served by friendly employees, who have yet to disappoint me when I have visited.
From the look on everyone's faces, I knew that Whataburger was going to be a hit. Smiles were stretched ear-to-ear, including my wife, who is not a fan of fast food.
"This may be the best fast food burger I have ever eaten," she told me, wiping her face with a napkin.
"I second that," Ryan interjected, not bothering to wait 'til his mouth was empty, or using a napkin.
Brendan was busy putting fries on his burger, and Kevin was looking at the size of his and just shaking his head.
"Better than In & Out?" I asked.
"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?" Ryan asked, shaking his head, in mock annoyance.
"In & Out sucks, compared to this," Brendan seconded.
Kevin was still busy trying to figure out how to eat his behemoth, but readily agreed after his first bite.
Kevin was still busy trying to figure out how to eat his behemoth, but readily agreed after his first bite.
The only sounds coming from anyone, from this point on, were the happy/contented sighs of appetites being satiated and tummies getting filled.
As we climbed back into the van and headed towards Sun City West, my heart was filled with equal parts nostalgia and dread. The last time I had been here was 1997, for my grandpa's funeral, nineteen long years ago.
There were a myriad of reasons I had never returned, though, looking back, none of them were justifiable, even if they had seemed so at the time. I was scared to death of flying, I couldn't take the time off, I didn't have the money, etc., etc., etc. Looking back, all these years later, all I really did was rob myself of memories I could have now been calling up, instead of forcing myself to breathe deeply and fight back tears just to be able to get through the initial "shock" of being "home."
The kids and Nicole had been laughing, joking, and bantering back and forth since we had left Whataburger, but as I turned from R.H. Johnson Boulevard onto Whispering Oaks, then to West Spanish Garden, a quiet came over everyone. By the time I turned onto 134th Drive the van was silent, save for my deep breaths, which everyone could hear.
I needed to get the keys to the house, which I was told would be left on the property for me, and had already decided that it would be Kevin who would go with me to get them. If I was going to break down I wanted it to be with him, as opposed to Ryan who wouldn't be doing much better if I lost it. Ryan was lucky enough to remember my grandma, who adored both boys but was able to connect deeper with him as he was older than Bren, and able to remember more of their times together.
I took a deep breath as I grabbed the keys and headed back towards the front door, steeling myself for the onslaught of emotions I knew were coming.
"You okay, Uncle Jim?" Kevin quietly asked.
"We're about to find out, buddy." I replied, as I put the key in the lock and turned it.
As the door swung open and I got a sight of the hallway and the dining room, a flood of memories ran through me. Quietly I flipped the lights on and started wandering through the house, Kevin just back and to my right. I wandered through the dining room, where family dinners had taken place; to the kitchen, where long nights talking to my grandma about my grandpa's passing, over cups of coffee, took place; and, finally, to the "Arizona Room," which they were both so proud of, where the family would gather to watch TV, listen to music, or just relax, on so many long-ago nights.
I decided I was going to be okay...for now, and had Kevin go outside and get the others, as I stood in the middle of the room, taking it all in. I don't know what he told them, or what they were feeling, but when they all entered the house everyone came to me and I was given a group hug from the four of them. It meant a lot, and did shake me out of my remembrance, and we started the job of unpacking and getting comfortable. The boys put their bags in the guest room, where I had slept as a child, while Nicole took ours to the master bedroom. I wasn't ready to go in there, so I helped Ryan, Brendan, and Kevin set up their bedroom first.
After we were all situated I walked everyone through the house, telling stories, pointing out things that meant something to me, and giving them the lay of the land. Ryan loved the screened in porch, but it was still way too hot to be outside, so they asked if they could eat breakfast out there and then retired to the Arizona room to watch the Olympics, which they quickly found on TV.
After a while I wandered into the bedroom, to help Nicole unpack. She asked how I was doing, and after taking a moment to actually think about it I smiled and said "surprisingly well." We finished up and went out to watch some TV with the boys, just as my grandparents did with me so many years ago.
The next morning I was having coffee on the back porch, admiring the beauty of the landscape and enjoying the quiet, when Brendan walked out. Just as he did, a coyote wandered into the back yard, stopped, sniffed the air, and proceeded to lift his leg on the cactus in the back corner of the property.
"Is that what I think it is?" Brendan asked, excitedly.
"It is," I laughed, shaking my head.
"That was a coyote," he said, eyes wide, mouth agape with a big smile.
"They're all over the place out here, so you have to be careful when your pets are outside," I told him.
"He's bigger than I thought he would be," he whispered.
"Well-fed, too," I noticed.
We must have spoken a little too loudly, as Mr. Coyote froze, turned around slowly, saw us, and slowly meandered into the next yard. Brendan ran back into the house to tell the others, who came out hoping to catch a glimpse, but the coyote was long gone, hunting down his breakfast, I'm sure.
Everyone took a quick shower, and we headed out the door for breakfast. Arizona in August can get pretty hot, pretty quickly, so we wanted to get a move on before the heat really kicked in. Our first stop was going to be a cute little café about a mile from my grandparents' home, aptly named "The Hole 'N One" as it sat at the foot of one of Sun City West's many golf courses.
We walked in, were quickly seated, and ordered. Before I could say how hungry I was, a mountainous Western omelet was placed in front of me. As the rest of the food was delivered, it shook me to see how much was on each plate. Ryan, of course, was in heaven. According to him, he was so hungry he was going to eat his, Nicole's, and whatever was left of Brendan's...unless Kevin wanted to share. I informed him that wasn't going to happen, as I didn't want him over-full and out in what was supposed to be 110 degrees. I also didn't think he could do it, but I wasn't going to say that and have him get sick trying to prove me wrong.
As we climbed back into the van and headed towards Sun City West, my heart was filled with equal parts nostalgia and dread. The last time I had been here was 1997, for my grandpa's funeral, nineteen long years ago.
There were a myriad of reasons I had never returned, though, looking back, none of them were justifiable, even if they had seemed so at the time. I was scared to death of flying, I couldn't take the time off, I didn't have the money, etc., etc., etc. Looking back, all these years later, all I really did was rob myself of memories I could have now been calling up, instead of forcing myself to breathe deeply and fight back tears just to be able to get through the initial "shock" of being "home."
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| The Family Homestead |
The kids and Nicole had been laughing, joking, and bantering back and forth since we had left Whataburger, but as I turned from R.H. Johnson Boulevard onto Whispering Oaks, then to West Spanish Garden, a quiet came over everyone. By the time I turned onto 134th Drive the van was silent, save for my deep breaths, which everyone could hear.
I needed to get the keys to the house, which I was told would be left on the property for me, and had already decided that it would be Kevin who would go with me to get them. If I was going to break down I wanted it to be with him, as opposed to Ryan who wouldn't be doing much better if I lost it. Ryan was lucky enough to remember my grandma, who adored both boys but was able to connect deeper with him as he was older than Bren, and able to remember more of their times together.
I took a deep breath as I grabbed the keys and headed back towards the front door, steeling myself for the onslaught of emotions I knew were coming.
"You okay, Uncle Jim?" Kevin quietly asked.
"We're about to find out, buddy." I replied, as I put the key in the lock and turned it.
As the door swung open and I got a sight of the hallway and the dining room, a flood of memories ran through me. Quietly I flipped the lights on and started wandering through the house, Kevin just back and to my right. I wandered through the dining room, where family dinners had taken place; to the kitchen, where long nights talking to my grandma about my grandpa's passing, over cups of coffee, took place; and, finally, to the "Arizona Room," which they were both so proud of, where the family would gather to watch TV, listen to music, or just relax, on so many long-ago nights.
I decided I was going to be okay...for now, and had Kevin go outside and get the others, as I stood in the middle of the room, taking it all in. I don't know what he told them, or what they were feeling, but when they all entered the house everyone came to me and I was given a group hug from the four of them. It meant a lot, and did shake me out of my remembrance, and we started the job of unpacking and getting comfortable. The boys put their bags in the guest room, where I had slept as a child, while Nicole took ours to the master bedroom. I wasn't ready to go in there, so I helped Ryan, Brendan, and Kevin set up their bedroom first.
After we were all situated I walked everyone through the house, telling stories, pointing out things that meant something to me, and giving them the lay of the land. Ryan loved the screened in porch, but it was still way too hot to be outside, so they asked if they could eat breakfast out there and then retired to the Arizona room to watch the Olympics, which they quickly found on TV.
After a while I wandered into the bedroom, to help Nicole unpack. She asked how I was doing, and after taking a moment to actually think about it I smiled and said "surprisingly well." We finished up and went out to watch some TV with the boys, just as my grandparents did with me so many years ago.
Reminiscing
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| Early Morning Coffee on the Back Porch |
"Is that what I think it is?" Brendan asked, excitedly.
"It is," I laughed, shaking my head.
"That was a coyote," he said, eyes wide, mouth agape with a big smile.
"They're all over the place out here, so you have to be careful when your pets are outside," I told him.
"He's bigger than I thought he would be," he whispered.
"Well-fed, too," I noticed.
We must have spoken a little too loudly, as Mr. Coyote froze, turned around slowly, saw us, and slowly meandered into the next yard. Brendan ran back into the house to tell the others, who came out hoping to catch a glimpse, but the coyote was long gone, hunting down his breakfast, I'm sure.
