Diamondbacks Preview

Before I start previewing this series with the Diamondbacks, there are a few blog-related things that should be addressed.

As some of you may have seen in the comments for the drinking game, there was a suggestion that I change the blog's picture. While this idea is sort of insane, especially considering the person who suggested it may or may not have even known it was a picture of Harry Kalas, I also kind of like the idea.

Since the blog has been taking off recently and gaining international fame (although this is sarcastic, I did get an email from someone in Afghanistan!), I figure things should be taken to the next level. We can make things on here a little more official. We have an official title obviously (which, I recently discovered, is actually the title of another Phillies blog...things could get dicey if I get too famous), and I have actually created an official logo that I'll put up soon (which probably will end up violating some type of copyrights or something). What I am missing here though, is an official tagline for the blog. Something like "High Hopes: The Blog I Can Eat a Sandwich With." That's just an example of sort of what I am looking for. I don't want it to be the actual tagline because I don't know if it makes any sense.

But what I'm getting at here is that I want YOU to come up with some ideas for me that I can then choose from (or have you choose from!). So, please, tell me what you get out of this blog. When you click on "High Hopes" in your favorites bar (if it's not in there, what are you doing?), what do you come expecting to see or read? Would a tagline for you be something like "All Phillies All the Time"?** I doubt it because I know people who read this that couldn't really care less and only want to hear my random ranting about nothing. Is it something like "All Cam All the Time"? I hope not because I do try to stick to mostly Phillies talk. So there's gotta be something in between that sums this blog up for you in about 5 or 6 words or so. So please please please let me know your ideas, whether it be via text, email, comments, or whatever. If your submission gets chosen, you will receive a special shout-out on the blog in which I write a paragraph saying how great you are (unless you don't want that, then probably just your name. Unless you don't want that, then probably nothing because you hate attention. Which probably makes sense because if you're so clever and witty and good with words then why don't YOU have a hilarious and awesome blog? So your secret is safe with me. Unless you want that paragraph thing. That's still OK too). If your submission is up for consideration, I will still mention your name along with that consideration (unless you're embarrassed by your submission. But don't be! It was great, I promise!). And if your submission sucked but you still sent it in, I will still put your name because I won't think that any of them suck because I'm too excited that you cared enough to suggest something.

I often think very highly of myself, but I appreciate how many of you try to keep me grounded by never giving me any feedback for this blog despite how many great comments and questions you have. I am going to tell you to be selfish in this case, though, and give me some suggestions for this tagline competition. You can stop thinking of me this once and let your ideas be heard. I am guessing that about 7 people read this blog semi-consistently (once a season), and so I would expect all 7 of you to submit at least one idea (so 7 total). That will give me some good options to choose from, and it will allow me to get a good glimpse at my loyal readership. Even if you feel like this isn't really your thing, just think outside the box and get your creative juices flowing and any other cliché that has to do with coming up with new ideas. If all else fails, just do what I do and spend every waking hour only thinking about what you are going to post here. I'm hoping we can come up with this tagline within about a week or so. It shouldn't be that tough, just say whatever you think about the blog but in a more catchy way. Easy, right? In case I haven't posted it enough, here is my email: cskoehler5@gmail.com

Now on to the actual preview of the Diamondbacks series. First of all, it's fun to call them the Diamondbags instead of the Diamondbacks simply because Diamondbacks is abbreviated as D-Backs so often. I'll let you pick up on that hilarity on your own.

The D-Bags (OK, so I did the work for you) started this season 8-8 but are losers of their last 4 games (and are just generally losers). And the last 3 of those are to the Mets! Holy horrible! But really, their best hitter so far this season is JD Drew's brother, and their starters' ERAs range from 4.98 to 6.65. We've won 5 straight, and winning 8 in a row is very difficult in the game of baseball. But it also seems very difficult to lose to the D-Bags with the matchups we've been given.

Game 1: Cliff Lee (2-1, 3.91 ERA) vs. Ian Kennedy (2-1, 5.64 ERA)
There's really no one on the Diamondbags with any type of success against Cliff Lee except Willie Bloomquist, and who the heck is that? Cliff has yet to fully commit to dominance this season, and I am thinking is has to happen sometime soon. Why not this game? Although the Phil haven't exactly rocked Ian Kennedy in the past, he hasn't exactly rocked opponents in the present.
Prediction: Phillies 7 Diamondbags 1
Keep an eye out for: Ryan Howard going deep. (I was going to say going deep twice, but do these predictions always have to be something crazy? I don't think so, so I'm gonna stick with one home run. Unless he hits 2, then you all are witnesses to my thoughts)

Game 2: Roy Oswalt (3-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Daniel Hudson (0-4, 5.92 ERA)
This game could pose the biggest problem for our bats simply due to a lack of experience against Hudson. If I know one thing about inexperienced and mediocre pitchers, I know that they generally do well against the Phillies. Unfortunately for Arizona, Oswalt has been arguably our best pitcher this season (can't say I'm surprised by that). Roy does not seem like the kind of guy who ever has a bad game (knock on wood****)
Prediction: Phillies 3 Diamondbags 2
Keep an eye out for: A 1-2-3-4-5-6 8th and 9th inning by Madson and Contreras

Game 3: Cole Hamels (2-1, 2.92 ERA) vs. Joe Saunders (0-2, 4.98 ERA)
This one could turn into a slugfest. With a 93º and sunny forecast in Arizona, it seems to me like having the home run-happy-Hamels on the mound could be dangerous. I'm thinking he only gets through 5 innings here but we simply outhit the D-Bags on our way to a second consecutive series sweep. We don't have a lot of players with good numbers against Saunders, but balls will be flying out of Chase Field. And speaking of Chase Field, I hate that Baseball is not playing in this series because of how fun it is when he does well to say that they named the park after him.
Prediction: Phillies 11 Diamondbags 7
Keep an eye out for: my exploding head due to how many times Christopher Wheeler mentions "hittin' weather" while quoting Charlie Manuel and cracking himself up

**I hate when I use quotes at the end of a sentence because I'm pretty sure that grammatically it is correct to put the punctuation inside the quotes. But I also think that makes things look weird sometimes, so I just end up sort of alternating when I do it. Whenever I have to use a question mark or something other than a period, that's almost a guarantee that I will throw grammar to the wind and put that punctuation on the outside. Can anyone tell me what is the correct thing to do here? Am I doing this right? And if you know this rule, do you totally hate me for ignoring it on a whim? My apologies.

****Do you know why people knock on wood when they say things like that so as to not jinx them? It's because evil spirits are said to live in wood, and you want to knock while you say something like that so they do not hear you and try to mess up your awesome life. I tried to do a little research on this (aka went to wikipedia) and couldn't even find that explanation. I know I have heard that before, though, and it makes total sense. Always teaching, Cam. Always teaching.