Remember when the Diamondbacks were putting together a dynasty?

May 18, 2008 technically wasn’t THAT long ago!

It was a little more than 2 years before I started typing this post.
But the Diamondbacks and their fans, it must seem like an eternity has passed since then.

On that day, the Diamondbacks beat Detroit in an interleague game. Blast from the past Randy Johnson threw 7 shutout innings and Arizona won 4-0.

The Diamondbacks improved to 28-16 and were in first place and looked like manager Bob Melvin and company had put together a contender not just for 2008, but for well into the next decade. This wasn’t a quick grab for a World Series title like in 2001 that nearly bankrupted the team. This was a smart rebuilding.

The D’Backs were coming off a surprise NLCS appearance in 2007 where their 90-72 record was the best in the National League.

Their team was LOADED with young talent like Conor Jackson, Chris Young, Mark Reynolds, Brandon Webb, Danny Haren, Stephen Drew, Justin Upton and Chad Tracy… all of whom were under 30 and had some playoff experience.

And on that day in 2008, the Diamondbacks were 5 1/2 games up with the best record in baseball. They were on pace to win 103 games.

Arizona was poised to take over baseball.
I started thinking that Arizona could be the next great baseball fan base.

What has happened since May 18, 2008?

They went 54-64 the rest of the way, barely finishing above .500.

From May 19, 2008 to last night’s 3-2 loss against Colorado, the Snakes are 144-182.

If they lose to Ubaldo Jimenez (a distinct possibility) they will be nearly 40 games UNDER .500 since that win.

The manager is gone, replaced by A.J. Hinch, who isn’t faring much better.

Sure it hurts when you lose Webb, the team’s Cy Young contender.
It hurts that Chad Tracy, Conor Jackson and Chris Young all flopped as badly as they did in 2009.

And it sure doesn’t help that their bullpen has been a house of horrors this year.

The Diamondbacks are now floundering in the basement of the NL West… the only team NOT contending. They finished in the cellar last year as well as they look like perennial cellar dwellers just as it seemed like they were on the verge of becoming a powerhouse.

Who knows?
Maybe they’ll get good as quickly as they got bad!

Maybe Justin Upton will break out and the Brandon Allens and Marc Krauss’s of the world can have the Diamondbacks jump back UP in the standings.

Let’s check back on May 18th, 2011.

Another American Idol post

Sorry folks… I am an American Idol addict as well as a baseball nut. And I have no other public forum to make such an announcement:

Crystal Bowersox had better win!

You screwed up in the past, America.

Melinda Doolittle was clearly the best a few years ago… and she didn’t make the finals.

And last year’s debacle, when the dynamic Adam Lambert lost to the completely devoid of charisma Kris Allen, prompted a modest Sully Baseball rant.

So come on… Bowersox has talent, charisma and is memorable.
The appeal of Lee DeWhatever as completely eluded me. Siobhan, Big Mike or even Lilly Scott would have made this final more interesting than the MammaSox vs. Bland Nondescript White Guy match up.

Bowersox had better win. I tend to root for anything with S-O-X in its name.

Seems like old times

Another day, another Red Sox pitcher throws an outstanding game.

It’s almost as if the Red Sox had a plan to revolve their team around run prevention. And oh yeah, Big Papi supplied all of the offense, which I can get used to.

Yeah, Bob Davidson’s strike zone was so wide that you could hear the ghost of Eric Gregg saying “Are you kidding me?”

But the Sox survived a threat in the 9th and guess what?

They’ve already won the series against the best team in baseball! Winning games in Tampa? That’s what the Sox USED to do! It does seem like old times.

Hmmm… is this team just playing with my head?

Not sure, but I am going to update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES – 16

April 4 – 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 – 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 – 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 – 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 – 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk’s 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 – 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre’s bases loaded walk.)

April 24 – 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 – 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 – 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 – 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 – 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia’s 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 – 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 – 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 – 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 – 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 – 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES – 13

April 6 – 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro’s error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 – 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson’s 10th inning homer)
April 9 – 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 – 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can’t score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th… lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 – 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 – 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 – 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 – 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 – 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 – 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 – 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 – 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th… but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 – 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi’s bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)

Back up to +3.

Tomorrow the Sox are playing with house money as this series is already won… and then back to Boston for four with Kansas City.

Could the Sox go into June in a playoff spot?