After I finished my coffee we decided to get a move on, the kids were hungry, I wanted to show them Sun City West, and we had the Diamondbacks/Brewers game to get to later that afternoon.
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| Breakfast is Served, at The Hole in One |
This restaurant was a favorite of both my grandparents, though I will say my grandma visited quite a lot after my grandpa passed. Having been open since 1985, the menu features traditional American cuisine, though their specialty is definitely the breakfasts, which are huge, and served all day long.
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| Breakfast Time, at the Hole in One |
Just as we were finishing the waitress walked up and shook me to my core.
"I know you," she smiled, tilting her head.
"I know you," she smiled, tilting her head.
"I don't think so," I said. "I haven't been to Arizona since 1997, and you guys weren't around back then."
"No," she quietly assured me. "I know you. You're Ann Denner's grandson."
I didn't know what to say. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, I was in a state of disbelief and shock. Sensing I was a bit overwhelmed, she put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a moment.
"Your grandmother came in here every day," she started. "She would get some wheat toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast, and if it was a little later she would always get chicken salad on toasted wheat, but not too toasted. She was here most of the time with a group of friends, and the conversation always came around to grandchildren, and your grandmother used to brag on you something fierce. Well, you and her only granddaughter," she laughed.
I still didn't know what to say; I was overwhelmed.
"She's been gone eight years," I stammered. "She made that much of an impression on you?"
"Like I said, she was here almost every day, for a long time. She was one of my favorite people, and I would join her some evenings for a glass of wine. Oh my, did she love a glass of wine, at the end of the day."
I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.
"But how did you recognize me as her grandson?" I wanted to know. "I've never met you before."
"She would always have the latest pictures of you and your kids, and I recognized you right away. I didn't want to say anything right away because I had to be sure, but you have her laugh, her smile, and you certainly do seem to have her outgoing personality and charm. It was a pleasure to finally meet you, but I feel that I already knew you. Your grandmother was a great lady, I hope you know that. Have a great day, and take care of those great-grandchildren of hers."
With that she smiled and walked away. Blinking back tears I went to pay the bill, only to find that it had already been taken care of.
"How is that possible?" I asked the lady at the register.
She just smiled and said, "family is always welcome," and to "come back again...soon."
I walked back to the table and left a very big tip. It wasn't the first time I had been astounded by the generosity of someone I had never met, but it was the most special.
For the next hour we wandered around Sun City. I showed everyone the things that I remembered, but a lot had been redone since I was last there. The community was still laid out the same, but the expansion had completely changed the landscape. It wasn't the same as I remembered, but it was beautiful nonetheless...except for the heat.
After sightseeing it was time to head to the cemetery. I REALLY wasn't looking forward to this, but there was no way I was coming all the way out to Arizona and not pay my respects.
The drive over took about 20 minutes, which passed in silence. No one really wanted to talk about it and possibly upset me more than I was going to be, and, besides, I was lost in my own thoughts.
By the time we got there I was a bloody mess. We all knew I would be, but this just confirmed it. I hadn't been back here since my grandpa's funeral, and since my grandma had asked only her children (my mother and my Uncle Bud) be at hers it had been a long time. I didn't remember much of anything from that August day, but the place was beautiful and peaceful. I had to stop in the office to ask directions to the crypt, but it only took about five minutes to arrive after that.
As we pulled up Kevin made the decision to stay in the van, as he wasn't comfortable going to the graveside, so Nicole, Ryan, Brendan, and I made the short walk to the plot. I wasn't planning on staying long, just enough time to "talk," say a prayer, and let them know that I loved, and missed, them both. Not surprisingly, it didn't turn out that way.
The four of us stood in silence, each offering their own thoughts and prayers, and when we could all look up at one another I said a few words for all of us. I told them how much we loved them, how much they were missed, and how we hoped that we were making them proud, as we went through life trying to live by what they had taught us, but I couldn't get it all out before breaking down.
Once I started crying I couldn't stop, and that started Ryan crying too. Nicole and Brendan did their best to console us, and after a little while the emotions came under control and they left us for a little quiet time by ourselves.
As I said earlier, I was very, very close to both my grandparents as I grew up; they were like second parents to me and I loved to visit with them and spend as much time as possible in their company. Unfortunately my grandpa passed before he could meet my wife, or his great-grandchildren, but he lived on through the stories, pictures, and movies my grandmother and I would share with them. Nicole loved spending time with my grandmother as well, but Brendan was a little too young for things to be more than a fuzzy memory. It was Ryan who really bonded with her, spending hours listening to stories, playing games, watching movies, taking naps, and being spoiled, so it was no surprise that this hit him very hard as well.
We stood and talked, cried, hugged, and told stories about them both. Ryan liked hearing about his childhood remembrances, as well as the stories about my grandpa, and after a while we both knew that it was time to go.
"Would he have liked me?" Ryan asked, through a sniffle.
"He would have loved you," I assured him.
"Everyone's supposed to love their family," he countered. "But would he have liked me?"
I paused, looked right at him and smiled. What a great answer, I thought.
"Kid, he would have thought you were one in a million," I laughed.
Together we headed back to the car, where the others were waiting to head to the ballpark. It was time for our final game of the trip, but first...some food.
Opening in 1998, this restaurant/bar is the brainchild of musician Alice Cooper and his partner, Bryan Weymouth. This two-floored establishment perfectly blends the world of Rock & Roll with that of the sporting scene, and carries the tagline "Where Jocks Meet Rock."
There was an outdoor seating area, which I'm sure would have been perfect for a fall or winter afternoon, but since it was 109 degrees outside no one wanted any part of that. No one, and I mean NO ONE, stays outside long during the Arizona summers, unless they have to. We quickly passed through the misters, and walked into the soothingly air-conditioned restaurant.
Once inside we noticed the plethora of sports and music memorabilia, hanging from the ceiling and adorning the walls. There were jerseys from all the local teams, both major and minor leagues, as well as gold records, guitars, autographs, and pictures from the music establishment.
The first thing we noticed, or I should say the boys noticed, were the servers. Each one was a pretty young lady, dressed in shorts and a black t-shirt, and eye make-up resembling that of Alice Cooper himself. It was a very-casual-meets-Goth look, and no one knew quite what to make of it.
We were escorted to our table, upstairs and our waitress, Kelli, quickly came over to introduce herself and bring water. Everywhere we went in Arizona we were given water, and it was easy to understand why. We weren't very hungry, after all we had just eaten a very large breakfast, so we ordered some usual appetizers (wings, nachos, and potato skins), and a few drinks to tide us over. I REALLY wanted to try the restaurant's signature food, "the Big Unit," which was a two-foot long hot dog, covered in your choice of toppings, and a bed of fries, but no one could eat that much, and we also couldn't agree on the toppings.
Kelli quickly returned with our food and drink, and promptly sat down to talk to us. The restaurant wasn't busy, yet. It would get packed before game time, but as of now the game was three hours away. We talked about our trip, where we had been, where we still had to visit, and that today was our last day. She loved traveling and baseball, so she was very interested, and spent about 20 minutes with us, before we finished and had to head over to the stadium for gate opening.
In the end Ryan and Kevin decided to split one of the monster-sized hot dogs, as it: A) seemed the most "Arizona-like," 2) appealed to their appetites, and 3) was most likely to make me shudder because of the name: The Venom Dog.
Ryan and Kevin were looking at the Venom Dog as, I assume, a hungry diamondback looks at its unsuspecting prey, and it didn't take long for them to polish off the entire thing. They did, however, make sure to have plenty of water on hand, which helped douse the "venom" of the habanero sausage and the spicy cheese. Nicole looked at them like they had three heads, but I knew that thing had no chance against the two of them. They offered everyone a bite but I was the only one that took them up on the offer (Brendan and Nicole looked at them as if they were crazy for asking), but I absolutely loved everything about it.
Number 20 is for Luis Gonzalez, who came to the team from the Tigers in 1998, and left his stamp upon the organization with five All Star selections, being the team's all-time home run leader (224), and a World Series Champion. For all his power, Gonzalez is best-known for his bloop single off Mariano Rivera to win the 2001 World Series.
Number 51 is for The Big Unit, Randy Johnson. In his two stints with the team, Johnson won four consecutive Cy Young Awards, threw a perfect game, was the co-MVP of the 2001 World Series, and was the first player to go into the Hall of Fame wearing an Arizona cap.
The last retired number (42) is for Jackie Robinson, who was the first player to break the color barrier, and has been retired league-wide.
Along the back wall of Chase Field are the markers for the teams that have done special things for the organization. They are recognized with an "A" in the team's colors at the time, are in separate glass panels, and recognize two types of achievements. The pane of glass on the left is for the five teams to have won the N.L. West Division (1999, 2001, 2002, 2007, and 2011), while the pane on the right signifies the year the team won the World Series (2001), and has the "A" in the team's color at the time, the words "World Champions" on it, and the year directly below that. As a Yankees fan, that one made me shudder.
"Tony, make sure he sees it, before the end of the summer, please," was all I said.
"No," she quietly assured me. "I know you. You're Ann Denner's grandson."
I didn't know what to say. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, I was in a state of disbelief and shock. Sensing I was a bit overwhelmed, she put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a moment.
"Your grandmother came in here every day," she started. "She would get some wheat toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast, and if it was a little later she would always get chicken salad on toasted wheat, but not too toasted. She was here most of the time with a group of friends, and the conversation always came around to grandchildren, and your grandmother used to brag on you something fierce. Well, you and her only granddaughter," she laughed.
I still didn't know what to say; I was overwhelmed.
"She's been gone eight years," I stammered. "She made that much of an impression on you?"
"Like I said, she was here almost every day, for a long time. She was one of my favorite people, and I would join her some evenings for a glass of wine. Oh my, did she love a glass of wine, at the end of the day."
I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.
"But how did you recognize me as her grandson?" I wanted to know. "I've never met you before."
"She would always have the latest pictures of you and your kids, and I recognized you right away. I didn't want to say anything right away because I had to be sure, but you have her laugh, her smile, and you certainly do seem to have her outgoing personality and charm. It was a pleasure to finally meet you, but I feel that I already knew you. Your grandmother was a great lady, I hope you know that. Have a great day, and take care of those great-grandchildren of hers."
With that she smiled and walked away. Blinking back tears I went to pay the bill, only to find that it had already been taken care of.
"How is that possible?" I asked the lady at the register.
She just smiled and said, "family is always welcome," and to "come back again...soon."
I walked back to the table and left a very big tip. It wasn't the first time I had been astounded by the generosity of someone I had never met, but it was the most special.
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| Everyone Seems to Have a LARGE Cactus in Their Front Yard |
For the next hour we wandered around Sun City. I showed everyone the things that I remembered, but a lot had been redone since I was last there. The community was still laid out the same, but the expansion had completely changed the landscape. It wasn't the same as I remembered, but it was beautiful nonetheless...except for the heat.
After sightseeing it was time to head to the cemetery. I REALLY wasn't looking forward to this, but there was no way I was coming all the way out to Arizona and not pay my respects.
The drive over took about 20 minutes, which passed in silence. No one really wanted to talk about it and possibly upset me more than I was going to be, and, besides, I was lost in my own thoughts.
By the time we got there I was a bloody mess. We all knew I would be, but this just confirmed it. I hadn't been back here since my grandpa's funeral, and since my grandma had asked only her children (my mother and my Uncle Bud) be at hers it had been a long time. I didn't remember much of anything from that August day, but the place was beautiful and peaceful. I had to stop in the office to ask directions to the crypt, but it only took about five minutes to arrive after that.
As we pulled up Kevin made the decision to stay in the van, as he wasn't comfortable going to the graveside, so Nicole, Ryan, Brendan, and I made the short walk to the plot. I wasn't planning on staying long, just enough time to "talk," say a prayer, and let them know that I loved, and missed, them both. Not surprisingly, it didn't turn out that way.
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| We Love and Miss You Both, Forever |
Once I started crying I couldn't stop, and that started Ryan crying too. Nicole and Brendan did their best to console us, and after a little while the emotions came under control and they left us for a little quiet time by ourselves.
As I said earlier, I was very, very close to both my grandparents as I grew up; they were like second parents to me and I loved to visit with them and spend as much time as possible in their company. Unfortunately my grandpa passed before he could meet my wife, or his great-grandchildren, but he lived on through the stories, pictures, and movies my grandmother and I would share with them. Nicole loved spending time with my grandmother as well, but Brendan was a little too young for things to be more than a fuzzy memory. It was Ryan who really bonded with her, spending hours listening to stories, playing games, watching movies, taking naps, and being spoiled, so it was no surprise that this hit him very hard as well.
We stood and talked, cried, hugged, and told stories about them both. Ryan liked hearing about his childhood remembrances, as well as the stories about my grandpa, and after a while we both knew that it was time to go.
"Would he have liked me?" Ryan asked, through a sniffle.
"He would have loved you," I assured him.
"Everyone's supposed to love their family," he countered. "But would he have liked me?"
I paused, looked right at him and smiled. What a great answer, I thought.
"Kid, he would have thought you were one in a million," I laughed.
Together we headed back to the car, where the others were waiting to head to the ballpark. It was time for our final game of the trip, but first...some food.
Baseball Meets Rock & Roll
Just around the corner from Chase Field stood an establishment we were told we HAD to try, Alice Coopers'town. Standing at 101 E. Jackson Street, about three blocks from the park, this eatery was in perfect walking distance for a pre-game snack, meal, or drink.  |
| Alice Coopers'town |
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| At 109 Degrees, We Were Not Sitting Outside |
There was an outdoor seating area, which I'm sure would have been perfect for a fall or winter afternoon, but since it was 109 degrees outside no one wanted any part of that. No one, and I mean NO ONE, stays outside long during the Arizona summers, unless they have to. We quickly passed through the misters, and walked into the soothingly air-conditioned restaurant.
Once inside we noticed the plethora of sports and music memorabilia, hanging from the ceiling and adorning the walls. There were jerseys from all the local teams, both major and minor leagues, as well as gold records, guitars, autographs, and pictures from the music establishment.
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| Hangin' with Kelli |
We were escorted to our table, upstairs and our waitress, Kelli, quickly came over to introduce herself and bring water. Everywhere we went in Arizona we were given water, and it was easy to understand why. We weren't very hungry, after all we had just eaten a very large breakfast, so we ordered some usual appetizers (wings, nachos, and potato skins), and a few drinks to tide us over. I REALLY wanted to try the restaurant's signature food, "the Big Unit," which was a two-foot long hot dog, covered in your choice of toppings, and a bed of fries, but no one could eat that much, and we also couldn't agree on the toppings.
Kelli quickly returned with our food and drink, and promptly sat down to talk to us. The restaurant wasn't busy, yet. It would get packed before game time, but as of now the game was three hours away. We talked about our trip, where we had been, where we still had to visit, and that today was our last day. She loved traveling and baseball, so she was very interested, and spent about 20 minutes with us, before we finished and had to head over to the stadium for gate opening.
Chase Field
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| Chase Field |
We left Cooper'sTown and trudged back to the ballpark. It seemed even hotter than when we went into the restaurant, if that was even possible, and sweat was pouring off each of us as we reached our destination. I had badly miscalculated how long it would take us to reach the park, because when we got there the gates weren't due to open for another 35 minutes. Needless to say, no one was happy with me, or the fact that they, now, had to stand outside, in the heat, with nothing to do but wait.
"I'm gonna melt," Brendan complained.
"This sucks," was Kevin's way of venting his displeasure.
"I think it's hotter than the surface of the sun," Ryan said, trying to make everyone laugh, and break the tension.
Even Nicole was uncomfortable, and she LOVES the heat.
"I'm gonna melt," Brendan complained.
"This sucks," was Kevin's way of venting his displeasure.
"I think it's hotter than the surface of the sun," Ryan said, trying to make everyone laugh, and break the tension.
Even Nicole was uncomfortable, and she LOVES the heat.
"Come on," I told them. "Let's go take some pictures."
The looks I got, from the four of them, said I was treading on some very thin, very dangerous, ice.
The looks I got, from the four of them, said I was treading on some very thin, very dangerous, ice.
"We have nothing else to do for half an hour, and you're not going to want to do it after the game," I said, trying to convince them not to kill me for my error in timing, which had caused this situation.
Finally they sighed, gave up, and followed me across to the front of the ballpark, where I took some shots.
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| The "Shaded" Courtyard |
There was a nice "courtyard" near the front of the ballpark, which offered a bit of shade for those who were standing outside in the heat, and in this courtyard there was a DJ, some vendors hawking cold drinks, and a lot of hot people milling about. I walked around on my own for a bit, not wanting to press my luck and ask someone to come with me, but Ryan couldn't sit there so he ended up joining me.
Located at 401 East Jefferson Street, in downtown Phoenix, Chase Field has been the home for the state's first Major League Baseball team since 1998. The ballpark was constructed during the "baseball stadium boom" of the 1990s, and was one of the few with a retractable roof while the majority were open-air. This made perfect sense, as Phoenix is one of America's hottest cities, with temps close to, or above, triple digits for the majority of the baseball season. Chase Field was, in fact, the first ballpark in the country to feature a retractable roof over a natural grass surface, which worked because of the retractable roof and the climate-controlled interior.
Located at 401 East Jefferson Street, in downtown Phoenix, Chase Field has been the home for the state's first Major League Baseball team since 1998. The ballpark was constructed during the "baseball stadium boom" of the 1990s, and was one of the few with a retractable roof while the majority were open-air. This made perfect sense, as Phoenix is one of America's hottest cities, with temps close to, or above, triple digits for the majority of the baseball season. Chase Field was, in fact, the first ballpark in the country to feature a retractable roof over a natural grass surface, which worked because of the retractable roof and the climate-controlled interior.
All this aside, it was not easy to secure funding for this project, which politicians started working on as early as 1994. At that time the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted a quarter-percentage point increase in the county sales tax, to help offset funding for the park, but this did not sit well with the locals who were not given the chance to vote on this issue during a time when Maricopa County was facing budget shortfalls, and lack of funding for other public projects. Things got so heated, in fact, that the County Supervisor, Mary Rose Wilcox, was shot by a homeless man while leaving a board meeting. Thankfully Ms. Wilcox was not seriously harmed, and the man was later convicted of attempted first-degree murder. His defense, which failed, was that her support for the tax justified his attack.
The stadium's projected cost was to be $279 million, but ended up being $364 million due to cost overruns, primarily increases in the cost of construction materials. The original deal with Maricopa County had the team paying for any costs above the original projections, which caused the Diamondbacks to have to forgo their portion of revenue sharing for the first five years of their existence. This would severely hamstring the organization, and come back to haunt the original ownership group down the road.
The outside of the ballpark was a bit non-descript. It had a light-green and white color, with some brick walls that held the logos of the years the D-Backs had been successful, and what looked like a massive cooling unit with the team's name on it, but there was nothing that made it stand out as something special. In fact the only way you knew it had something to do with baseball, from afar, were the giant bats, with a Chase Bank sign, standing at the Home Plate Gate. I don't think it would ever be considered "iconic," like Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, PNC Park, or even any of the newer parks its own age; it was just...there.
We quickly walked back into the "courtyard," so we could be in a shady area, and for the first time noticed the flags hanging from the brick walls. They had pictures of some of the members of the current team (Paul Goldschmidt, Zach Grienke, and A.J.Pollack, to name a few), but they were set back from the street and couldn't be seen unless you were almost right on top of them. I wasn't getting a very basebally-feeling about the place, but, then again, all I really wanted to do was get inside, out of the heat.
Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long, maybe about ten more minutes, before the doors opened and we could go inside. The first thing we noticed was the cool air, which smacked us in the face as we walked inside. Because of the Arizona weather, the park is kept at a constant 74 degrees, and it does take you aback as you come inside.
It seemed the entire crowd, us included, let out an audible "Ahhhhhh" as they walked in the door and had their tickets scanned.
"Oh my God," Ryan sighed, as he handed his ticket to the gentleman at the gate.
"Feel better, son?" the ticket-taker asked, laughing.
"MUCH better," he assured the man.
"I bet you hear that a lot," Nicole said, smiling, as she handed her ticket to the man.
"It's everyone's reaction," he told her, smiling.
"I understand, completely," she laughed, "and I love the heat."
"You can have it," I told her. "This is miserable."
"Not from around here, are you?" the gentleman laughed.
"No, sir," I replied. "We're from New Jersey.
"Well, welcome to the surface of the sun," he laughed, again, as he motioned us inside.
As we entered the ballpark the first thing I noticed was the floor, which had a beautiful map of the state of Arizona created in the tile. I really wanted a picture, but there were too many people walking through to get a complete shot, so I mentioned to Ryan that we needed to do it on the way out.
Off to the side there was a ceramic Saguaro cactus, decked out in red and white, with a baseball cap on one of its arms, and the sign for the 2011 MLB All Star Game, which had been held at the ballpark. It made perfect sense; the Saguaro's blossom is the state flower of Arizona, and the cactus itself is a known symbol of the Arizona desert. I smiled to myself because the Saguaro, to me, is a "symbol" that I connect with my grandparents and their love for this state. It was their home for almost thirty years, and because of that I will always be tied to it.
I quickly looked around for the others, and found them in the other corner of the lobby. Nicole had once again found a ceramic Mickey Mouse statue and was waiting for a picture with it. As a "Disney Kid" she has this innate ability to find something Mickey Mouse anywhere we go, and ballparks are no exception. She has pictures with these statues from Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and on this trip, Dodger Stadium, The Big A, and now Chase Field. I just laughed and took the picture; there was no avoiding Mickey as far as she was concerned, and I had given up trying.
We decided to walk into the team store to get the program/scorecard, and see if there was anything anyone else wanted to purchase. It was early enough, so there wouldn't be a line, and I didn't want to take the chance on forgetting one which had almost happened once. Of course, while in there the boys found every possible thing that was snake-like, and knowing my aversion to snakes, made sure to torment me for the next 15 minutes.
As we exited the store we noticed a brick wall, which held the logos of every year the D-Backs had won a "championship." There was a big logo representing the 2001 World Series Championship, and below that were the ones representing all the division championships (1999, 2002, 2007, and 2011). Across the way we saw, on a large chalkboard made to resemble a line-up card, the Diamondbacks starting line-up for the game. I quickly took out the scorecard and jotted it down, as well as took a picture.
Our first stop, as always, was behind home plate. One of our traditions is to try and take a picture of the whole group, with the ballpark behind us, but sometimes it's difficult to get down to field level because of restrictions that are placed on where the fans have access. Some parks are great (Kansas City, Colorado, San Diego, Pittsburgh), some a bit more difficult (Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Citi Field), and some are just plain fan-unfriendly (Dodger Stadium and U.S. Cellular Field), where we actually had to get creative just to get on the main level and see the park. Chase Field, thankfully, was extremely fan-friendly, and the ushers offered to take the picture and give us a tutorial.
The lady, Ann, took a quick shine to us when we told her our story, and all the places we had been. She was a retiree from Michigan who loved baseball, especially her Tigers, and enjoyed being around the ballpark...even if it was a National League team. She regaled us with stories from her youth, seeing Al Kaline, Mark Fydrich, Rusty Staub, Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich and a host of others. Her favorite managers were Billy Martin (she loved how he stressed fundamentals), Ralph Houk (he was a player's manager), and, later, Sparky Anderson (because of the great 1984 team, which went wire to wire). She was extremely impressed when I asked her if she remembered Ron LeFleur, who was a fan favorite in Detroit because of his background story.
After a few more laughs, and a couple of pictures, Ann got down to discussing the ballpark itself with us. "We opened this place in March of 1998, as Bank One Ballpark," she told us. "We became Chase Field back in 2005, and that's who we are today. It took almost two-and-a-half years, and a cost of $364 million to build, and we sit 48,633 fans today. The capacity has fluctuated over the years, being 48,500 when we opened, ballooning to 49,033 in 2002 (the year after we beat your Yankees), and settling in at this number in 2017."
"Our playing surface is Bull's Eye Bermuda grass, which is supposed to be the best for retractable roof stadiums, and we have incandescent lighting which helps when there is no direct sunlight. The playing surface is 330' to left field, 376' to left-center, 407' to center, 376' to right-center, and 335' to right, while our batter's eye wall is 66' wide by 27.5" tall."
"As you have seen, it's HOT here in Arizona. It can get unbearable around Memorial Day and not let up until into October, so we obviously needed to have a climate-controlled park, but we didn't want a dome. Our retractable roof is 255' high at the tallest point, and 188' at the lowest. It's made from nine million pounds of steel and has two 200-horse power motors, which can open and close in less than five minutes. It works on a similar system of cables and pulleys, which when stretched out is about four miles long, that open and close drawbridges and move skyscraper cranes. It opens from the middle, so it's actually two segments that operate independently or in unison, but the most important thing about our roof is that it allows us to keep the park at a steady 74 degrees."
"That's a beautiful thing," Ryan interrupted with a laugh.
"You can say that again, young man. Can you imagine having to sit through a ballgame on a day like today, where it's 109 outside?"
"No thank you," was his only response.
"Smart man," Ann laughed.
"Here at Chase Field," she continued, "we have plenty of premium seating, including the Audi Club and Audi Quattro Lounge (both of which are exclusive clubs, dependent on the kind of tickets you have), which are located on the third base side and behind home plate, respectively.
"There are also batter's box seats, and dugout suites, which can be rented on a per-game basis, or for blocks of time throughout the season. We also have a kids' zone, known as The Sandlot, which is above left field, by the foul pole. This family area is sponsored by the Phoenix Children's' Hospital, and has a whiffle-ball diamond, a playground, a batting cage, an outdoor patio, and is where our Kids Club Headquarters is located."
"Our most 'famous' attraction, by far," she continued, "is our pool. The pool area, located in front of the right-field bleachers, is a 1,288-square-foot area containing a pool and a hot tub. We had the first-ever ballpark with a pool, and it's not small. It holds 8,500 gallons of water, is staffed by a lifeguard, and can be rented out throughout the season. It has its own patio, where you sit 415 feet from home plate, and can swim, lounge, or just watch the game while the kids play. The first home run to land in the pool was hit by Mark Grace, of the Cubs, and splash-down was on May 12, 1998."
"Have I left anything out?" she jokingly asked.
"Food!" was Ryan's reply.
"Do you ever stop eating?' Kevin wanted to know.
"Yeah, when he's thinking about eating," was Brendan's response.
Ann had a good chuckle at the boys, bantering back and forth, but quickly understood how important food was to this crew's game-day experience.
"Aside from the regular ballpark amenities we have a few restaurants, as well. There are the ones I have
already mentioned, but they are 'restricted clubs.' If you wanted to have a sit-down meal you have a few options, such as: The Game Seven Grill, which is a barbecue sports bar over in the Gila River Casino Plaza (that's not a casino, but it's sponsored by one, so kids can get in); The Draft Room (previously named the Arizona Baseball Club), which serves a multitude of beers and has a patio to watch the game from; or everyone's favorite, Friday's Front Row, which is located upstairs, overlooking left field. It's a full Friday's restaurant, where you can order a meal, or a drink, grab indoor or outdoor seating, and watch the game, or just relax inside. The restaurant is open on non-game days as well, and has its own private suite, which can hold up to 50 people."
"Can you recommend something that's a signature food of the ballpark?" I asked. "We like to try native foods, but prefer they don't be hot dogs...unless it's a famous one, like the Fenway Frank or the Dodger Dog."
"Well, we have Mexican food at A-Zona Street Tacos, as well as America's Taco Shop and Rey Gloria's Tamales. We also have Burger Burger, Paradise Valley Burger Company, a carving cart for sandwiches, a cheesesteak vendor, and a New York Pizza stand, but if you really want a taste of Chase Field you could go to the Taste of Chase, which serves all kinds of specialty sandwiches, or my favorite, Big Dawgs, which has Arizona-type hot dogs. Just be advised they are big, and pack a punch."
"Thanks for everything," we said, shaking her hand and saying goodbye.
It was a lot of information to digest, but we had plenty of time to go exploring as the game wasn't scheduled to start for over an hour. We meandered down the first base concourse and headed to the one place I knew the boys were dying to see...the pool.
As we walked through the concourse we kept our eyes peeled for the food stands we might want to try, making a mental note of what to hit when we decided, and taking in all the sights and sounds of the ballpark as the fans came inside.
The one thing that we noticed was there were banners and placards for players, both past and present, but what was most interesting was today's players were represented by the same fan-favorites (Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollack, and Zach Grienke), while the older players were all from the World Series-winning team of 2001 (Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez). There were banners for winning the N.L. West, as well as the 2001 World Series Champions, as well as one for simply advancing to the NLCS (2007).
"Well, they haven't been around that long," was Kevin's thought.
"Yeah, but they've had more success than just the 2001 season," Ryan chimed in.
When we got to the pool area, everyone was more than a little jealous. We all wanted a game in the pool, but I am not sure exactly how much baseball was going to be watched, if chose that venue. It was pretty cool though, and I could see how it would be a fan-favorite with the pool, the hot tub, the private bar, and the food service. A fan could certainly do a lot worse for themselves than watching a game from this vantage point.
As we came to the center-field area, we found the "Home Run Porch". This area sits dead-center from home plate, and looks like a little picnic patio. Apparently there have been many home run balls caught in this location and it does offer a great view, if you are interested in sitting in what amounts to center-field bleachers. Still, the kids loved the idea and insisted on pictures here. The view was a great, even I couldn't argue, but I still wouldn't want to sit that far away from the action at home plate.
We finished our walk around the Field Level concourse, as there wasn't much left to see. We did take another picture of the pool, this one from the left-field corner, but aside from that there really wasn't much left to view at this level. To Ryan this could only mean on thing...time to eat.
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| Hangin' at the Bats |
We quickly walked back into the "courtyard," so we could be in a shady area, and for the first time noticed the flags hanging from the brick walls. They had pictures of some of the members of the current team (Paul Goldschmidt, Zach Grienke, and A.J.Pollack, to name a few), but they were set back from the street and couldn't be seen unless you were almost right on top of them. I wasn't getting a very basebally-feeling about the place, but, then again, all I really wanted to do was get inside, out of the heat.
Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long, maybe about ten more minutes, before the doors opened and we could go inside. The first thing we noticed was the cool air, which smacked us in the face as we walked inside. Because of the Arizona weather, the park is kept at a constant 74 degrees, and it does take you aback as you come inside.
It seemed the entire crowd, us included, let out an audible "Ahhhhhh" as they walked in the door and had their tickets scanned.
"Oh my God," Ryan sighed, as he handed his ticket to the gentleman at the gate.
"Feel better, son?" the ticket-taker asked, laughing.
"MUCH better," he assured the man.
"I bet you hear that a lot," Nicole said, smiling, as she handed her ticket to the man.
"It's everyone's reaction," he told her, smiling.
"I understand, completely," she laughed, "and I love the heat."
"You can have it," I told her. "This is miserable."
"Not from around here, are you?" the gentleman laughed.
"No, sir," I replied. "We're from New Jersey.
"Well, welcome to the surface of the sun," he laughed, again, as he motioned us inside.
Starting Line-Up
Jim Kulhawy
Nicole Kulhawy
Ryan Kulhawy
Brendan Kulhawy
Kevin Johnston
Tony D'Angelo (Not Pictured)
Nick D'Angelo (Not Pictured)
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| Arizona Map, in the Concourse |
As we entered the ballpark the first thing I noticed was the floor, which had a beautiful map of the state of Arizona created in the tile. I really wanted a picture, but there were too many people walking through to get a complete shot, so I mentioned to Ryan that we needed to do it on the way out.
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| All-Star Game Cactus |
Off to the side there was a ceramic Saguaro cactus, decked out in red and white, with a baseball cap on one of its arms, and the sign for the 2011 MLB All Star Game, which had been held at the ballpark. It made perfect sense; the Saguaro's blossom is the state flower of Arizona, and the cactus itself is a known symbol of the Arizona desert. I smiled to myself because the Saguaro, to me, is a "symbol" that I connect with my grandparents and their love for this state. It was their home for almost thirty years, and because of that I will always be tied to it.
I quickly looked around for the others, and found them in the other corner of the lobby. Nicole had once again found a ceramic Mickey Mouse statue and was waiting for a picture with it. As a "Disney Kid" she has this innate ability to find something Mickey Mouse anywhere we go, and ballparks are no exception. She has pictures with these statues from Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and on this trip, Dodger Stadium, The Big A, and now Chase Field. I just laughed and took the picture; there was no avoiding Mickey as far as she was concerned, and I had given up trying.
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| Niki, and Mickey |
As we exited the store we noticed a brick wall, which held the logos of every year the D-Backs had won a "championship." There was a big logo representing the 2001 World Series Championship, and below that were the ones representing all the division championships (1999, 2002, 2007, and 2011). Across the way we saw, on a large chalkboard made to resemble a line-up card, the Diamondbacks starting line-up for the game. I quickly took out the scorecard and jotted it down, as well as took a picture.
Our first stop, as always, was behind home plate. One of our traditions is to try and take a picture of the whole group, with the ballpark behind us, but sometimes it's difficult to get down to field level because of restrictions that are placed on where the fans have access. Some parks are great (Kansas City, Colorado, San Diego, Pittsburgh), some a bit more difficult (Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Citi Field), and some are just plain fan-unfriendly (Dodger Stadium and U.S. Cellular Field), where we actually had to get creative just to get on the main level and see the park. Chase Field, thankfully, was extremely fan-friendly, and the ushers offered to take the picture and give us a tutorial.
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| Wall of Champions |
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| Line-Up Card |
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| Left-Field Line |
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| Right Field Line |
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| Home Plate View |
"As you have seen, it's HOT here in Arizona. It can get unbearable around Memorial Day and not let up until into October, so we obviously needed to have a climate-controlled park, but we didn't want a dome. Our retractable roof is 255' high at the tallest point, and 188' at the lowest. It's made from nine million pounds of steel and has two 200-horse power motors, which can open and close in less than five minutes. It works on a similar system of cables and pulleys, which when stretched out is about four miles long, that open and close drawbridges and move skyscraper cranes. It opens from the middle, so it's actually two segments that operate independently or in unison, but the most important thing about our roof is that it allows us to keep the park at a steady 74 degrees."
"That's a beautiful thing," Ryan interrupted with a laugh.
"You can say that again, young man. Can you imagine having to sit through a ballgame on a day like today, where it's 109 outside?"
"No thank you," was his only response.
"Smart man," Ann laughed.
"Here at Chase Field," she continued, "we have plenty of premium seating, including the Audi Club and Audi Quattro Lounge (both of which are exclusive clubs, dependent on the kind of tickets you have), which are located on the third base side and behind home plate, respectively.
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| The Sandlot |
 |
| The Pool |
"Have I left anything out?" she jokingly asked.
"Food!" was Ryan's reply.
"Do you ever stop eating?' Kevin wanted to know.
"Yeah, when he's thinking about eating," was Brendan's response.
Ann had a good chuckle at the boys, bantering back and forth, but quickly understood how important food was to this crew's game-day experience.
 |
| Friday's Front Row |
already mentioned, but they are 'restricted clubs.' If you wanted to have a sit-down meal you have a few options, such as: The Game Seven Grill, which is a barbecue sports bar over in the Gila River Casino Plaza (that's not a casino, but it's sponsored by one, so kids can get in); The Draft Room (previously named the Arizona Baseball Club), which serves a multitude of beers and has a patio to watch the game from; or everyone's favorite, Friday's Front Row, which is located upstairs, overlooking left field. It's a full Friday's restaurant, where you can order a meal, or a drink, grab indoor or outdoor seating, and watch the game, or just relax inside. The restaurant is open on non-game days as well, and has its own private suite, which can hold up to 50 people."
"Can you recommend something that's a signature food of the ballpark?" I asked. "We like to try native foods, but prefer they don't be hot dogs...unless it's a famous one, like the Fenway Frank or the Dodger Dog."
"Well, we have Mexican food at A-Zona Street Tacos, as well as America's Taco Shop and Rey Gloria's Tamales. We also have Burger Burger, Paradise Valley Burger Company, a carving cart for sandwiches, a cheesesteak vendor, and a New York Pizza stand, but if you really want a taste of Chase Field you could go to the Taste of Chase, which serves all kinds of specialty sandwiches, or my favorite, Big Dawgs, which has Arizona-type hot dogs. Just be advised they are big, and pack a punch."
"Thanks for everything," we said, shaking her hand and saying goodbye.
It was a lot of information to digest, but we had plenty of time to go exploring as the game wasn't scheduled to start for over an hour. We meandered down the first base concourse and headed to the one place I knew the boys were dying to see...the pool.
As we walked through the concourse we kept our eyes peeled for the food stands we might want to try, making a mental note of what to hit when we decided, and taking in all the sights and sounds of the ballpark as the fans came inside.
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| Fan Favorite, Paul Goldschmidt |
 |
| 2001 W.S. Champs |
"Well, they haven't been around that long," was Kevin's thought.
"Yeah, but they've had more success than just the 2001 season," Ryan chimed in.
 |
| How Cool is this View |
 |
| Ryan and Kevin, on the Home Run Porch |
As we came to the center-field area, we found the "Home Run Porch". This area sits dead-center from home plate, and looks like a little picnic patio. Apparently there have been many home run balls caught in this location and it does offer a great view, if you are interested in sitting in what amounts to center-field bleachers. Still, the kids loved the idea and insisted on pictures here. The view was a great, even I couldn't argue, but I still wouldn't want to sit that far away from the action at home plate.
We finished our walk around the Field Level concourse, as there wasn't much left to see. We did take another picture of the pool, this one from the left-field corner, but aside from that there really wasn't much left to view at this level. To Ryan this could only mean on thing...time to eat.
Concessions
 |
| The Venom Dog |
As Ann had informed us, there were a lot of different choices. We thought the tacos might be a good choice, but the boys weren't really feeling it. Then we tossed around the idea of the gourmet burgers, but they said those weren't a signature Arizona food. In the end it came down to the Taste of Chase stand, which serves everything you could dream up, a couple of things that you couldn't, and possibly a few you wouldn't want to. In the end this stand gave us the most options AND, with that name, had to be the best place to find the signature dish of the Diamondbacks.
 |
| Bren Wondering if Kevin Can Finish |
This behemoth wasn't even a dog; it was a foot-long habanero sausage, almost three-times the girth of a hot dog, covered bacon, pico de gallo, beans, guacamole, onions, and covered with a spicy cheese. I made sure they knew what they were getting themselves into, as venom was going to mean HOT, and they had to be sure they were ready. They insisted it would be fine, laughed, and then made more rattlesnake noises, as we headed upstairs to our seats so they could start eating. Brendan just shook his head and announced he'd stick with a regular dog, while Nicole was not wondering if they were going to finish it, just how long it would take them to do so. We always try to grab the same seats for each game, upstairs, behind home plate, so we can have the whole ballpark spread out before us. There's nothing worse, in our opinion, than being way out in the bleachers, far from the action at home plate, so this is our preferred location, and tonight was no exception.
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| Ryan Has No Such Worries |
The sausage was cooked just right, and had a nice "snap" to it when you bit in. It did have a certain amount of heat, which was accentuated by the spicy cheese and the saltiness of the bacon and the bite of the onion, but it all was "washed away" with the creamy guacamole and the different flavors from the pico de gallo. All in all it was a great creation, but I almost lost my mouthful because as I was taking a bite they decided it would be a perfect time to, again, make rattlesnake noises, and I started laughing.
Location, Location, Location
 |
| View From Our Seats |
After finishing our meal we began to take notice of the view from our seats, which was the perfect vantage point to see the whole ballpark and the main reason we always look to sit in this location, no matter the venue.
The first thing we all noticed was the replay board, in center-field. This board was installed in 2008, having replaced the original system, and stands 136' wide by 46' high. It is composed entirely of LED lighting, projects in high definition, and can show two different replays, side-by-side, at the same time. It is eight times larger than the previous scoreboard, and fitted with a clock perched on the very top.
On either side of the scoreboard there are also two smaller boards, which are used to project lineups, as well as other videos to keep fans up-to-date with what is going on around MLB at any given time. These boards are also LED, and provide high definition viewing as well. To go along with these boards there are 1,119'-long ribbon displays on the second deck (the largest in MLB), which give the in-game summaries to the crowd on a pitch-by-pitch basis.
Aside from the video boards, there are out-of-town scoreboards alongside each foul pole. Each board is designated for either American or National Leagues, depending who the home team is, and provides not only the scores but the pitchers, the innings, and if the game has gone final, as well. All in all, Chase Field does a very good job at keeping the fans updated on all the in-game happenings, as well as across both leagues of Major League Baseball.
As other parks do, Chase Field pays homage to the special players and years throughout the team's history. There are three retired numbers (20, 51, and 42), representing two of the most important names in Diamondbacks history and one that is retired league-wide.
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| Replay Board in Center |
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| Line-Up Board |
Aside from the video boards, there are out-of-town scoreboards alongside each foul pole. Each board is designated for either American or National Leagues, depending who the home team is, and provides not only the scores but the pitchers, the innings, and if the game has gone final, as well. All in all, Chase Field does a very good job at keeping the fans updated on all the in-game happenings, as well as across both leagues of Major League Baseball.
As other parks do, Chase Field pays homage to the special players and years throughout the team's history. There are three retired numbers (20, 51, and 42), representing two of the most important names in Diamondbacks history and one that is retired league-wide.
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| Retired Numbers |
Number 20 is for Luis Gonzalez, who came to the team from the Tigers in 1998, and left his stamp upon the organization with five All Star selections, being the team's all-time home run leader (224), and a World Series Champion. For all his power, Gonzalez is best-known for his bloop single off Mariano Rivera to win the 2001 World Series.
Number 51 is for The Big Unit, Randy Johnson. In his two stints with the team, Johnson won four consecutive Cy Young Awards, threw a perfect game, was the co-MVP of the 2001 World Series, and was the first player to go into the Hall of Fame wearing an Arizona cap.
The last retired number (42) is for Jackie Robinson, who was the first player to break the color barrier, and has been retired league-wide.
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| Champions' Recognition |
"It's a nice ballpark," I said, aloud, to no one in particular. "But I can't rank it higher than third, on this trip."
Ryan, who is always quick to interject his thoughts, concurred.
"I might have it slightly ahead of The Big A, but only because aside from the Rock Pile that park was bland."
Brendan and Kevin agreed with Ryan and I, but Nicole had it dead last.
"I rate Anaheim higher," she said. "But only because it was an outdoor park. Here I feel closed in."
No one could disagree with that thought, but while we agreed it would have been nice to have had the roof at Chase Field open, we were all glad that it was not so right now.
Ryan, who is always quick to interject his thoughts, concurred.
"I might have it slightly ahead of The Big A, but only because aside from the Rock Pile that park was bland."
Brendan and Kevin agreed with Ryan and I, but Nicole had it dead last.
"I rate Anaheim higher," she said. "But only because it was an outdoor park. Here I feel closed in."
No one could disagree with that thought, but while we agreed it would have been nice to have had the roof at Chase Field open, we were all glad that it was not so right now.
The Game
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| First Pitch |
"When's Nick and Big D gonna join us?" Brendan wanted to know.
"To be honest, B, I have no idea." I told him.
We hadn't seen Tony and Nick since dropping them off at Tony's friend's house, the night before. I knew they had probably slept in, as they both love their sleep, but they had been at Alice Coopers'Town earlier. Tony had sent me a picture of them sharing "The Big Unit," the monster chili-cheese dog named after Randy Johnson, which so many have attempted to take down, earlier. We had thought about it, but no one was really that hungry...so we passed.
"To be honest, B, I have no idea." I told him.
We hadn't seen Tony and Nick since dropping them off at Tony's friend's house, the night before. I knew they had probably slept in, as they both love their sleep, but they had been at Alice Coopers'Town earlier. Tony had sent me a picture of them sharing "The Big Unit," the monster chili-cheese dog named after Randy Johnson, which so many have attempted to take down, earlier. We had thought about it, but no one was really that hungry...so we passed.
We always hope for a good game, but that might have been a tall order for this one. At the start of the day Milwaukee was 48-49, while the D-Backs were 44-65, so we were just looking for a home team win.
As the Arizona pitcher, Patrick Corbin, finished his warm-up tosses, my phone went off. It was Tony, telling me they were over at the Friday's, in left field, and would be to the seats shortly. Just as I hung up, the mayhem started. Jonathan Villar singled, Orlando Arcia walked, and both runners moved over on a wild pitch. This was not a good start for Corbin, who then gave up back-to-back sacrifice flies, and it was quickly 2-0 Milwaukee. With two outs you'd think that Corbin would have settled down, but he walked the next batter before ending the inning by striking out Scooter Gennett.
Definitely not what we were hoping for, but it was early and the D-Backs had time to come back. They just had to hit Matt Garza, who, himself, was sporting a sub-.500 record and an ERA north of 5. I had a feeling this was not to be a pitcher's duel, and settled in for the fireworks to begin.
The Diamondbacks went down 1-2-3, in the bottom of the inning. So much for that.
As the Arizona pitcher, Patrick Corbin, finished his warm-up tosses, my phone went off. It was Tony, telling me they were over at the Friday's, in left field, and would be to the seats shortly. Just as I hung up, the mayhem started. Jonathan Villar singled, Orlando Arcia walked, and both runners moved over on a wild pitch. This was not a good start for Corbin, who then gave up back-to-back sacrifice flies, and it was quickly 2-0 Milwaukee. With two outs you'd think that Corbin would have settled down, but he walked the next batter before ending the inning by striking out Scooter Gennett.
Definitely not what we were hoping for, but it was early and the D-Backs had time to come back. They just had to hit Matt Garza, who, himself, was sporting a sub-.500 record and an ERA north of 5. I had a feeling this was not to be a pitcher's duel, and settled in for the fireworks to begin.
The Diamondbacks went down 1-2-3, in the bottom of the inning. So much for that.
The Brewers threatened again in the bottom of the inning, putting men on second and third with no out, but it all went for naught as they failed to capitalize. We thought we had the start of something when Arizona's Jake Lamb singled to start the inning, but the next three hitters went down in succession to end the inning.
"Well this has been uneventful, so far," Ryan complained. "Both these pitchers suck, but the hitters suck more."
"So far," Tony laughed. "Give it time, this game is not going to end 2-0, I guarantee it."
I wish I could say Tony was right, but the teams combined for three hits through the fifth inning. Now when I say combined, that's a slight exaggeration because Milwaukee had all three. Even Nicole, who enjoys being at the park but knows what good baseball is, was getting annoyed.
"These teams really do suck, don't they?" she said, shaking her head. "There's been no action."
"There's about to be some," I said, laughing. "It's time for the Legends Race."
"If that's the best on-field entertainment this team can offer, they're done," Tony said, shaking his head.
"What's the Legends Race?" Nick wanted to know.
"The Legends Race," I explained, "is like the sausage race in Pittsburgh, but instead of different types of sausage that run around the field, its D-Backs' legends. They have replicas of Mark Grace, Matt Williams, Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez, who'll try to entertain us more than the actual team has."
Being that it was the only interesting thing for us to watch, so far, we each picked a legend and cheered him on. The four players started out in the outfield and raced towards third base, where they broke the tape and a winner was declared. They were all pretty even until reaching the three-quarter mark, and then Matt Williams pulled away and took the checkered flag. Kevin was the winner, having picked Williams, so he good-naturedly gave the rest of us the business as the sixth inning got underway.
Tony and Nick had left to get some ice cream, and just as the inning was beginning our ticket rep came to visit and handed us three tickets to go watch the game from behind the dugout. We couldn't believe our good luck...four rows off the field, talk about an upgrade.
"Wait a minute guys, there's more than three people here so we're gonna have to do this in shifts," I told them.
"You take Ryan and Kevin," Nicole said. "Brendan and I can wait."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes, but you're going to have to get Nick down there as well," she reminded me.
"I know, but we'll go down first and get the lay of the land, then we'll get the rest of you," I told her. "We'll go after this half-inning."
The boys were all excited and couldn't wait to get down there, but no one wanted to miss any "action" so we agreed to go between the top and bottom of the sixth. How long would we really have to wait? There was no action in this game...I spoke to soon.
As in the first inning, Villar doubled, Arcio singled, and Ryan Braun stepped to the plate. That was going to be it for Corbin, who was replaced with Evan Marshall. Apparently they pulled Corbin one batter too early, as Braun greeted Marshall with a three-run bomb to center making it 5-0. If that wasn't bad enough, the next two batters reached base as well, when Perez doubled and Chris Carter walked. Thankfully Gennett bounced into a double play, but Marshal gave up a single to the next batter, scoring Perez, before ending the inning with a pop out to first.
"Well that sucked," Brendan sighed, while rolling his eyes.
"We're headed downstairs," I told them. "Keep your phones on, I'll be calling you."
With that we took off at top speed, not wanting to miss any action on the field, and got down there just as the first pitch was coming in to Phil Gosselin. Gosselin doubled, but the Diamondbacks, as had been the case all night, could do nothing with the runner. We did, however, notice that no one was in our row, which meant we could get the others downstairs.
I called up and was told that Nicole and Brendan were happy where they were, but Nick and Tony wanted to come down. I told her to send them down and we would get them down to the seats. She didn't understand how, as we only had three tickets, but I had a plan.
I explained the situation to the people in front of us, telling them our story and how we came to be here, and they offered up their ticket stubs. I immediately sent Ryan and Kevin to the top of the section, and since they had four tickets they could hand two off to Tony and Nick, allowing everyone to come down.
"Well this has been uneventful, so far," Ryan complained. "Both these pitchers suck, but the hitters suck more."
"So far," Tony laughed. "Give it time, this game is not going to end 2-0, I guarantee it."
I wish I could say Tony was right, but the teams combined for three hits through the fifth inning. Now when I say combined, that's a slight exaggeration because Milwaukee had all three. Even Nicole, who enjoys being at the park but knows what good baseball is, was getting annoyed.
"These teams really do suck, don't they?" she said, shaking her head. "There's been no action."
"There's about to be some," I said, laughing. "It's time for the Legends Race."
"If that's the best on-field entertainment this team can offer, they're done," Tony said, shaking his head.
"What's the Legends Race?" Nick wanted to know.
 |
| The Legends Race |
 |
| Matt Williams Wins |
Being that it was the only interesting thing for us to watch, so far, we each picked a legend and cheered him on. The four players started out in the outfield and raced towards third base, where they broke the tape and a winner was declared. They were all pretty even until reaching the three-quarter mark, and then Matt Williams pulled away and took the checkered flag. Kevin was the winner, having picked Williams, so he good-naturedly gave the rest of us the business as the sixth inning got underway.
Tony and Nick had left to get some ice cream, and just as the inning was beginning our ticket rep came to visit and handed us three tickets to go watch the game from behind the dugout. We couldn't believe our good luck...four rows off the field, talk about an upgrade.
"Wait a minute guys, there's more than three people here so we're gonna have to do this in shifts," I told them.
"You take Ryan and Kevin," Nicole said. "Brendan and I can wait."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes, but you're going to have to get Nick down there as well," she reminded me.
"I know, but we'll go down first and get the lay of the land, then we'll get the rest of you," I told her. "We'll go after this half-inning."
The boys were all excited and couldn't wait to get down there, but no one wanted to miss any "action" so we agreed to go between the top and bottom of the sixth. How long would we really have to wait? There was no action in this game...I spoke to soon.
As in the first inning, Villar doubled, Arcio singled, and Ryan Braun stepped to the plate. That was going to be it for Corbin, who was replaced with Evan Marshall. Apparently they pulled Corbin one batter too early, as Braun greeted Marshall with a three-run bomb to center making it 5-0. If that wasn't bad enough, the next two batters reached base as well, when Perez doubled and Chris Carter walked. Thankfully Gennett bounced into a double play, but Marshal gave up a single to the next batter, scoring Perez, before ending the inning with a pop out to first.
"Well that sucked," Brendan sighed, while rolling his eyes.
"We're headed downstairs," I told them. "Keep your phones on, I'll be calling you."
With that we took off at top speed, not wanting to miss any action on the field, and got down there just as the first pitch was coming in to Phil Gosselin. Gosselin doubled, but the Diamondbacks, as had been the case all night, could do nothing with the runner. We did, however, notice that no one was in our row, which meant we could get the others downstairs.
 |
| Nice Seats! |
I explained the situation to the people in front of us, telling them our story and how we came to be here, and they offered up their ticket stubs. I immediately sent Ryan and Kevin to the top of the section, and since they had four tickets they could hand two off to Tony and Nick, allowing everyone to come down.
Amazingly enough no one missed a pitch, as the top of the seventh began. Unfortunately, no one missed a pitch as the top of the seventh began.
Matt Garaza, who was incredibly still in the game at this point, struck out to begin the inning, but Villar walked, Arcio singled, and Braun hit another bomb, making the score 9-0 by the time the dust settled.
"Anything that travels that far ought to have a stewardess and an in-flight movie," Ryan joked.
"Nice Bull Durham reference," Tony laughed.
Knowing he had an audience, Ryan decided to start quoting some of his favorite baseball movies, which the people in front of us loved.
"He's a fun kid," a lady laughed.
"Keep it up, son," her husband told him. "You're more entertaining than the game."
"Please don't encourage him," Kevin sighed. "Hell never shut up."
We were inclined to believe the game was way out of reach, so we settled in for the rest of the night, when the Diamondbacks decided it was time to wake up and play.
Brandon Drury reached on an error, then Welington Castillo homered. It was 9-2, and after a Chris Owings line-out Tuffy Gosewisch walked and Jean Segura homered. It was now 9-4, and the fans had something to cheer about.
Neither team scored in the eighth, and when the ninth inning rolled around the boys were standing up, yelling and cheering the D-Backs on.
"EPIC COMEBACK STARTS NOW!" Ryan yelled.
"LET'S GO D-BACKS!" the three of them chanted in unison.
I looked at Tony and laughed; at least they were into the game and having fun.
Then the Brewers took it all away.
It all started with an Arcia walk and a Braun single, and then the dam burst. Another walk, a sac fly, a single, a wild pitch, a walk, a double, and a single, scored six runs before Arcia, mercifully, ended the inning by grounding to third.
Everyone was dumbstruck, looking like scarred survivors from a disaster movie. The people around us quietly got up and left, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves.
"WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING?!" Ryan called out. "IT'S NOT OVER...NOTHING IS OVER TIL WE SAY IT IS...WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?"
"What?!?" Nick, asked him. "You do know the Germans didn't bomb Pearl Harbor, right?"
"You've never seen Animal House, have you?" I asked him.
"No," he told me.
Matt Garaza, who was incredibly still in the game at this point, struck out to begin the inning, but Villar walked, Arcio singled, and Braun hit another bomb, making the score 9-0 by the time the dust settled.
"Anything that travels that far ought to have a stewardess and an in-flight movie," Ryan joked.
"Nice Bull Durham reference," Tony laughed.
Knowing he had an audience, Ryan decided to start quoting some of his favorite baseball movies, which the people in front of us loved.
"He's a fun kid," a lady laughed.
"Keep it up, son," her husband told him. "You're more entertaining than the game."
"Please don't encourage him," Kevin sighed. "Hell never shut up."
 |
| Diamondbacks Score! |
Brandon Drury reached on an error, then Welington Castillo homered. It was 9-2, and after a Chris Owings line-out Tuffy Gosewisch walked and Jean Segura homered. It was now 9-4, and the fans had something to cheer about.
Neither team scored in the eighth, and when the ninth inning rolled around the boys were standing up, yelling and cheering the D-Backs on.
"EPIC COMEBACK STARTS NOW!" Ryan yelled.
"LET'S GO D-BACKS!" the three of them chanted in unison.
I looked at Tony and laughed; at least they were into the game and having fun.
Then the Brewers took it all away.
It all started with an Arcia walk and a Braun single, and then the dam burst. Another walk, a sac fly, a single, a wild pitch, a walk, a double, and a single, scored six runs before Arcia, mercifully, ended the inning by grounding to third.
Everyone was dumbstruck, looking like scarred survivors from a disaster movie. The people around us quietly got up and left, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves.
"WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING?!" Ryan called out. "IT'S NOT OVER...NOTHING IS OVER TIL WE SAY IT IS...WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?"
"What?!?" Nick, asked him. "You do know the Germans didn't bomb Pearl Harbor, right?"
"You've never seen Animal House, have you?" I asked him.
"No," he told me.
 |
| Goldy, Close Up |
He did get a few chuckles, and a gentleman pointed, smiled, and nodded, but it didn't change anyone's mind.
They continued to file out. We, on the other hand, stood up and cheered louder. It was obvious we were out-of-towners.
The leadoff batter singled, which made the boys cheer all the more, but the next two batters failed to reach base and there were now two outs. Goldschmidt doubled, Lamb singled, and two runs crossed the plate, but as we were high-fiving and cheering Yasmany Tomas flied out to end the game.
They continued to file out. We, on the other hand, stood up and cheered louder. It was obvious we were out-of-towners.
The leadoff batter singled, which made the boys cheer all the more, but the next two batters failed to reach base and there were now two outs. Goldschmidt doubled, Lamb singled, and two runs crossed the plate, but as we were high-fiving and cheering Yasmany Tomas flied out to end the game.
Post-Game Wrap-Up
 |
| Final Score |
Brewers 15, Diamondbacks 6
Garza (W), 3-4
Corbin (L), 4-11
"Well THAT was crappy," Nick laughed.
"At least you guys had some fun, and we got to do it from the expensive seats," Tony told them.
"Damn Brewers got their asses kicked by the Padres, the other day," Ryan snorted. "Is Arizona really this bad?"
"They were tonight," Kevin replied.
"At least you guys had some fun, and we got to do it from the expensive seats," Tony told them.
"Damn Brewers got their asses kicked by the Padres, the other day," Ryan snorted. "Is Arizona really this bad?"
"They were tonight," Kevin replied.
We met up with Nicole, Brendan, and Mike, who meandered down to field level when Milwaukee scored six in the top of the ninth, and started to head out.
"Why didn't you come down by us?" I asked Brendan.
"The massacre was bad enough from a distance," he said. "I didn't need to see it up close."
"Why didn't you come down by us?" I asked Brendan.
"The massacre was bad enough from a distance," he said. "I didn't need to see it up close."
"Smart kid," Tony said, rumpling his hair.
Tony, Nick, and Mike were parked out by the third base lot, while we were on the first base side, so we slowly walked around the ballpark, which was just about empty, to say goodbye. They would be staying with Mike for another week, while we were flying home tomorrow, so we all stood at the door, talking about our journey from L.A. to Anaheim, to San Diego, and, finally, Arizona, before going our separate ways.
As we headed out the door it occurred to me that we might be the last people in the park. I turned around to see, and could find no one except the people who were working to get the place cleaned up and ready for the next afternoon's game. It was a spooky feeling, but it was also a great way to end the night...peacefully.
We quickly found the van, and headed back to Sun City West.
Tony, Nick, and Mike were parked out by the third base lot, while we were on the first base side, so we slowly walked around the ballpark, which was just about empty, to say goodbye. They would be staying with Mike for another week, while we were flying home tomorrow, so we all stood at the door, talking about our journey from L.A. to Anaheim, to San Diego, and, finally, Arizona, before going our separate ways.
As we headed out the door it occurred to me that we might be the last people in the park. I turned around to see, and could find no one except the people who were working to get the place cleaned up and ready for the next afternoon's game. It was a spooky feeling, but it was also a great way to end the night...peacefully.
We quickly found the van, and headed back to Sun City West.
Heading Home
When we got back to the house the boys dove on the couch to watch the Olympics, while Nicole and I made sure everything was ready for the next day. We had to be at the airport early, and no one was looking forward to that because: 1) it was early, and 2) no one wanted the trip to end.
We all went to bed relatively quickly, there wasn't much to do, and the alarm went off waaaaaaaay too early for anyone's liking. Ryan, Kevin, and Brendan put the bags in the car, while Nicole and I made sure nothing was left behind. Finally it was time to leave, but I was having trouble doing so. Ryan noticed my emotions were, again, overwhelming me, and put his hand on my shoulder as I stood at the front door, not yet ready to close it.
We all went to bed relatively quickly, there wasn't much to do, and the alarm went off waaaaaaaay too early for anyone's liking. Ryan, Kevin, and Brendan put the bags in the car, while Nicole and I made sure nothing was left behind. Finally it was time to leave, but I was having trouble doing so. Ryan noticed my emotions were, again, overwhelming me, and put his hand on my shoulder as I stood at the front door, not yet ready to close it.
"Do you want to want to take one last walk-through?" he asked.
I could only nod in response. I couldn't have answered had I wanted to; a lump had formed in my throat, much like the one that appeared when we arrived, 36 hours before.
Silently we walked through the whole house, each room bringing back specific memories that had been put in storage many years before. I thought I was going to be okay, but then we got to the master bedroom, and I broke down. Silently at first, but then the sobs came out deeper and longer. I wasn't just leaving this house; I was leaving my grandparents, my childhood, and my connections to them behind and locking them up in this house. I didn't know if I would ever be back; there was no one left here to visit, I didn't know how long the house would stay in the family, and I was literally closing a door on a chapter in my life. Thankfully my son knew just how to handle this situation, with grace, dignity, compassion, and love.
I composed myself, and together we shut the door and walked to the van.
Boarding the plane to go home brought on another wave of emotion, but not nearly as overwhelming as the one at the house. The last time I had been in this airport was 1997; I was 28 years old and flying home, alone, after attending my grandpa's funeral. Now, 19 years later, I was standing in the exact same terminal, taking the exact same airline, back to the exact same airport in New Jersey. I didn't know, then, the next time I stepped foot in Arizona my grandma would also be gone, but I would be here with my wife and kids. I should have gone back; I should have visited. I had from that day until my grandmother passed, in 2008, to do so, but I never did, and I was now regretting that decision with every ounce of my being.
We'd had a GREAT trip. Beginning in Los Angeles, seeing Hollywood, all its sights and magic, as well as the surrounding local areas; heading up to Simi Valley and exploring the beach towns and swimming in the Pacific; visiting Long Beach and Anaheim, where we saw the Queen Mary and ate Angels Wings; down to San Diego, where a beautiful city was the home to the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, and a fabulous Mexican section; across the desert to the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon and, finally, ending up in a place I grew up in.
Now it was time to leave and I was having a hard time doing so, never knowing if I was coming back, and wondering if I even should try. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, as Nicole put her hand in mine and led me to the plane...after one last look around.
I could only nod in response. I couldn't have answered had I wanted to; a lump had formed in my throat, much like the one that appeared when we arrived, 36 hours before.
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| We Have This Exact Picture, of My Grandparents, On Our Living Room Mantle |
I composed myself, and together we shut the door and walked to the van.
Boarding the plane to go home brought on another wave of emotion, but not nearly as overwhelming as the one at the house. The last time I had been in this airport was 1997; I was 28 years old and flying home, alone, after attending my grandpa's funeral. Now, 19 years later, I was standing in the exact same terminal, taking the exact same airline, back to the exact same airport in New Jersey. I didn't know, then, the next time I stepped foot in Arizona my grandma would also be gone, but I would be here with my wife and kids. I should have gone back; I should have visited. I had from that day until my grandmother passed, in 2008, to do so, but I never did, and I was now regretting that decision with every ounce of my being.
We'd had a GREAT trip. Beginning in Los Angeles, seeing Hollywood, all its sights and magic, as well as the surrounding local areas; heading up to Simi Valley and exploring the beach towns and swimming in the Pacific; visiting Long Beach and Anaheim, where we saw the Queen Mary and ate Angels Wings; down to San Diego, where a beautiful city was the home to the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, and a fabulous Mexican section; across the desert to the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon and, finally, ending up in a place I grew up in.
Now it was time to leave and I was having a hard time doing so, never knowing if I was coming back, and wondering if I even should try. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, as Nicole put her hand in mine and led me to the plane...after one last look around.
Once on board, Ryan turned to me and said:
"When do we start planning for next year?" as a big smile came across his face.
"Right now," I told him, breaking out a pad and a pencil.
It was time to get to work.
"When do we start planning for next year?" as a big smile came across his face.
"Right now," I told him, breaking out a pad and a pencil.
It was time to get to work.
